I really dig the new iPod Nano design Apple introduced today. They replace the stubby ones from the generation before, which left me scratching my head at their oddly proportioned screen and clickwheel. They just didn't seem up to Apple's usual standard, even the pastel colors (gone from the iPod Shuffles too) didn't quite gel. This has been a sort of theme for Apple, which tends to have trouble keeping quality up when spreading themselves to thinly with a lot of products.

We saw that again recently with the simultaneous launch of the iPhone 3G, 2.0 Software, third-party apps and MobileMe (which still seems to be down as often as up) but this morning's revamping of the entire iPod line along with the most significant redesign of iTunes in years is hopefully a good sign of things to come.

And speaking of iTunes, the new version includes a feature I've wanted pretty much since they added podcasts: per-podcast download settings. While I want every single episode of many audio shows like Astronomycast, I also subscribe to several audio and video (especially video) podcasts where I only want selected episodes.