Comments on: New iPod Shuffle Interface is Killing People: Apple Sought For Questioning

By: Sorryno

Sorryno — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:49:19 +0000

This article smacks of rampant fanboy-ism and apologism. A bad user interface is a bad user interface, full stop, no matter how it might compare with earlier generations of bad interface. And requiring you to either cough up more $ for a dongle (that wasn't even available when this review was written!) or put up with OEM earphones, all because someone thought it was a good idea to move the controls off the device? The author's ad-hominem attacks on the people who would like to use spare headphones with the device don't exactly add up to a winning package either.

By: shemp9999

shemp9999 — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:46:35 +0000

I’ve got some nice Shure’s I use with my iPhone. None of the buttons on the cord work on the new shuffle. I’ll be happy when they make a shuffle adapter. Until then, I’ve placed some foam inserts on the apple phones and will try to make do.

Almost everything else about the new shuffle makes it better than previous ones. Size -piqueño. Voiceover – great. playlist switching – yes. controls – well located, simple and full-featured. I’ve owned almost every iPod made (skipped a few nanos and 2G shuffle). This shuffle has what I want for everyday gym/commute use.

I load a 3.8Gb random playlist shuffled daily by cron.

By: HijiNKS Ensue - Geek Webcomic - Updates Monday, Wednesday and Friday » Archive » The Dietary Habbits Of Procyon Iotor

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:10:39 +0000

[...] a strong opinion about the new 3G iPod Shuffle or the feaux-controversey surrounding it’s total lack of buttons. If you like it, buy it. If you hate it, don’t. I do find it interesting, however, that every [...]

By: XXX

XXX — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:56:14 +0000

The new shuffle is a nightmare. Whoever decided to put the controls on the headphones is a moron.

By: Pustoolio

Pustoolio — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:07:14 +0000

@ #33 Trinity
I had my Shuffle Rickroll me once and I must say… i liked it!
Maybe your Shuffle is doing it wrong?

By: lair360

lair360 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:42:23 +0000

Oh greate! This article is very funny!!
I love this paragraph!

“If I lose my headphones then I can’t use the device!” Well, if you lose your headphones now what do you do? Hold the thing up to your ear and crank the volume? You need to get headphones in either case. And third parties will provide more options.”

heaphone lost? What a cracker!!

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:38:04 +0000

re: #41 David – all the recent 2G and even the 3G Shuffle can still be used as flash drives; you just need the dock for the 2G and the snyc cord for the 3G. iTunes still lets you enable disk use and select how much room to leave for data, just like with the original Shuffle that had the built-in USB plug.

Regarding using other cheap flash-based players, I’m a Mac-user and none of these pieces of crap come with Mac software or play my older iTunes purchase … managing music is a PITA without some tricks (I use a script in iTunes to load a playlist to my daughter’s Disney Mix Stick, but all the music needs to be mp3s), so for me, I’ll happily pay the “Apple premium” – the 512MB Mix Stick cost $39 on sale, whereas my 1GB 2G Shuffle was a $29 refurb.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:19:43 +0000

The article makes good points – as far as a remote dongle, Apple knows that the best location is up on the cord just under your chin… where it will always be exposed and available, no matter where you clip the Shuffle. This is better ergonomics than the older Shuffle or a dongle, and for a clothing-attached device, the audio interface is better when exercising, etc.
So lets looks at the checklist: 100% smaller (+), 100% larger capacity for old price (+), playlists! (+), audio interface (+), better control ergonomics (+), engravable like other iPods (+), need new headphones if don’t like Apple’s (-). The single negative (other than losing a couple of hours of battery life) can be handled in a few ways… set your (volume? and) playlist using the Apple buds then switch your preferred headphones (Apple says the unit will play automatically with remote-less headphones)… buy new headphones ($50+) with the remote … or buy a remote ($20-$30 when they come out considering Apple sells remote-equipped buds for $29) to use your cheap $10 Sonys.
As an owner of the previous-generation Shuffle, I’d love a firmware upgrade to allow the audio interface and playlists in return for losing the ability to disable the buttons, if needed.

By: Apple’s Marketing and Sales Teams May Need an Update - TheAppleBlog

Apple’s Marketing and Sales Teams May Need an Update - TheAppleBlog — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:40:35 +0000

[...] 2009 by Tom Reestman and No one has commented In case you hadn’t figured it out by now, I like the new iPod shuffle. So much so that I ordered one (in black) the day they were [...]

By: Adam Blaiss

Adam Blaiss — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:53:22 +0000

Ack…I mean with a remote but no microphone.

By: Adam Blaiss

Adam Blaiss — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:51:27 +0000

Not that it really matters, but the unboxing pictures on iLounge show that these are new headphones never available before (i.e. with a headset but no microphone). So Apple did go out of their way, to some extent, to make a new device for the Shuffle.

http://www.ilounge.com/images/uploads/shuffle-3g-unbox-control-bck.jpg

By: Bas

Bas — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:26:17 +0000

It is funny to see so many people commenting: if you don’t like it, don’t buy it and stop whining. Perhaps they did not notice that this site is dedicated to apple products, is’t the whining all part of the fun? If it wasn’t there, there’d just be cheering …, which gets old fast.

By: AdamC

AdamC — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:20:40 +0000

Tom had been fair in his review and I agreed with him.

For those who are using headphones that cost 3 to 5 times the cost of the Shuffle, would you buy one? If you do you know what you are going for.

BTW the majority of the users are not hifi aficionados, they just enjoy music.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:11:04 +0000

I don’t know about other people but the standard iPod earbuds hurt my ears. Now I see that I will have to use them with this product. There is a way around this. I’m not an audiophile however I demand comfort. There is a company that can help called Earsound (www.earsound.com). They sell iPod attachments so that the iPod earbud snaps into this attachment which is then put into your ear. The attachment is made from an impression of your ears so it fits perfectly! I believe they can make attachments for all 3rd party headphones. An unintended benefit is that my iPod attachments fit onto my hands free device for my cell phone so I can listen to my conference calls in comfort. I hope this helps!!!

By: Tom Reestman

Tom Reestman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:43:35 +0000

Greg,

“I can’t be double and triple clicking my head phones”

But you CAN be hunting for a button to click? Right.

“…Perfect for running when you don’t want to have to hunt for the right button to press.”

Are you TRYING to make a case for people who say some of this is just whining for whining’s sake? It sure looks like it.

The older shuffles require you to use buttons that, as I’ve explained, may not be in the same place all the time. The new one uses a dead simple control that’s hanging right by your face! Incredibly easy to operate, especially when running. Please.

By: David

David — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:10:39 +0000

I like the new on-cord controls for the shuffle. I hope Apple or someone else makes just such a cord with a standard stereo plug on the end so people can choose their own headphones.

I’ve tried holding the Apple headphones firmly against my ears and they actually sound OK, certainly good enough for a $99 item, but they won’t stay there on their own.

Once there is even a millimeter gap between the ear buds and my ear canal the sound becomes unbearably tinny. I can’t understand how anyone can listen to music that way.

The first generation Shuffle was a thumb drive and all the other early iPods were fully functional as external hard drives. Apple must not have liked people using their iPods for data storage because the feature was removed from new iPods a few years ago. That’s sad because, while working for an Apple dealer, I met several people who survived hard drive failures in their Macs because they had their important data backed up on their iPods. I met far more, of course, who had iPod hard drive failures including one who lost 2 months of irreplaceable vacation photos. I think that’s one reason why the camera connector was discontinued.

The first generation Shuffle is also widely regarded as producing the best sound quality of any iPod. I’m going to keep using mine until it either breaks or no longer holds a decent charge.