[Xeo]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
I also want to see a dongle that I can hook my shuffle up to my ipod, and transfer my on-the-go playlist down to my shuffle. No iTunes necessary. Maybe even juice it up a little.

Now that's a really great idea. Let them work together, transferring random, different music from a genre or playlist or something. I can see that type of accessory coming.

[Spliff]

I think the Creative MuVo TX FM is a better deal with its voice recorder (why can't Apple add this feature), display, and FM radio.

However, I like the AAC and iTunes support of the iPod Shuffle.

[Spliff]

There's a lot of anger in the comments over here at Engadget. Lots of people saying that Mac users are cattle and sheep for praising the iPod Shuffle which, in their opinion, is an ugly, screenless POS.

Here is a typical comment (from iPodlounge.com):

Hahahaha!
Is this a joke??
This is SO bad!!!
Creative flash players own this in every single way

That being said, there is also a lot of praise for the Shuffle.

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by Spliff:
There's a lot of anger in the comments over here at Engadget. Lots of people saying that Mac users are cattle and sheep for praising the iPod Shuffle which, in their opinion, is an ugly, screenless. POS.

Here is a typical comment (from iPodlounge.com):


That being said, there is also a lot of praise for the Shuffle.

I think there is very small margin of people in the "I want a small player with a screen screen, and a way to browse my files an stuff, but not an iPod mini" Everything that the shuffle is not, the ipod mini covers. If you want a Muvo, fine, but that sucks about music match, or whatever it is your using. We'll see who's sheep next year when Steve shows that pie graph again, and its all green.

[Lancer409]

the interesting thing about the shuffle (for me) is .. i was pretty down when i found out about the shuffle having no screen etc. I was hoping for one of those mockups ... nice and aluminum-y with a little screen and all ...

But .. there's something about the shuffle. At first I thought it was CRAP and SLICK advertising. Then I walked on over to the apple store (I dont know if SF is the only one to carry it this early, but they had a bunch over there (as well as a bunch at Macworld itself). The Shuffle is very very small. Sorta like a pack of doublemint/juicyfruit/winterfresh gum. you know, the 30 cent five stick ones. The controls are easy to use, and it's very light. What shocked me the most was the sound quality. I realize you cant change EQ and stuff, but the sound coming out of that little stick was as good as any iPod I've heard! I mean, it's no big deal for you guys, and maybe I was just fatigued or something, but when I tinkered on it, I sorta stood there stunned. It was like a bose commercial (yeah .. yeah ...) where they say "Big sound coming from such a small system" ...


And I realized, how often did I bring my 3g ipod, and found it semi annoying to use?!? It gets in the way sometimes because, even though it's small and slim, it doesnt exactly dissapear... A lot of times, when I go and work out, I listen to a lot of playlists, or put it on shuffle mode. When a crappy (slow song during weightlifting or cardio sucks!) song comes up, I just hit "next song" and life goes on. This thing would be great for workouts. I dunno about the screen though, for two reasons.


1) Sometimes I DO want a specific song or genre. This wouldnt work on a shuffle.

2) More importantly, I'm not impressed with the battery life. Kinda dissapointed really. I guess this was done to
1) not make the regular ipod and mini look like they have horrible battery life.
2) lower capacity battery = cheaper cost to manufacture

without a screen, how would you know how much battery is left? Sure there's that tiny led in the back, but that doesnt help. Hopefully it'll turn red at a certain percentage point, but ... no screen = very inconvenient to check battery life. Triple a's would mean you can replace the battery anytime, and I have a lot of nimh rechargeable AAA's for my pager and portable radio. Without a screen telling you approximate life left, you might be S-O-L when you take your shuffle out and it lasts 2 hours...

Still though, I was semi tempted just playing with it in the store ... but I'm also damn tempted with the mini... hmm


oh yeah .. the mini still has only 4 gb? wow .. I'm surprised about that and the powerbook thing...

[ajprice]

turtle777, I have seen a Mac mini, and yes, the ports are around the back (its 6.5" square, hardly like crawling around the back of a tower case and fumbling around ). That wasn't what I was getting at, the Dock is �19 for what is basically a 1 USB port unpowered hub, now how much is a 4 port powered USB hub?

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by PurpleGiant:
I thought this at first. However watching the keynote stream, when Jobs clips the lanyard cap on it makes an audible 'click' that really sounded like its locked in there - not at all like the usb flash drives with caps that 'slide' on and off.

it doesnt just slide on/off. it has little pins in the cap. i'll see if i can remember to take some snapshots of the cap tomorrow =P. if i go to macworld. after work/gym, macworld may be closed. there for sure on thursday. we'll see.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by Spliff:
I think the Creative MuVo TX FM is a better deal with its voice recorder (why can't Apple add this feature), display, and FM radio.

However, I like the AAC and iTunes support of the iPod Shuffle.

$100 for 256 MB of space. That's its hard spot. It's extra, removable batteries are cool, though.

"Angry people" have a point. I think a small screen would have been plenty possible. I don't even care about the FM ability of my car stereo so that has never interested me. Voice recorder, at what cost? Bigger physical size? More expensive? Plus, Apple would not put an FM tuner or voice recorder on this model when the regular iPod doesn't even have it. Now, as for the regular iPod, Apple really should add these things. There is no reason other than "they don't have to" since it's selling fine without those things.

The iPod name will drive sales of this, and it will sell well.

[Drakino]

Or any Flash player that works with iTunes.

About every Rio flash player works with iTunes. No third party hacks, you just plug it in and go.

Remember, Rio had flash players and Apple had iTunes before anyone had a clue what an iPod was.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Xeo:
Now, as for the regular iPod, Apple really should add these things. There is no reason other than "they don't have to" since it's selling fine without those things.

The fact that I am not prepared to pay another $50 extra for functionality that I neither want nor need is plenty enough reason for me.

And yes, that's a realistic price markup for microphone and radio circuitry (standard formula for this kind of stuff appears to be parts x 10 across the industry).

[strictlyplaid]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
We'll see who's sheep next year when Steve shows that pie graph again, and its all green.

Well... if everyone's using iPod/iTunes... doesn't that make you the sheep? I realize that's not what the original poster meant, but iPod is now as much a fashion accessory as a gadget. I'm surprised they're not selling them at Abercrombie and Fitch (or whatever is popular these days -- I confess that I really don't know.)

I've often wondered if Apple's success would turn off just the sort of people who use the word "sheep" as a pejorative, i.e. the people who kept Apple alive in its dry days. Just like my friends stopped liking Homestarrunner once more than 10 people were watching, Apple may not be cool and (dare I say it) 1337 enough anymore if everyone and his brother has a Mac Mini and an iPod.

That said, I'm getting an iPod shuffle ASAP.

[ringo]

Those of you who wish your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation iPod could record audio without having to buy an accessory might want to check out the iPod Linux project.

After installing you end up with a dual-boot iPod, and the Linux OS will record using the headphone jack or a dock line-in at a much higher bitrate than a $50 accessory will. It's nice to see the user community bypassing Apple's decision to cripple recording by default.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by strictlyplaid:
Just like my friends stopped liking Homestarrunner once more than 10 people were watching

Most of us grow out of puberty eventually and realize that good things stay good even if others notice.

[strictlyplaid]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Most of us grow out of puberty eventually and realize that good things stay good even if others notice.

Well, these friends are in their 20s, so who knows. I, for one, still watch HSR.

[typoon]

Originally posted by Spliff:
I think the Creative MuVo TX FM is a better deal with its voice recorder (why can't Apple add this feature), display, and FM radio.

However, I like the AAC and iTunes support of the iPod Shuffle.

Well I don't see a need for it. I'm one who has no use for a voice recorder even if it was included on it. If I wanted to listen to FM radio I would just turn on the radio. With my iPod I just want to listen to music.

[thunderous_funker]

As for the screen, I have to say I mostly agree with Apple on this one.

I have flash players with screens and its utterly superfluous. The fact is that most flash players have screens because you need the screen to make them do anything.

For me, not having to take the device out of my pocket or even look at it to adjust the volume or skip a track (the only times I even touch the damn thing while listening to music) trumps whatever pleasure I might get from squinting at a scrolling title of a song I already know by an artist I already know, etc..

Now the one point I will concede is that if you wanted to load up several small playlists (rather than one big playlist) you'd need a display to pick your playlist. That is one thing that I do think is a legit complaint.

However, I would still say that I'm several times more likely to simply dump tunes on my player and skip around or shuffle play than I am to really try and get my DJ on with several specialized playlists. If I was really into that, I'd be springing for the bigger iPods.

Here's my thinking:

• bigger iPods are too expensive, I'd be too worried about losing/breaking it
• I don't really need every song I own in one place, I just need some tunes for when I'm on transit and the weirdos are bugging me
• I don't really have many playlists so I don't need the highly spiffed interface. The bulk of my 10 gig collection is in 3 or 4 genre playlists and I mostly just shuffle.
• I orginally got a different player because I wanted an FM tuner. since then I've rediscovered that radio sucks and I don't get great reception when I need it most anyway so I'm willing to let that one go. The main reason I clung to an FM Tuner was because my flash player didn't hold very many songs and I got tired of my playlist.
• getting songs off and on my flash player was a nightmare. the main reason I wanted an iPod at all was because of iTunes.

So that's why my flash players are now listed on eBay and my iPod Shuffle is en route.

[DeathMan]

plus if you get mugged, you're only out like $100 instead of $500.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Just ordered the one gig to REPLACE my 15 gig iPod. This shuffle is exactly what I have been wanting.

[f1000]

Originally posted by Xeo:
"Angry people" have a point. I think a small screen would have been plenty possible.

It would have been possible to add such a small screen, but I don't think it would have been worth it if it added weight, used more power, and increased cost (and fragility).

I choose portability over feature-creep anyday.

[ringo]

Bwa-ha.

From Engadget:

Three easy steps for turning any iPod into an iPod shuffle, courtesy of �mhusson�
1. Get a Post-It note
2. Get your iPod
3. Put the Post-It note on the iPod

Now you can enjoy the iPod Shuffle�s cool new feature without having to go buy a new player. Enjoy! See, you just saved yourself a hundred bucks.

[lavar78]

As a bonus, chiropractors will rejoice if people start putting iPods around their necks.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by lavar78:
As a bonus, chiropractors will rejoice if people start putting iPods around their necks.

Cause, you know, 25 grams can do so much damage.

I hope you've all turned in your jewellery! - A lot o' them necklaces are a positive medical risk, folks!

(Jobs will have to offer iShiatsu sessions as part of .Mac if your worries pan out...)

-s*

[lavar78]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Cause, you know, 25 grams can do so much damage.

If you're going to be working out, running, and/or biking with it, it might. The 60 gig and the original 5 gig aren't the lightest things in the world.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by lavar78:
If you're going to be working out, running, and/or biking with it, it might. The 60 gig and the original 5 gig aren't the lightest things in the world.

The iPod photo is 181 grams.

The iPod shuffle is 25 g.

[lavar78]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
The iPod photo is 181 grams.

The iPod shuffle is 25 g.

That's my point. The idea about turning your iPod into an iPod shuffle is silly because it neglects the most important feature of the shuffle (its size).

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by lavar78:
That's my point. The idea about turning your iPod into an iPod shuffle is silly because it neglects the most important feature of the shuffle (its size).

Of course it's silly!

Who on earth was suggesting that!?

[Xeo]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Of course it's silly!

Who on earth was suggesting that!?

Now you can enjoy the iPod Shuffle�s cool new feature without having to go buy a new player. Enjoy! See, you just saved yourself a hundred bucks.

I think his point was simply that one of its most important "new cool features" is its size. That's all.

[lavar78]

Originally posted by Xeo:
I think his point was simply that one of its most important "new cool features" is its size. That's all.

Yep. I was referring to ringo's post right above mine (the one with the picture showing the three steps to make your own iPod shuffle).

[spiky_dog]

Originally posted by thunderous_funker:
There are some seriously clueless people here.

I'm unaware of any other 512MB flash players for $99. Or 1GB for $150.

Or any Flash player that works with iTunes.

Do some of you even think before typing some clueless blather?

as mentioned above by Drakino, Rio flash players work with iTunes. also, here is a somewhat outdated article with more companies' iTunes-compatible products: http://www.macworld.com/2004/05/revi...yers/index.php

also, the 1 GB non-ipod flash player market does have some $130ish players. the 512 MB shuffle has no competition for $99 USD as far as i know, however.

Originally posted by Xeo:
I think his point was simply that one of its most important "new cool features" is its size. That's all.

or the lack of screen. that's a cool new "feature", no?

[maxintosh]

Originally posted by spiky_dog:
as mentioned above by Drakino, Rio flash players work with iTunes.

But not with AutoFill, space distribution preferences, automatic down-sampling, AAC and protected AAC files.

It's the integration that's the key.

[ringo]

Originally posted by lavar78:
Yep. I was referring to ringo's post right above mine (the one with the picture showing the three steps to make your own iPod shuffle).

It was a joke, not an in-depth evaluation of the product's strengths and weaknesses. I thought the big smiley and the "Bwa-ha" might have tipped the reader off.

[mdc]

i am doing some class in college now that might require me to transfer files between class and home, since i have no floppy drive a usb device will work very well.

i thought about using this as an excuse to get the $99 ipod shuffle. the computers at college are windows xp. is there anyway that the storage part of the ipod shuffle will be readable at college and on my powerbook?

[f1000]

Originally posted by mdc:
is there anyway that the storage part of the ipod shuffle will be readable at college and on my powerbook?

According to Apple's website, the iPod shuffle is formatted as FAT32 so that it can work on both Macs and PC's.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by ringo:
It was a joke, not an in-depth evaluation of the product's strengths and weaknesses. I thought the big smiley and the "Bwa-ha" might have tipped the reader off.

Apparently not every reader.

[lavar78]

Originally posted by ringo:
It was a joke, not an in-depth evaluation of the product's strengths and weaknesses. I thought the big smiley and the "Bwa-ha" might have tipped the reader off.

I know. My response was a joke as well (that's why it had the eyes rolling). I didn't think the joke from Engadget was funny.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by ajprice:
the Dock is �19 for what is basically a 1 USB port unpowered hub, now how much is a 4 port powered USB hub?

So ?

The 4 port USB hub is 3 times cheaper and 5 times uglier ?
Just a matter of preference !

-t

[Lancer409]

Looks like I'll be in for one.

Not for me though. It'd be perfect for my mom (who's still using a cd player). The display wont be missed. On a cd player, she just fast forward or backwards. she could do that with the shuffle. no need to go through ipod's menu's (she's not a technology person so using a full size ipod with all those menu's ... well .. she prefers how the shuffle works)...

well .. looks like i'm going to the apple store before i go down to macworld.

[mdc]

i went to order the 1gb from the apple store now and it says 1 - 2 weeks for shipping. i'm moving in about 2.5 weeks, so i guess i'll have to wait until then so i can get it shipped to my new address.

or i can try get to the apple store this weekend