Don't get me wrong, I float myself right into the reality distortion field along with any other Apple fanatic out there, but today seemed a little different. I think the reality distortion field was disabled right around the time that Steve Jobs announced the new Nano, and then had some interruptions during the Apple TV announcement.

Isn't that a neat little slogan? See the fingerprints? That's because the Nano has a multi-touch display now. There's something incredibly eye-catching about such a tiny device with such a tiny touchscreen, but there's something about it that is also completely turning me off. It's maybe a little too small. There's a 1.54" display on it. That's no where near enough to watch videos on. Perhaps that's why Apple completely disregarded the fact that previous Nanos had video capabilities and this one doesn't. There's also no accelerometer or video camera -- which I'd like to point out was the star of the show last year.

To me, this device doesn't feel like a Nano. It feels like an entirely new device, and should be given an entirely different name. It's starting off with a new foundation: that touchscreen. It's also missing features. I'm not entirely sure what kind of next-generation product actually loses three key features. I'd imagine that the seventh-generation iPod Nano (next year) would probably grow a bit, with a bigger display for viewing video. Didn't this happen with the growth of the click-wheel Nano? It seems as if we are starting all over again and I'm not sure if I'm too pleased. With all this in mind, I still praise Apple for trying something new, but I'm not so sure if people are willing to pay up to $180 for a tiny little device. It's basically just an iPod shuffle with a screen.

And now we get to the Apple TV. Where's all the extravagant new features? Oh, it's a hell of a lot smaller than the previous $230 Apple TV and it adds Netflix, TV show rentals, and Airplay. That's nice. Once again, I think this new Apple TV has simply been released to be the foundation of application support in the future and additional features. The $99 price tag is certainly pleasing, but what about those of us that paid an additional $130 more? So far, nobody seems to be mentioning a free software update. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to add TV show rentals and Netflix.

And so the reality distortion field was a little shaky for me today, as you can see. I'm left feeling a bit underwhelmed, yet anxious already for next September's music lineup. Better the reality distortion field not work during the keynote than the WiFi, I suppose.