[T]he Apple CEO has been on a crusade to wipe moving parts from the face of Apple’s products as early as the replacement of PowerBook trackballs with trackpads or the removal of the physical scroll wheel from the original iPod. The iPhone and iPod touch were further steps towards a button-free world, relegating as many controls as possible on the touchscreen.
And now we have the buttonless iPod shuffle. With the exception of a single switch that controls the unit’s power and lets you change between shuffle and ordered play, the iPod shuffle itself contains no buttons. Instead, the playback controls are integrated into the headphone cord: you can squeeze either the top, bottom, or center of the remote to execute different functions.
If you ask me, the war on buttons has gone too far. […] The fact that Apple has to put up this diagram tells you how much more complicated it is: how would you figure out the controls without this chart? The only markings on the controls are the “+” and “-” that mark volume controls. There is no indication of how to play or pause music.
[…]
I understand the desire for the Apple design team to push themselves and try to accomplish something new and perhaps even revolutionary, but in the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, perhaps they were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.
As this other article points out, 3rd parties should soon have adapters to allow other earphones. If Apple allows them.
I’d get one of these if it was not for the inline buttons… The player looks great for working out but why would I want to get a new headset? I already have a massively expensive shure headset that works great; not going to downgrade for some silly inline buttons. Even if they add a peripheral to allow one to use the buttons with other headsets I am sure it will be 1: very expensive and 2: break. Honestly it looks really flimsy in those pictures as well. All the apple earbuds I have had ended up with the wire splitting right at the splitter (haha), I can see the same thing happening at each end of the inline buttons.
Its a cool idea but it never should have made it out of the R&D phase, I am sure they could have come up with some other (much cooler!) way of controlling the new shuffle.
Other then that I think it looks great.
#29 Right you are.
The ear buds like Apple sells either fall out of my ears or have to be jammed in so hard that they hurt. I much prefer the type (many brands) with squishy foam rubber or silicone sort of bullet shaped ends that actually go into the ear and seal. Keeps out most of the traffic/ambient noise as well.
Of course I’m a proud non-owner of any Apple Computer products with the exception of a Quicktime instillation on one or two PCs over the years.
I DO own a lot of Apple Corp. music products. Beatles records and CDs. :).
less physical buttons means less things to break, and spots on the assembly line.
Have you guys seen this yet? The iMac shuffle. Apple has finally gone too far. http://imacshuffle.com
These will sell by the tens of millions.
The fact that there is zero visual distraction involved with operating the unit will literally save lives behind the wheel/handlebars.
I’m amazed at the various blogs and comments that tear this gizmo a new aperture, all coming from people who are not its target user. Every 17 year old looks at it and says “cool” and loves the idea. Old farts just don’t get it, unless they’ve managed to hang onto their imagination
No, the new Shuffle is not The Perfect Solution. That will only appear when the iPod listens to your thoughts. Then a stream of comments here will complain that plays a Sinead O’Connor track every time they think “shithead.”
Realistically its another Apple product failure. They seem to have run out of good ideals. Now their into gimmicks. I have to say why fix what is not broke Apple?
self-promotion aside, I loved the iMac shuffle, rFelix. Too bad it has any buttons at all. But who needs that as long as wireless is built in? My tinfoil hat would interface perfectly!
“That would require a hole – Apple doesn’t like those either – ed.”
Aha! That confirms my theory! Steve Jobs doesn’t like holes nor buttons because he can’t find the clitoris!
ooh! I almost forgot.
It seems like SNL was somehow predicting the future of the iPod on this skit.
http://gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/34624.html
damn, wrong clip, Looks like NBC made sure the weekend update parody of the iPod Pequeno is gone from youtube.
#33 pedro – Evidently you didn’t read my post #21. There’s a link to Apples iTunes support page. But, yeah, I’m pretty sure that site’s exclusive to Macs.
I’ve never heard “Old dog knows better than to get into that shit.” I think you made that up.
I live in Columbus, OH. Come by sometime and I’d be happy to show you around.
Don’t get your scrutiny of #25. One question: Have you ever had a Mac, or used one for an extended period of time? I bet you say you have, surprise, surprise.
Mackie.
An engineer with poor grammar skills will, at best, be marginalized, and at worst, soon out of a job and the industry.
You are on the fast track to the latter, but continue to believe as you do because your attitude clears a path for the better qualified in the dog-eat-dog world.
#43 Chronos – I’ve played this as a source of sarcasm for long enough. Is it a capital crime to blog a little informally? It surely seems so. The vast majority of my professors are speak Japanese or Chinese as a native language, which makes it extremely hard to understand them. How do you explain their rise in the engineering field in both research and instructing? Mere happenstance? I don’t think so.
Believe me, pedro, I hear it daily
Its a good product for the blind if you ask me
Boo hoo Mackie. I live in a country who’s single national language I don’t speak. This is the second time I’ve done this with my life. Get used to it in the new global economy. It would do you well to learn Mandarin.
wtf is that..?
The New Depression Era Minimalist’s iShuffle
-taking cost cutting to the extreme.
motto:”we cut the cost so you don’t have to”
(?)
this is not styling, this is nothing but proprietary acce$$ory marketing 101 ala sony..(and logitech speakers, to a degree)
proprietary connections, **especially** putting the sole transport controls to the unit on a wire, is the ultimate act of user-unfriendliness -and just plain sucks.
further, unless this unit has line-outs, it means you cant even use it to drive a pre-amp
in a home/hotel/dorm or poor man’s car-stereo etc.
-just chuck versatility to the wind?
way to go for the college demographic Einstein.
i’m sure needing replacement headphones
will hurt big time..double that if your
out of a job and have no access to $5
knockoff street vendors..
wooO, it talks 14 languages! BFD.
-can it tell me where i left my keys?
this is apples idea of progress?
this is shishi with one shi missing..
-pass.
-smallest music player in the world?
me thinks i’ll stick with my generic $25 2gb usb-key player w/voice & FM. -plug it in, open
any file manager, drag your audio and/or data files over, done. i have music, security podcasts, NA and most all of the tools and definitions i need for my jobs in one unit.
true versatility.
on top of that, i can fall asleep on the subway and still wake up with the player
in my possession…ha!
shuffle that homeslice!
-s
(heck, almost makes me want to repent and
dust off my walkman wm-d6c pro.)
#48 Chronos – Why don’t you answer my question. The point of my response was not to bitch, but was to set up an alternate circumstance for you to comment on, not to tap dance around. If a man that can hardly communicate with his professional peers can make it in engineering, how is my one informal blog posting going to knock me off? That’s what I thought. And congratulations on moving to a country where you don’t speak the language. I’m amazed beyond believe.
soundwash, so let me get this straight. Will you be buying one or not? You seem to be on the fence. 😉
#51 & #52..
-ah no. i’m a big open source/universal
plugs & standards kinda guy. i really hate companies that come out with products that uses non-typical voltages, connectors or similar concepts.
i’m also very hard on equipment and typically have at least two or more of an item because one has failed from abuse.
i like having the ability to take parts from companies products and plug’em straight into another’s.
-and i should be able to use a product out of the box in the dark.
( i was a sound engineer for 8yrs+ and worked alot in very dark nightclubs doing live recordings)
being able to feel my way around equipment i never used before in the dark makes sessions so much more enjoyable etc..
-s