Notice how all the shots are of its back? Every comparison shot shows us its back? It has no character whatsoever- the most un- Apple product I've ever seen. If it sounds as good as the first however, my opinion may change. Did Apple bring back good sound to the shuffle?
What most people are forgetting regarding the shuffle is who uses it. I bet the LARGEST usage group is during exercise, or in public transport, etc. You don't want to be fiddling in your pockets, when you can put your hand near your ear all Secret Service style!
I'm curious as to why they included the shuffle / power switch. I would have thought you would just shake the device to start shuffling your songs. You would turn on and off the device by pressing the + and - buttons together for 3 seconds. Seems simple enough! Heck, we could have done away with the remote too. Twist left to rewind, twist right to play. Short stop shake stops the device, holding it to your ear makes it tell you the playlist...
I could go on but I think its not funny anymore.
I liked the idea from a previous post of having a USB tip/cap and thereby have one less cable....but then I would have to go out and buy an MBA to plug it into!!!!
The buttons are a no go for me. I use my shuffle for when I ride my bike and I run my headphone cable through my shirt, thus I wouldn't be able to change the song or anything.
When they announced the new Shuffle I thought it would be a hard sell, with the average consumer dumbfounded by how to use it. The packaging though gives you a great visual, showcasing how the device will work
Macbook Air requires dongles for extra USB ports, ethernet and blah blah
MacBook requires a dongle for additional USB, a dongle for video.
MacBook Pro requires a dongle for Firewire 400.
Shuffle requires a dongle for USB connectivity.
Instead of making the device overstated small, why not make it functionally small.... I freaking hate dongles more than anything else. For one, they are cumbersome and you always misplace them somewhere. Make the Shuffle with built-in USB. That would be cool and yet still small enough to want. (imo)
As an iPhone owner I find I use the headphones to control all my music. Its much quicker to grab and pinch then look and click. I think apple also realized this and the new shuffle was created.
I don't see why they couldn't have integrated the USB plug on the device itself (just like 1st gen Shuffle). Just put a nice, secure, matching cap on it.
It would be a subtle feature, but extremely convenient. Who wants to deal with more cables than is absolutely needed.
As long as you don't lose the cover. But I think it would be quite useful, Shuffle could go back to being a fancy thumb drive like the original. It's not quite the same if you have to carry around the little USB adapter too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iName
So you mean your new 3g iPod shuffle is ALREADY scratched???!!!
What have you done with it??
I'm sure it was a joke, a riff on complaints about previous product introductions, such as the original nano which some of them were very easy to scuff due to a bad batch of plastic. Among others.
Listen, when you see this thing in person, you'll understand. It's tiny. Most of that dust isn't recognizable to the human eye. We're using a high-res camera with a macro lens. However, I agree. The shots could be better and we're working on improving our photo-shoots for the next piece of Apple pr0n.
Thanks,
K
What are the specs of your photo equipment? I was just going to comment on your choice of lens/ F stop/ lighting setup. It would be nice to have a better depth of field.
m
Edit: It is tough to shoot really small parts. I do a lot of that type of table top work and my setup includes some pretty specialized lighting equipment. If Apple continues on this course you might need an electron microscope set up.
I can't help but think that the three buttons on the headphones would fit on the front face of the new shuffle. Sure, its too small for the old interface that the shuffle used to have, but my problem with the new design isn't the buttons themselves, but the location. Its been mentioned before, but the shuffle has been the ultimate gym/running iPod for a while now, and most users tend to tuck their headphone cables inside their shirts so they don't get tangled up in them. As a result, the placement of the buttons on the cable is just downright silly. Sure, buttons on the front of the shuffle might ruin the monolithic appearance, but it would work much better for the average user.
I guess to sum it up - I like the new design of the unit, but I have no desire to trade in my 2nd gen shuffle for one, unlike the 2nd gen, which made me scrap my first gen shuffle immediately.
I bought the black shuffle this morning at the Leawood, KS Apple store. The person who walked in the door in front of me bought one too. Both of us have never owned an iPod, something that, as a stockholder, kind of made me think.
Being an iPod newbie, I'm not in a position to compare it to other models, but I do wonder if the shuffle's voice over feature, coupled with the control location is going to garner sales. it certainly was the reason I bought one.
I understand some may not like the control location, but it works just fine for me. It seems a person could easily run the cord under a shirt if they wanted to, since the controls hang near the base of the neck, right above my t-shirt collar. Some cyclists might prefer controls closer to the waist though. I bought it specifically to work out, by the way.
A comment about the black model being more popular. Well, I bought it because I wanted some contrast between it and the shirts I normally wear working out. After all, if people can't see the thing, they might think I just have some big old clunky iPod in my pocket!
Comments
Stay tuned.
I'm curious as to why they included the shuffle / power switch. I would have thought you would just shake the device to start shuffling your songs. You would turn on and off the device by pressing the + and - buttons together for 3 seconds. Seems simple enough! Heck, we could have done away with the remote too. Twist left to rewind, twist right to play. Short stop shake stops the device, holding it to your ear makes it tell you the playlist...
I could go on but I think its not funny anymore.
I liked the idea from a previous post of having a USB tip/cap and thereby have one less cable....but then I would have to go out and buy an MBA to plug it into!!!!
Oh well, I don't need any more iPods anyways.
i prefer visual feedback to audio feedback (it's faster & seems less gimmicky)
Macbook Air requires dongles for extra USB ports, ethernet and blah blah
MacBook requires a dongle for additional USB, a dongle for video.
MacBook Pro requires a dongle for Firewire 400.
Shuffle requires a dongle for USB connectivity.
Instead of making the device overstated small, why not make it functionally small.... I freaking hate dongles more than anything else. For one, they are cumbersome and you always misplace them somewhere. Make the Shuffle with built-in USB. That would be cool and yet still small enough to want. (imo)
I don't see why they couldn't have integrated the USB plug on the device itself (just like 1st gen Shuffle). Just put a nice, secure, matching cap on it.
It would be a subtle feature, but extremely convenient. Who wants to deal with more cables than is absolutely needed.
As long as you don't lose the cover. But I think it would be quite useful, Shuffle could go back to being a fancy thumb drive like the original. It's not quite the same if you have to carry around the little USB adapter too.
So you mean your new 3g iPod shuffle is ALREADY scratched???!!!
What have you done with it??
I'm sure it was a joke, a riff on complaints about previous product introductions, such as the original nano which some of them were very easy to scuff due to a bad batch of plastic. Among others.
P.S. The most measly amount of cable on that charger evR! I'm sure laptop owners won't mind, but iMac owners certainly will.
Listen, when you see this thing in person, you'll understand. It's tiny. Most of that dust isn't recognizable to the human eye. We're using a high-res camera with a macro lens. However, I agree. The shots could be better and we're working on improving our photo-shoots for the next piece of Apple pr0n.
Thanks,
K
What are the specs of your photo equipment? I was just going to comment on your choice of lens/ F stop/ lighting setup. It would be nice to have a better depth of field.
m
Edit: It is tough to shoot really small parts. I do a lot of that type of table top work and my setup includes some pretty specialized lighting equipment. If Apple continues on this course you might need an electron microscope set up.
If Apple continues on this course you might need an electron microscope set up.
Tee-he!
Yeah, I know. Next time.
K
Oh god, no! Don't use compressed air! Spend 5 bucks and use a camera blower.
I guess to sum it up - I like the new design of the unit, but I have no desire to trade in my 2nd gen shuffle for one, unlike the 2nd gen, which made me scrap my first gen shuffle immediately.
Being an iPod newbie, I'm not in a position to compare it to other models, but I do wonder if the shuffle's voice over feature, coupled with the control location is going to garner sales. it certainly was the reason I bought one.
I understand some may not like the control location, but it works just fine for me. It seems a person could easily run the cord under a shirt if they wanted to, since the controls hang near the base of the neck, right above my t-shirt collar. Some cyclists might prefer controls closer to the waist though. I bought it specifically to work out, by the way.
A comment about the black model being more popular. Well, I bought it because I wanted some contrast between it and the shirts I normally wear working out. After all, if people can't see the thing, they might think I just have some big old clunky iPod in my pocket!
it looks like an apple lighter.
its actually smaller than a BIC lighter.
http://www.biclighter.com/home.shtml