Fast-forward?
by
Matt+Perry
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Does anyone have one of these things? If so, can you fast forward through a song or only go to the beginning of a song? I'd like to get one of these but I listen to a lot of hour long (or more) DJ mixes so not being able to seek to a specific point in the song would suck.
-- Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
Re:Fast-forward?
by
Chuckstar
·
· Score: 2, Informative
According to the User's Guide, pressing the forward or reverse button quickly skips to the next or previous song. Holding down the button fast-forwards or rewinds within the song.
According to a description I saw to Fast-Forward within a song you have to hold the fast-forward button; to skip to the next song you press/release it quickly.
according to this story on digitimes the shuffles are made by asustek. however, the same story says that g5 ibooks and powerbooks are coming in the second quarter, so take with a grain of salt...
There's a green circuit board thingy and a battery. Oh, and a switch and a headphone jack.
How about these guys do something semi-useful and try and list the components used on the PCB? How about figuring out what kind of battery and what the interface is.
Nope, nothing useful here. Just a bunch of boys smashing a toy.
-- I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
what's to note is that it looks pretty 'full', so to speak.
-- world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Re:Yeppers!
by
libra-dragon
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
At the very least, I was expecting them to point out the 512MB chip.
Re:Yeppers!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Nope, nothing useful here. Just a bunch of boys smashing a toy.
You're unclear on the concept of pioneering effort. Very importantly, these "boys" made a sacrifice to show the rest of us how -not- to open an iPod shuffle. Their first two actions were unnecessary and potentially permanently damaging. You don't need to pop off the switch or the control "dial". You carefully pull off the USB plug (without tearing the short ribbon cable) and then slide the innards out.
I'd say theses "boys" are iPod hacking pioneers, while critics like yourself are doing sweet shit all for the community.
It isn't clear from the photos that it would be possible to remove the innards without removing the the controls. It seems that the On/Off switch is pretty easy to remove and then replace. The other controls are another story. In any case, please explain how it is possible to slide the innards out without removing the controls when the controls protrude out from the case. Thanks!
Though it does look like removing the power/play mode switch is necessary for innards removal, as it seems to snap over a little metal 3-way switch attached to the circuit board. But since that's such a trivial and apparently nondamaging step, no problem there. I agree with the article and other posters that removing the control disc was probably unnecessary for disassembly, though.
I agree that they've provided a valuable service. I am also glad that they posted the pics to help the rest of us avoid costly mistakes! Hats off to the iPod hacking pioneers!
Pulling tiny electronic devices apart isn't as fun
by
sendai2ci
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
The battery looks to be a lump of Lithium polymer, other than that, can't really tell anything else about the device. Since they have practically ruined the device, why didn't they go the whole hog and pull off the black plastic covering a few of the components on there...
Perhaps because the -v switch often means 'verify'? Just a guess.
Re:Congratulations.
by
MattHaffner
·
· Score: 4, Funny
-v, --verbose
This option increases the amount of information you are given
when reading a post. By default, first posts are cryptic and
force readers to click on random URLs. A single -v will
give you information about what the heck the first poster
really meant and a brief summary at the end. Two -v flags will give
you information on what was skipped (intentionally or not) by the
second poster and slightly more information at the end (than you
probably wanted to know). More than two -v flags should only be
used if you are debugging your browser or are a glutton for punishment.
(with a healthy nod toward the rsync man page)
Re:Congratulations.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
shut up, chuck.
Inspired Technology.
by
eRondeau
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Ten years ago this would have been proof of alien visitation. Now, when 95% of the world's computers are functionally similar, only cutting-edge industrial design, packaging, and marketing will differentiate them. Like it or not, Apple is still way out front of everybody else on all counts. They will sell 20,000,000 of these this year.
Re:Inspired Technology.
by
mmkkbb
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Now, when 95% of the world's computers are functionally similar, only cutting-edge industrial design, packaging, and marketing will differentiate them.
Not to the 95% of the world's population for whom price is a bigger factor.
--
-mkb
Re:Inspired Technology.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1
Tell that to the 10 million people who have bought existing iPods, making it the #1 music player even though it was priced at $249 or above (until last week).
And then tell that again to that segment of the population for whom price is a bigger factor, and make sure to mention to them that the iPod provides more space for $99 than other competing players.
Re:Inspired Technology.
by
gl4ss
·
· Score: 1, Flamebait
20 million? maybe, maybe not. BUT being way out front of everybody else??? WHAT THE F***? IT'S A F*CKIN* USB STICK MP3 PLAYER! it's not even the first to ditch the display.
ten years ago it would have been proof of some ic company being wayy ahead of curve.
no offence but it doesn't really offer anything new - similar things have been available for.. five years? even a wristwatch with the same functionality has been available for at least a year or so. the rio i started with is more pleasing than the shuffle(better ui than just buttons - the jogwheel really hit the spot when scrolling the settings and looking for a song, display and an equalizer to boost bass if you feel like it) - and i bought it in _2000_(and runs for hours on a single AA).
(unless you count it being apple and thus integrated into itunes and it's store as a one feature.. in which case you could count apple the one not interfacing with others instead of vice versa).
oh yeah.. it's a iProduct so it must be better? though how will the normal people feel about apple after they realise that it's not perfect in every way despite that they were told so? apple should get going on getting something truly new before going into a slump again(instead, apple is being very conservative in what it's doing and doesn't seem to be wanting another newton.. a shame.).
-- world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Yeah, those will buy bigger devices, with less memory, for more money.
--
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
Re:Inspired Technology.
by
zpok
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Yup, you're right, 1) it's not a new thing, so it's not as 'cutting edge' as some people scream, and 2) its real strength indeed is in the integration with iTunes and iTMS. But I think you're wrong on some counts: 1) people won't be disappointed because these things work as advertised (they just don't make your pimples go away) 2) apple is in its own way doing truly new things, like for the first time making products in the consumer's spending sweet spots. 3) and they don't need more daring, they're plenty daring as it is right now, a new Newton would help them as much as a new Cube - which the mini isn't, I should know, I still use my cube as my primary computer. It's great but not for everyone. The mini has a much larger audience waiting.
Well the grandparent would still be right in the rough number of units sold if it wasn't for one thing i think will hold it back. storage capacity on it, like all similar devices, still isnt exactly huge in this day and age. i dont even think i could swing a small mouse about in that little space, let alone a cat.
They are also innovative in their design. Of all the USB-drive MP3 players out there, this is the sleekest, sexiest design available... especially for the size and battery life (12 hours!?!).
Not so cutting edge, agreed, but innovative nonetheless. This product blows away all devices in its class.
Brian
Not to speak of its capacity... It gives me great anguish. Wait for HD players to be reasonable priced (meaning within my budget) or compromise and buy memory stick with head phones...:-)
as you say yourself, not all mp3 players are functionally identical! pcs are getting close though.
--
-mkb
Re:Inspired Technology.
by
Ohreally_factor
·
· Score: 1, Troll
Easy answer to your dilemma:
Buy the "stick with headphones" now, then when you can afford the HD iPod, give the stick to the woman in your life. Seeing as how we're on slashdot, that probably means yo momma. =)
-- It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Re:Inspired Technology.
by
XxtraLarGe
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Not to the 95% of the world's population for whom price is a bigger factor.
I was just at Walmart this weekend pricing MP3 players. Most of the 256 MB Rio's and MuVo's were in the $89-99 price range. In this instance, I'd say a $99 512 MB iPod is highly competitive.
-- Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Re:Inspired Technology.
by
UWC
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Yeah, but any more storage capacity and the lack of display would be more than just an inconvenience. I have a 128MB MuVo and with its mere 30-song capacity the lack of display still gets annoying. It has identical controls to the Shuffle, plus an A-B loop button (and a replaceable AAA battery). I can't imagine trying to navigate through a GB of music with just the controls available there.
The Shuffle feature and iTunes integration will be the selling points, undoubtedly, and very likely enough to make it sell well. I wouldn't mind having shuffle on my MuVo. The actually competitive price point (though current MuVo models have a display) doesn't hurt, either. I see it selling fairly well as a companion to the HD-based iPods and iPod minis.
What about when everyone has their Mac mini and want to carry around a sizable amount of their music, as easily as possible, and share it (permanently or temporarily) wherever they go?
I have an iPod and wouldn't want anything less than 40Gb, but I'm not the target market. Late teens will lap this up.
Re:Inspired Technology.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Flamebait? I love Apple and all but the parent has a point.
Re:Inspired Technology.
by
Stevyn
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
They have screens though. That adds cost and functionality. I'm not really buying this random song playing idea. But I'm sure there are people out there to fill the small market. However, I don't think it's the same market of people who want a cheap yet functional music player.
lawsuit in 3.. 2.. 1..
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Many common Unix application, such as tar, take a '-v' flag which asks the thing to work in verbose mode. He's saying you're the verbose man to his apropos, or something like that. It's geek humor. I laughed.
-- You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
Background pattern
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Ugh, if you have Web Developer installed on Firefox, I highly recommend you use it to turn off the background image. Much easier to read the text with the background off.
Re:Background pattern
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
The background definately does suck.
Re:Pulling tiny electronic devices apart isn't as
by
ZackSchil
·
· Score: 1
I agree with you wholeheartedly but I'm pretty sure they did a good job making sure not to ruin anything. Everything they pulled out should snap right back in.
I don't know about anyone else but I thought it was a sort of violation. Poor iPod Shuffle being ripped apart with industrial tools; made me feel sorry for the thing. What was wrong with some jewellers screwdrivers and a scalpel? I'm sure it wasn't put together with a 6lb lump hammer...
Re:Pulling tiny electronic devices apart isn't as
by
krel
·
· Score: 2
Did you even RTFA? They tore the button-pad off in a (probably) non-repairable way.
-- karma: ouch!
Dyslexia Strikes Again
by
otterpop378
·
· Score: 1
I read that as "iPod Shuffle Discontinued"
Instantly i think "Damn it, this is what i miss when i go to work!!"
HTML version of PDF!
by
antdude
·
· Score: 2, Informative
-- Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Re:Pulling tiny electronic devices apart isn't as
by
ZackSchil
·
· Score: 1
I reread the article. They just ripped the rubber membrane but it could be easily glued back in place. However, this photo is far more telling as to the fact that they damaged the thing irreparably. So you're right. Sad really.
CPU and Memory
by
macmurph
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Dear Apple Matters. I think people want to see what the processor and memory are of your broken iPod. Could you please update your web site with photos of those components?
PS. Macro mode on a digital camera could substantially improve the image quality.
Mod up +1 insightful
by
Zhe+Mappel
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Precisely right; your elegant quip really took the wind out of the previous remark.
The fact is that differentiation is measurable by much more than the criteria of design, packaging and marketing; there are objective and subjective issues.
Did anyone else read the title as...
by
Steamhead
·
· Score: 0, Redundant
"IPod Shuffle Discontinued", which promptly made me think "Damn I wanted one".
Thank god.
Re:Pulling tiny electronic devices apart isn't as
by
Ohreally_factor
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Also, this caption from the earlier photo showing how to pull out the USB plug from the case gives us a clue as to what went wrong:
Gripping the plug with pliers and pulling will snap the plug out of the casing. (Make sure not to pull too hard! The ribbon wiring connecting the USB plug to the greenboard is short and rips easily).
Anyway, it's only $100 worth of sad, and the author(s) is making some money from google ads (perhaps enough to get a new iPod Shuffle?).
1) spend $99+tax on iPod shuffle
2) destroy it completely to show that not much is new inside
3) take pictures and post them on the web
4) get minor apple slashdotted
5) withold geeky information from the descriptions and piss people off
6) ???
7) profit?
6) Put ads on the page, as they have done (The amazon link to "iPod and iTunes Hacks" book)
or
7) "profit" by having fun, getting your curiosity satisfied, and/or getting respect from your readers.
What? No circuits?
by
mnmn
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I was expecting to see ICs, what MCU is used, the type of amplifiers and how the capacitors are arranged. Maybe they have a custom IC. Maybe they used a transistor for an amplifier, or no amplification at all. Maybe its a 4-bit MCU + MP3 decoder, or maybe its a 16-bit.
Slashdot demands more.
-- "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you."
-Nim Chimpsky
With something this small, I don't think you're going to be able to find any transistors just sitting there. I doubt you're going to be able to look at one of these and Pspice the diagram. And I believe it has to have some amplification. It's going from digital to analog. It needs some amplification after the analog.
Re:What? No circuits?
by
BlitzPig_Sal
·
· Score: 2, Informative
This thread at head-fi.org has some additional comments regarding the chip.
It looks to be a basic MP3 decoder + DAC + integrated headphone amplifier with support for custom DRM algorithms, no fancy custom chips here. It is interesting that the chip has audio record features as well as FM tuner input and control capability. The data sheet also mentions that it can be upgraded for codecs other than MP3 (and obviously AAC and WMA). Ogg anyone?
Maybe we can expect to see some hacking of this player to enable some of these unused features.
Well done on styling from an apple site.
by
tod_miller
·
· Score: 3, Funny
black/blue bands with black text one them.
Brought to your by the select the text before you read it department.
Poster shows the battery, but what about the RAM? Where's the 512MB/1GB that these things are supposed to hold---that's the more interesting aspects of this device.
No shit man. I'd rather have seen what chips this thing had than an in depth microscopic of the fucking USB cover. Congratulations AppleMatters, way to blow up an iPod.
Anybody who risks voiding their warranty taking apart an iPod should really take the time to set white balance, if possible, so we don't end up looking at yellow versions of what I'm sure is a brilliant white object.
That said, I really appreciate people taking the time pulling this stuff apart. Bravo.
Parts List Request in Comments
by
cr0kin0le
·
· Score: 1
Some anonymous coward on AppleMatters has subsequently asked them to post a parts list:
Wonderful pioneering effort! Kudos! We've all been wondering how this "Man Who Fell To Earth" artifact could be opened! Hope you will post a basic greenboard component list: battery size and any part numbers or markings especially, processor and memory next of course. Thanks a million (well $99 actually) for your sacrifice to the iPod community!
What amazes me is the price...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
This MP3 player from iRiver is also amazingly sleek and sexy, but it costs $150 more than the iShuffle with the same capacity!
How is Apple selling these at such a low price? And will this bring down the price of other flash based players(I imagine it would what with the basic principles of supply and demand)?
Re:Pulling tiny electronic devices apart isn't as
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Some things are not meant to be taken apart by amateurs. It appears at http://www.applematters.com/shufflepopup7.htm he already found out he killed the cable. And in http://www.applematters.com/shufflepopup12.htm it is clear that he broke the ribbon cable. Curiosity is good as long you know your limitations... and have enough money to cover the damage.
Worst dissection ever. The frog I had to dissect in 7th grade made me sad. But not this sad.
-- -
I am made of meat.
Creative 1 GB MuVo Micro N200 MP3 Player is better
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
1 GB of storage. Records via line in & voice via built in microphone. Uses regular AAA batteries. FM Radio & Radio Recording Easy 2.0 USB plug & play stick drive, just copy MP3s over to the MuVo.
Slashdot Mirror
Does anyone have one of these things? If so, can you fast forward through a song or only go to the beginning of a song? I'd like to get one of these but I listen to a lot of hour long (or more) DJ mixes so not being able to seek to a specific point in the song would suck.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
i think that as long as they don't try to eat it, they're in the clear
-mkb
There's a green circuit board thingy and a battery. Oh, and a switch and a headphone jack.
How about these guys do something semi-useful and try and list the components used on the PCB? How about figuring out what kind of battery and what the interface is.
Nope, nothing useful here. Just a bunch of boys smashing a toy.
I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
I take it he got his free IPod.
Page 15.
The battery looks to be a lump of Lithium polymer, other than that, can't really tell anything else about the device. Since they have practically ruined the device, why didn't they go the whole hog and pull off the black plastic covering a few of the components on there...
You're my -v.
Ten years ago this would have been proof of alien visitation. Now, when 95% of the world's computers are functionally similar, only cutting-edge industrial design, packaging, and marketing will differentiate them. Like it or not, Apple is still way out front of everybody else on all counts. They will sell 20,000,000 of these this year.
c'mon apple, sue em! sue em!
Many common Unix application, such as tar, take a '-v' flag which asks the thing to work in verbose mode. He's saying you're the verbose man to his apropos, or something like that. It's geek humor. I laughed.
You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
Ugh, if you have Web Developer installed on Firefox, I highly recommend you use it to turn off the background image. Much easier to read the text with the background off.
I agree with you wholeheartedly but I'm pretty sure they did a good job making sure not to ruin anything. Everything they pulled out should snap right back in.
Talk about striptease! It's not fair only having a link to the next pic in the series. Cut to the money shot already will you. I wanna see it naked!!!
Did you even RTFA? They tore the button-pad off in a (probably) non-repairable way.
karma: ouch!
I read that as "iPod Shuffle Discontinued"
Instantly i think "Damn it, this is what i miss when i go to work!!"
Thanks Google! Much faster over dial-up. :P
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I reread the article. They just ripped the rubber membrane but it could be easily glued back in place. However, this photo is far more telling as to the fact that they damaged the thing irreparably. So you're right. Sad really.
Dear Apple Matters. I think people want to see what the processor and memory are of your broken iPod. Could you please update your web site with photos of those components?
PS. Macro mode on a digital camera could substantially improve the image quality.
The fact is that differentiation is measurable by much more than the criteria of design, packaging and marketing; there are objective and subjective issues.
"IPod Shuffle Discontinued", which promptly made me think "Damn I wanted one".
Thank god.
Also, this caption from the earlier photo showing how to pull out the USB plug from the case gives us a clue as to what went wrong:
Gripping the plug with pliers and pulling will snap the plug out of the casing. (Make sure not to pull too hard! The ribbon wiring connecting the USB plug to the greenboard is short and rips easily).
Anyway, it's only $100 worth of sad, and the author(s) is making some money from google ads (perhaps enough to get a new iPod Shuffle?).
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
1) spend $99+tax on iPod shuffle
2) destroy it completely to show that not much is new inside
3) take pictures and post them on the web
4) get minor apple slashdotted
5) withold geeky information from the descriptions and piss people off
6) ???
7) profit?
I was expecting to see ICs, what MCU is used, the type of amplifiers and how the capacitors are arranged. Maybe they have a custom IC. Maybe they used a transistor for an amplifier, or no amplification at all. Maybe its a 4-bit MCU + MP3 decoder, or maybe its a 16-bit.
Slashdot demands more.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
black/blue bands with black text one them.
Brought to your by the select the text before you read it department.
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
Don't be modest, Honey. The way you get around you could fit in a whole Apple Store.
Poster shows the battery, but what about the RAM? Where's the 512MB/1GB that these things are supposed to hold---that's the more interesting aspects of this device.
Linux at home
Ok.. Ok.. so they got the wrapper off. Big deal..
What we wanna know: HOW DOES IT TASTE?!?
http://macslash.org/comments.pl?sid=5074&cid=86092
Anybody who risks voiding their warranty taking apart an iPod should really take the time to set white balance, if possible, so we don't end up looking at yellow versions of what I'm sure is a brilliant white object. That said, I really appreciate people taking the time pulling this stuff apart. Bravo.
This MP3 player from iRiver is also amazingly sleek and sexy, but it costs $150 more than the iShuffle with the same capacity!
How is Apple selling these at such a low price? And will this bring down the price of other flash based players(I imagine it would what with the basic principles of supply and demand)?
Some things are not meant to be taken apart by amateurs.t is clear that he broke the ribbon cable. Curiosity is good as long you know your limitations... and have enough money to cover the damage.
It appears at http://www.applematters.com/shufflepopup7.htm he already found out he killed the cable. And in http://www.applematters.com/shufflepopup12.htm
i
The joke doesn't get modded funny, but the explanation does!
Worst dissection ever.
The frog I had to dissect in 7th grade made me sad. But not this sad.
- I am made of meat.
1 GB of storage.
Records via line in & voice via built in microphone.
Uses regular AAA batteries.
FM Radio & Radio Recording
Easy 2.0 USB plug & play stick drive, just copy MP3s over to the MuVo.
Has a screen so you can see what your playing!