With the release this week of the newest incarnation of the Apple iPod, the Nano, I've paused to think about my own portable MP3 player, and wonder if I made the right choice.

Somewhat more than a year ago, I was ready to make the complete jump onto the digital music bandwagon, and I researched different brands and models and ended up buying a Rio Karma. I thought seriously about an iPod, but decided to go with the Karma for a number of really good reasons: longer battery life, kicking against the pricks, ergonomics, some cool shuffle modes, and most of all, about $100 in savings.

And I've really liked my Karma. It's done its job marvelously, and I have no complaints whatsoever with my purchase.

It's just the stuff I didn't purchase that is softly gnawing at me. iPods make up such a large portion of the market in MP3 players (I think I read it's around 85%, but that seems low to me) that there's a whole new industry of iPod accessories. You can buy all sorts of cool cases for your iPod, for example, but I had to cut and sew my own case for my Karma (thus making it significantly uglier and reducing the "chubby cute" karma it had going). You can buy iPod hookups for your car (I got a little deal that plugs into the headphone jack and broadcasts your music on a short-range radio frequency, and it's sporadic at best). You can buy a matching white stereo system that your iPod plugs into (I plug my old stereo system into my Karma). And now iTunes has come out with a new podcast-searching version, and my Karma doesn't work well with iTunes.

I feel like although my player is a good player, it's being left in the dust in terms of enhanced value.

None of this is going to make me get out there and buy a new iPod (heck, I've gotta worry about cribs right now--see below). But I can't help but wonder what my life would be like if only I'd followed the crowd and gone for the trendy white earphones...