Comments on: iPod Shuffle Unboxing and Hands On

By: Tracy Pattin

Tracy Pattin — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:44:24 +0000

I am SO FRUSTRATED with the newer iPod Shuffle!! When I’m at the gym if one drop of sweat gets near the device it shuts off for a few hours! 20 minutes into my workout it happens EVERY TIME! Now? The earbud volume/track changer has stopped working altogether (yes it’s fully charged!)….The old iPod was amazingly resilient…I’m returning it for a new one.

By: avbluestar14

avbluestar14 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:44:29 +0000

they do have adapters in the apple store

By: joseph

joseph — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:42:39 +0000

shuffles a good company for ipods and i like having one

By: steve

steve — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:41:06 +0000

no way i’m gonna give up my bose headphones for those buds….it irks me to have to look around for a work around solution here…. why is apple so proprietary? is it basically just greed?

By: GadgetViper

GadgetViper — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:02:59 +0000

I agree with Richard- that it’s change for the sake of change

By: My iPod Shuffle 3G Experience

My iPod Shuffle 3G Experience — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:01:09 +0000

[...] new iPod shuffle for two days and thought I’d post my thoughts on it. We’ve already covered the out-of-the-box and setup experience elsewhere, so I won’t repeat them [...]

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:18:24 +0000

The new iPod shuffle is talking, or should I say... Voice Over. Now you can track it and join the conversation with your friends. Given its size, the next generation will be built in the ear buds.

By: Ocell

Ocell — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:22:06 +0000

I agree with Galley, I’d love to be able to have the encoding option for my iPhone. Then I could keep full quality on my computer and iPod, but have a bigger library on my phone. C’mon Apple!

By: Galley

Galley — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:47:46 +0000

We should be allowed to choose the bitrate of the transcoded files, and that option should be available for ALL iPods!

By: Richard Lomas

Richard Lomas — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:34:21 +0000

Oops. I meant “produce” both models. :-)

By: Richard Lomas

Richard Lomas — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:33:56 +0000

I really think they need to continue to product both models (which I know they won’t), as the newer model just doesn’t work for the running crowd (which includes me).

Gizmodo had a good review today that mentions all the problems with this new model for the exercise crowd.

Does anyone else feel like this was “change for the sake of change”?

Did anyone really look at the existing shuffle and say: “Man I just wish it wasn’t so big”… or…”Geez, why can’t they get rid of those pesky buttons”??

By: Tom Reestman

Tom Reestman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:29:09 +0000

Nice review. Sounds to me like the new shuffle is pretty much what it purported to me, and that’s fine by me.

You and I appear to disagree a bit over the remote controls. I’ve been using them a while with my iPhone and I now believe that grabbing the device, or fumbling for controls in your pocket or while wearing it, is a very clumsy method of controlling the most commonly used functions. I can’t imagine controlling the device that way now.

Obviously, a full interface is necessary for the kind of artist, song, playlist navigation the bigger devices require, but that’s not what the shuffle is for. I think their playlist navigation was a nod to the fact that with 4GB some separation of songs would be desirable. Still, if you setup 24 playlists and complain about VoiceOver’s ability to navigate it I think it’s your fault. Apple’s not claiming this as a replacement for a “full” interface, but rather a (very nice) addition to the shuffle.

My iPhone is 8GB and I have seven playlists. I suspect my shuffle will have maybe that many, maybe less. VO will be just fine for that. And remember that when it starts rattling off the names of your playlists you can use the + and – buttons to move forward quickly (they’re recited alphabetically).

By: Artie

Artie — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:27:29 +0000

I wish someone would comment on the sound quality. I’ve found the previous Shuffles to sound superior to iPods of the same generation, perhaps due to lack of electrical interference from HDD or screen display. But this new one is so tiny, what kind of audio circuitry can it hold?

By: Richard Lomas

Richard Lomas — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:52:07 +0000

Agreed Josh.

Just put a button or two on the thing (or a touch strip), kill Voiceover and all the complaints about adapters are gone and it’s a winner!

It’s so simple, yet they over engineered it IMO.
R

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:24:57 +0000

Regarding navigating with VoiceOver… Let’s not forget that this is an iPod shuffle. There was no expectation of being able to “navigate” through music in the previous generations other than being able to move back and forth and randomize. Apple may have unnecessarily created a problem by implementing the VoiceOver feature and setting the expectation of being able to “navigate” at all.

By: Foofy

Foofy — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:14:45 +0000

It looks like one of those little mint cookies, which increases the odds I’d eat it by accident (or intentionally).