iriver Spinn

Most of the general US public has probably never heard of this device, maybe not even the company. So to give a little background: iriver is a Korean company that has been making digital audio players since y2k (meaning before the first iPod, which makes me sad when people hear the brand and think it's an iPod knockoff). Their products have always emphasized quality and design. Sounds cliché right? But these guys are serious. If you thought iPods were well-engineered, wait to you see iriver devices.

Ok, so moving onto the Spinn. This thing came out almost two years ago, and I adored it at once. It was described by Engadget as “the sexiest piece of kit we've played with this year… simply beautiful, and truly ‘designed.’” Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of those gadgets that you crave but don't really need. The fact that it was more expensive than its closest competitor, the iPod Touch, instantly banished itself from the iPod-loving US market. Not only that, it was released at a time when Touches and MIDs were all the rage and no one wanted a 3.3” touchscreen (which is AMOLED btw) device that couldn’t access the net.
No matter that. It’s now 2010 and you can easily obtain an 8GB Spinn for under a Benjamin. That puts it within impulse-buy territory for any adult with a decent job (not me). And I don’t care that your iPhone can play music and call people, this thing is absolutely gorgeous. Kk, no more suspense, here comes the pics.
 
How can you say no to that sweet aluminum frame and the butter smooth knob. And then there’s the interface that’s so tastefully simple. After looking at this you’ll probably throw up at your Touch’s boring grid of glossy icons. And for a device that can’t do half what Touches can do with the App Store, it actually allows custom themes and even manually-loaded Flash games.

But as beautiful as they are, I admit I won’t be getting one. In fact, I wrote this piece to make up for the fact that I won’t ever be able to own this piece of art. Reasons?

1. I am an absolute believer in device convergence. I’m saving up right now for an Android phone (likely a used MyTouch 3G or Cliq). It will be my end-all be-all device. The Spinn would be the antithesis as it’s a giant PMP that does nothing but play personal media (despite its good looks).
2. I am 100% immune to impulse-buys as I simply don’t have $100 that I can muster up right now.