Comments on: Stop complaining about the new iPod Shuffle

Some people are unhappy that Apple released the new iPod Shuffle with its controls on the earbud cord. But put the extra dongle cost into perspective.

[fondy]

From a marketing standpoint, this is pure genius. Just a few weeks ago I read an article that mentioned the relationship between bad economic times and small-ticket purchases. One of the well known cosmetic companies found that during the Great Depression and other recessions, sales of lipstick and other lower priced cosmetics actually increased. Even with the need to purchase an additional headphone dongle, with these tough times I predict the Shuffle will outsell all other current iPod models.

[doughoist1]

Apple is persistent in annoying their customers. I bought a new ipod a while ago only to find that all my made for iPod products were no longer allowed to work with it. No longer allowed, not that they couldn't have, they were not allowed. My iPod dvd player would no longer work and if I wanted to watch video of any kind on my TV, I had to buy yet another $50 cable that looks exactly like the last $50 cable except it was implanted with a chip. I bought top of the line and would not have minded or known any better if they had chosen to charge an additional $50 for the iPod. But instead they would screw over a one time loyal customer. No, I will not be buying from Apple again as long as they treat their customers this way.

[SlimGem]

Once again, the experts here have predicted the failure of another Apple product.

If only Apple would read these comments, they might have a chance of being a successful company that makes products people actually want. Sigh - so sad.

[aztec92154]

Just a few Apple failures: Power Mac G4 Cube and Apple Newton.

[SlimGem]

skillingssucks,

Yes, and you do it so well.

[bourgtai]

"what are you going to do--go out and buy an MP3 player from another company because you don't want to pay an additional $20 to use your own pair of headphones?"

Yes. You make that sound like such a stupid thing to do, when in fact, buyers can get an 8 GB Zen Mozaic for the same price as an iPod Shuffle with headphone-freeing dongle. And here's the kicker: The Mozaic has a screen AND buttons.

[Vorgamorth]

If your degree of dedication to music is such that you simply MUST use 3rd party headphones to listen to music, then I submit you should have bought one of the bigger iPods to begin with. Apple packages headphones with the device, it is intended for an audience that either wants a small, lightweight player for easy travel/exercise, or cannot afford a larger iPod. If you are not in the latter camp, another few bucks for a dongle that lets you use your 3rd party phones is not much to ask.

Don't like it? Easy. Don't buy it.

[aztec92154]

Its sooooo sad that people have a strong opinion of something they've never even touched or physically seen. Get to an Apple store and try it out first, k?

[skillingssucks]

What's even sadder is that you can't need to touch or see something to understand it.

[aztec92154]

Its so sad you use ignorance to argue your point. I'm not saying that I like or even dislike said product. I'm saying that to hype or talk down a product before you have a chance to try it out is naive. Let me give you an example: The standard computer mouse - you can see it, it can be explained to you how it works, but you just need to try it out before you can decide whether to go with it or a trackball.

[skillingssucks]

Not the same, Einstein. If you think that people that have used iPods before, numerous times over several generations even, can't understand the concept of the controls being on the earbuds instead of on the iPod itself without having to see it and touch it in person, then you're an imbecile of unimaginable proportions. This isn't even the first time a company has done this, my old Logitech's are the same way. I don't have to have seen or touched this generation of iPods to know that that is a bad idea. If you do, then there is absolutely no hope for you. But please, do us all a favor...and don't breed.

[aztec92154]

Ugh. I hate responding to young pimple faced world of war craft obsessed couch potatoes, but please rise up from your twix stained couch. Put DOWN your taco town taco for a second and hear this out. If you were a runner, you'd see how useful this little contraption would be. Looking down at a fully featured Arcos 7 would really suck during a long run. Looking at a screen while running is inconvenient. Think about it, try real hard. Okay, don't think about it, "make believe" that you decide to squeeze out of your chair and go for a run - with your heart beating like an African tribal ritual is about to begin. Then you start to run... no wait... you're not gonna run.. you're going to power walk and watch your heart rate ramp up. Why are your arms flailing around as your run? No one knows, but it amuses the neighborhood dogs as you skip by. The question is, with your heart rate beating faster than uzi rounds can be fired off, how are you going to navigate passed "eye of the tiger" (by survivor) to "Going The Distance". You need that extra pump of energy (and don't even think of putting a Red Bull in your body, trust me, that will be the last straw for your already cellophane walled heart- don't push your luck). All I'm saying is that a few clicks is about the only thing you WOULD want to do. If only to hear Bill Conti's inspiring words that motivated Rocky Balboa to, you guessed it, "go the distance." Savvy?

[SlimGem]

"I don't have to have seen or touched this generation of iPods to know that that is a bad idea."

Looks like zit-face is omniscient. Apple (and everyone else) should consult with him first.

[robbagley1]

I own an iPod Shuffle, a Touch and a Clickwheel for which I paid a good amount of hard earned cash, each one has its pro's and cons but eventually these products supersede each other. It bugs me that I would need to buy a dongle for the phones I prefer to use with my shuffle - I use it in the gym and when I move around the ordinary buds fall out. So come on what's wrong with putting a join on the cable so you can use any pair of phones! Apple can make make better designs than this that are more user friendly.

RB London UK

[zankapfel]

i couldn't care less about the fact that the controls were moved from the device onto the cord. i think it's an ingenious way of thinking that led to a smaller player, which is really cool from the tech perspective.

but the design and implementation of it is just hideous. 2 clicks to skip forward? 3 to go back? click and hold for voice-over? at what point did it become necessary to learn a new code to operate my music player? it wouldn't have killed apple to put 5 buttons on the thing instead of 3 and have almost the exact same functionality as the previous gen. (or for that matter, simply 3 buttons and a volume slider.) they would have only needed to add the hold-for-voice-over-and-playlists thing. it's a ridiculous set-up that puts minimalism before common sense. seriously, i have no industrial design experience whatsoever, and i've seen how the product works for a whole 5 minutes. i should not be able to think of a better way to do it than apple's team of designers and engineers.

also, does anyone else remember when the iPod Femto was just a joke?

[HulkSmashForever]

Spend forty less bucks and get an 8GB Sansa Clip at your local Wal-Mart. It has a screen, FM tuner, recording, and an incredible sound.

[Perry_Clease]

The FM tuner is what I would use the most. :)

[danielwharton]

I think the cost argument is odd. If you are mostly worried about cost apple products are not amongst the most affordable. The nano vs shuffle argument is also an odd argument. They are way too different.

I think the controls in the headphone cord make a ton of sense for this device. I wish they were forward thinking enough back when they made the iphone controls. It would be really nice to have volume control like this on the iphone headphones and my $450 shure headphones with iphone controls would already be able to work the new shuffle (the long hold function may still have been a problem--not totally sure their approach there). This would make the new shuffle an easy buy. I still may get one as the crappy iphone headphones are about right for use at the gym or when biking where you still may want to hear some of what is going on around you (and a little bit because I think this new nano looks stupid cool : ).

The reason they didn't include the dongle is because its a kludge. They want the most elegant solution to be the default, which is what this is.

[caffemacchiato]

"but what are you going to do--go out and buy an MP3 player from another company because you don't want to pay an additional $20 to use your own pair of headphones?"

The is a weak statement. Human logic is not a case of simple gain vs loss arithmetic. Of course the author knew that already.

[mike.gw]

You folks complaining about 3rd party headphone capability are CRAZY! My iPod and iPhone headphones fall out my ear from time to time. The solution? Those foam covers that slip over the headphones. Apple used to include them with the headphones, but the people who now complain that their headphones fall out, once complained that the original iPod headphones were too BIG and hurt their ears! I have plenty of those foam covers laying around, and I bet you do too. USE THEM! Why would someone buy different headphones to use with a SHUFFLE? Quality headphones cost more than the shuffle itself. Don't say it's simply for the best sonic quality, because I don't expect a device smaller than my thumb to deliver the best sonic experience. I'm 43 and was a teen when Sony was pumping out millions of cassette Walkman players. A shuffle sounds many times better than the best Walkmans of that era, and it sounds good enough for it's intended purpose... for those listening to music while being highly active. It's not an entry level iPod... it's a specific purpose iPod. If the new shuffle doesn't meet your purposes, DANG, Apple has plenty others that do!

And if you folks can afford $100 headphones to hook to any iPod, you shouldn't be complaining about a $20 adapter! The new shuffle looks like a great addition to the iPod product family.

[BarrySumpter]

2nd Gen design is brilliant.
$x9 for 2 gig? Bought one for the wife as well.
Both red and donations with free engraving from Apple.
Sounds fantastic.
Slips on my wristwatch band.
I can use any head phones with it.
I ride a bike and walk and do chores with the cable inside my shirts.
Running along my arm and the back of my neck.
Using the ear phones that hook over my ears.
Where I can hear the road noice very well.
And can bend my wrist comfortably.
And NOT the ones wedge into my ears uncomfortably while cutting off all sound.
Reaching accross to touch my wrist thru winter gloves while riding, for me,
is safer than reaching up fumbling for a super small control on the head phone cable.
The video didn't show how to move to the previous song or to replay current song.
The new is not half size its about 3/4 size.
The new headphones are just another way for Apple to charge for a propriatary product.
No thanks.
I'll wait for the next gen.

[BarrySumpter]

Should have mentioned the reasons I chose the shuffle.
Used the nano for a year.
For me, too much mucking about trying to find which pocket the unit was in.
And to much mucking around to use the controls.
Never used it to find a list or artist.
Just wanted to play, repeat, skip forward, pause, volume up or down.
So went to shuffle.
Never looked back.

[llsncl]

I second the statements of several other people on this page, it's not about a $20 dollar dongle, my complaint is not about spending extra money but about the hassle of having the controls seperate from the player in general.

I believe apple has missed the mark entirely with this new shuffle. Think about it, the target audience of the shuffle are those with an active lifestyle. having to use an extra dongle to control your player adds extra bulk and hassle to something designed to be sleek, comfortable, and easy to use. Not only this but imagine trying to use these controls while jogging? I can't imagine it would be particularly easy, plus the size of the last shuffle wasn't even something to complain about. the voice controls are a nice addition but i would have rather just kept the previous size and not sacrificed controls. Without the extra dongle you can't even play your music through externals speakers via an auxiliary cable. No playing your shuffle in a friends car to show them some hot new song, not if you don't have the dongle on hand. It's just a ridiculous sacrifice for a slightly smaller product, I mean how small does the shuffle need to be?

[soundcorsair]

I really think everything is awesome with this new device. The price, the design, the whole package. It is still very new but the accessories will be coming in short time. Yeah, a lot of people might be disappointed with the earphones, but for the size the device really can't be beat.

My new iPod shuffle is on its way. I cant wait.

Soundcorsair
http://www.vstinternetsolutions.com

[Heebee Jeebies]

It has nothing to do with it being too expensive. It is the principle of the whole thing. If Apple gets away with this what's next they sell them with a 15 minute battery or no head phones so that you have spend extra on both of those to get something that works for you. When is the nickle and dimming going to stop? I guess it will stop when lemming like consumers stop jumping off the cliff and make it clear that these kinds of marketing tricks aren't going to fly. But, since apple has done such a great job brain washing their fanboys and fangirls that isn't likely the happen. I guess that little apple logo is the most important thing.

Robert

[QuadFather]

Hear hear!

[Binhlv]

Your article is a piece of crap! Seriously! I got on Apple Store a refurbished iPod nano 3rd gen for 99 bucks, Don. 99 bucks! And I probably don't need to compare between a nano and a shuffle. You all know how different they are. Same price!

[Assais]

Just get a Sansa Clip instead. Cheaper, bigger, better and has a nice little screen. Heck the iPod.

[ciggieoxo]

Good Grief. Doesn't Apple recognize that the Apple iPod is successful because it is simple to use? Squeezing a cord control in three different positions and trying to remember the way it is done is while multitasking is not simple to use. When I heard the news of the new 2009 shuffle, I immediately went to the Apple Store and bought the $49 previous version of the iPod Shuffle.

Got the red one because it will be easier to find where I put the thing. I don't want the Shuffle to get smaller; it was already small enough to lose it in a haystack.

[trav1085]

haha you suck

also in b4 anti-trust lawsuit as apple is forcing their consumers to use their earbuds even though ipod EARBUDS SUCK ******* DONKEY ASS
i would know i've had a pair DIE o nme.