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iPod Shuffle On The Way Out Already?
An anonymous reader writes "A CNN Money article, of all things, talks about the reasons Apple might have for getting rid of the iPod shuffle." From the article: "The shuffle may not be long for this world. The tiny MP3 player, a favorite of gym-goers, is cheap at $129, but lacks a screen. It may soon be replaced by a 1-gigabyte version of the iPod nano, according to UBS analyst Ben Reitzes. Currently, the smallest nano has 2 gigabytes of storage, enough for about 500 songs, and costs $199."
Mac rumours is talking about Apple patent applications for multipoint touchscreen control, prompting speculation (based on clear diagrams) that a video ipod will be all screen with a virtual clickwheel (more reasonable than the tablet application at this point in time).
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http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/02/2006020207
The tiny MP3 player, a favorite of gym-goers, is cheap at $129, but lacks a screen.
1. The $129 is for the 1GB version. The 512MB is very popular at $99, a full $100 less than the iPod Nano.
2. While the Nano's screen is very cool (*I* want one!), not everyone needs one. I gave my wife a 512MB Shuffle a little while back, and she couldn't be happier. As far as she's concerned, the screen is just a liability that she would never use anyway. Thus she's in no hurry to upgrade.
In fact, I probably wouldn't have gotten my wife an iPod at all if the 512MB price point wasn't so low. She asked me explicitly not to spend too much money on her (she was afraid I'd go out and get a $300 iPod), so I took the route of saving up a bit of extra spending cash here and there for a few months, and paid cash for the Shuffle. Even at $150, the Nano would be priced a bit too high for such a range.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I'm one of the aforementioned gym-goers and my iPod shuffle has been part of the reason I've lost so much geekweight(30kg) in the last year. Having a little, robust and fuss-free mp3 player with me has got me through some tough long distance runs and some gym sessions where I didn't want to be there.
I often sit there for ages with my iPod video not knowing which of the 30gb of music & podcasts I actually want to listen to, having that hassle on runs before with other media players has been more than off-putting.
Likewise one of the best uses for my Shuffle has been that I can use it as a flash drive. It works great, and loads on EVERYTHNG and is about the size a flash drive should be, which is NOT what the Nano is.
Nothing says they cant just throw a screen on the tiny Shuffle form factor, even if it mattered which looking at Apple's Sales figures, it didnt.
Looks to me this is just some more uninformed analyst chestbeating.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
I use the 60Gb for day-to-day use at home and in the car, and my wife uses her Mini the same way. But we've also got a Shuffle for two reasons:
- it's plugged into the stereo, so we can load it up with appropriate music for a party and leave it playing
- I sometimes take it kayaking.
For both of those applications, a screen and a larger capacity are irrelevant. But by the same token, neither the screen nor the larger capacity would be an impediment, so if Apple wanted to rationalize the product line a bit and bring out a Nano at the $100 price point, I'm sure they'd sell bazillions of them, even to people who only needed a Shuffle.
The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
My dad has a bit less than 20/20 eyesight. If we give him a Nano or regular iPod he would fumble around with the clickwheel to select what he wants to listen to in the car. With the shuffle he just loads it with the few things that he wants and skips around.
If it's not making business sense I understand... but it is a good product. I hope that they are just coming out with a new incarnation of the Shuffle.
I've never had a problem with any of them, and I've got probably 20-25 throughout the house.
That many batteries in a house? Must be a toddler nearby.
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
I don't simply download illegal music without discretion so I have countless songs I have never heard of by artists I am not familiar with. All the music on my iPod is legit and payed for and known.
I have lots of music from artists I'm not familiar with. I frequent mp3blogs and visit artist's websites and download half a dozen demo songs at a time, then just stick them in iTunes like tiny time-bombs set to go off randomly in my Party Shuffle. I also buy used CDs and sometimes even cheap mix CDs from gas stations, and toss them in as well... so I never know what I'm going to hear.
Even on my iPod Shuffle.
But that's OK, I'll hear it again soon enough when iTunes gets around to playing it. If I like it, a quick trip to the iTunes Music Store gets me another half dozen time-bombs to add to my supply.
Life is random.
Long before mp3blogs and the iPod Shuffle I used to buy cheap mix CDs
Heh. Had I mod points they would be yours.
I had a MuVo, which I gave to my mother when I picked up a Shuffle. Am I under the impression that the Shuffle is the perfect player? No. Would I recommend it to everyone? No. Would I recommend it to people whose needs and use patterns are similar to mine? Yes... but I'd suggest looking at the Nano as well.
There are good and bad points to all of the players out there. For example, the shuffle is light, very small, supports bookmarkable files, and allows you to skip them while in shuffle mode (no need to skip past that audiobook while out for a run), it has the best interface on the Mac, and being bright white is easy to spot on my cluttered desk. On the other hand, there is no "skip album" feature, no "skip N songs" feature, and no screen, so navigating long playlists (especially those where you don't remember which songs are where) is a pain in the ass (fortunately, none of these are really a problem for how I use it: audiobooks in the car, random songs when I run/bike). It's too easy to hit the next/previous track buttons when trying to adjust the volume, it's too easy to shift it into shuffle mode when you want straight play mode, and the battery status button is way too non-responsive.
And of course there's the battery issue: do you want the long term pain of a dead battery a few years down the road and no ability to recharge without a powered USB port nearby, or do you prefer the shorter, repeated pain of constantly switching out batteries, but with the ability to change them on a bus or on top of a mountain?
Bottom line, there is no "best player", only "best current player for a specific set of needs".
-30-
A quick google finds me a lot of people who say they think this must be a problem, but I'm not finding anyone who says it's happened to them.
Personally I'm convinced I'd just plain lose a Nano, and the scratching put me off to start with, but "snaps in half" doesn't register on my list of concerns. Evidence?
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
This is true if all you do is play a list of songs. But if you want management, you need iTunes or its equivalent. Just for one example, with a couple of mouse clicks and a few key strokes, I can create a smart playlist that finds 1 gig of songs that I've rated 3 stars or higher, that meet certain specified genre conditions, and that I haven't heard in the last two months. This is updated dynamically and then used to fill my shuffle. Hardly something you can do easily by drag and drop.