Apple Releases Smaller 4GB iPod Shuffle in Black and Silver

[sushi]

Incredible design, very ambitious to remove the buttons. I am impressed.

Agree. Cool design.

I love how you now can't use any other headphones that don't have a controller on them.

To me, that is a definite negative. I want to be able to use my own choice for earphones.

I'm assuming someone will be selling an adapter cable shortly that has the controls and allows you to plug in any headphone you want.

Still, makes it more expensive.

Agree with you about the adapter. And yes, it will make the overall purchase more expensive.

Overall, I do like the look of the new Shuffle. However, the improvements aren't enough for me to purchase one. My 2G Shuffle still works great for me.

 

[Ade-iMac-177]

Ha! Loyal and diehard?

Have you looked at these threads? They're FULL of people complaining about what they hate about the newest product.

The new Shuffle won't work with my headphones and I won't buy a Nano.
The new iMac is only a little better than the last so I won't buy anything.
The Apple TV isn't a Mac Mini, so I'll never buy that.

Meanwhile, out in the real world, I've helped friends and family members buy dozens of Macs, iPods, and iPhones. Guess what? The people I know who are SPENDING MONEY at the Apple stores usually have much different priorities and concerns than the people around here (who are quick to point out how much they WON'T be spending on Apple products.)

So yes, I think Apple should pay more attention to the people coming into their stores than to the people complaining on the internet.

wow, calm down dude! Loyal and diehard is not blindly excepting a bad/flawed (if that is persons opinion) product, it is buying the products that they love and giving feedback on the ones the less than love. It's all about opinions. I and no doubt many others have, who personally don't like the new Shuffle, helped people buy mac and other Apple products. We are die-hard, we live for apple through the good times and the bad (not that the shuffle is a bad time). We are loyal, we always buy what we like.

 

[ri0ku]

No blueray?!?! come on man.....

 

[Kwill]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

Apple earphones donor fit everyone. They fall from mine from mere gravity without strenuous exertion. Apple takes abig chance with the one-size-fits-all approach. A corded control with female ends in which custom earphones are inserted would be ideal for all iPod/iPhone products. Apple could include their default ends and let third parties offer more refined ones.

 

[TheSlush]

Earphone Monopoly??

I love the minimalist design and appreciate the VoiceOver innovation. However, like a lot of other people, I'm disappointed that Apple's aggressive buttonlessness means I'm locked in to using a set of earphones that I don't prefer. The shape of my inner ears don't take very well to Apple's earbuds; they won't stay in for the life of them. Now if I buy this new Shuffle, I'll have no choice. Bad for me. Here's hoping for some kind of third-party adapter.

Again, appreciate the exploration of new navigation/communication methods using sound/voice. But when I hear that Leopard voice, I can't help thinking of Stephen Hawking. I actually prefer the Tiger/PC voice! And some of those non-English voices sound nice too, although I don't speak those languages, so maybe I just can't tell how robotic they are, too.

It's rare that I have to vote "negative" on a new-Apple-product post. But this earphone monopoly thing is a deal-breaker.

 

[brygruver]

They are. I just think that Apple is going down the wrong path with proprietary earbuds.

I am trying to teach my daughter a lesson in patience and responsibility. The idea of saving until you can purchase without going to dad is what I am trying to teach. I also want her to have the joy and anticipation of waiting for a UPS delivery and opening the box for herself. Not a reason to complain about the change, but the earbuds are. I find it silly to have to buy another set of earbuds since we already have some that work for her smaller ears.

I will likely order a refurbished second gen for her, but if that gets lost or damaged, I think the additional expense of new headphones is shortsighted on Apple's part.

We all have our different opinions on this matter.

I'm fairly sure they know EXACTLY what they are doing. They WANT you to buy new headphones. lol

That's sorta Apple's thing. New Products almost every year. New Form Factor, New Color, etc. They like it when you spend your money.

 

[Michael CM1]

So much anger.

Every electronics manufacturer I can think of attempts this. They all have their proprietary connectors, formats, software etc. It's a well known way of up-selling - getting the consumer to buy more stuff of you!

"Oh, this Wii is an awesome game...WHAT? I CAN ONLY USE NINTENDO'S CONTROLLERS? WHAT A RIP!!!"

My first thought on these was "thank goodness. Those old iPod shuffles were just way too bulky for me." But now I'm just amused at all of the whining over the headphone buttons thing. The 2nd generation shuffles are still available, and THERE ARE THREE OTHER KINDS OF IPODS TO BUY. Nothing like a bunch of earbud snobs to ruin what does look like a neat product. I still love my iPhone, but I at least like the look and idea of this.

 

[Ade-iMac-177]

It requires the yet-unreleased iTunes 8.1.

http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/specs.html

Indeed, Apple always updates iTunes when a new iPod is released. It is going from 8.0.2 to 8.1 so do you think it will have any new features or little bits included. No doubt it will have a few stability and performance tweaks and improvements too.

 

[Mac21ND]

Is anyone else suffering from the "I really want to like this, but I don't think I do" syndrome?

I'm not even underwhelmed or disappointed, it just feels, so... Samsung or SanDisk.

 

[edgew8]

not having an Apple logo on this thing will make it so much easier for the Chinese knock off market.

 

[deputy_doofy]

I have my current iPod shuffle in my car. It uses the old tape adapter method - plugs into headphone jack, and a "tape" plugs into the tape deck. Low tech, but plays my music in the car.

There's no option to do this anymore with the new iPod shuffles.

 

[TheSlush]

No blueray?!?! come on man.....

I know. They could have easily put Blu-ray controls on the left earbud cord.

 

[contractcooker]

Really?!?

Apple's so cute with their proprietary accessories. Just when you think they can't make any other part proprietary they go and squeeze out the 3rd party headphone market.

My guess is that Apple or an official accessory maker will start selling a controller dongle momentarily. I bet it'll cost $29. Lovely.

Of course the truth is most iPod users use the Apple headphones, so it's only an issue for a tiny minority.

You really think that the majority of iPod users use the ****** apple headphones™. If that's true then.... wow... just wow.... What I guess I'm trying to say is that ........ WOW!!! how the hell can people stand those things.... I mean I don't have the greatest ears but those just sound like complete garbage to me... and I don't know a single person with an iPod that uses them.

 

[mondesi43]

"Oh, this Wii is an awesome game...WHAT? I CAN ONLY USE NINTENDO'S CONTROLLERS? WHAT A RIP!!!"

My first thought on these was "thank goodness. Those old iPod shuffles were just way too bulky for me."

Are you flippin' kidding? I hope there's some sarcasm

 

[Roessnakhan]

An entry-level mp3 player with proprietary headphones sounds like a terrible idea to me.

 

[smartalic34]

Uh, did you ever stop to think that maybe most of the people who buy iPods just use the included headphones? I mean, the white headphone cord is a god damn fashion statement these days. Who outside of MacRumors weirdos buys an $80 MP3 player then spends another $40 on headphones?

the lovely people at head-fi.org routinely pair up iPods with expensive headphones. many ipods, including the 1st gen shuffle and both gens of the mini, have fantastic sound when paired with a decent set of 'phones. and we're talking more than $40 on the headphones

 

[j5045096]

Ha! Loyal and diehard?

Have you looked at these threads? They're FULL of people complaining about what they hate about the newest product.

The new Shuffle won't work with my headphones and I won't buy a Nano.
The new iMac is only a little better than the last so I won't buy anything.
The Apple TV isn't a Mac Mini, so I'll never buy that.

Meanwhile, out in the real world, I've helped friends and family members buy dozens of Macs, iPods, and iPhones. Guess what? The people I know who are SPENDING MONEY at the Apple stores usually have much different priorities and concerns than the people around here (who are quick to point out how much they WON'T be spending on Apple products.)

So yes, I think Apple should pay more attention to the people coming into their stores than to the people complaining on the internet.

That brought a tear to my eye. You sir are brilliant and beautiful. If you ran for president I'd vote for you.

 

[gmcalpin]

Put me on the "We can't use our own headphones with it? Forget it then." camp.

We'll also put you in the "didn't read any of the dozens of posts that already noted you can use an adapter with your existing headphones" camp.

I have my current iPod shuffle in my car. It uses the old tape adapter method - plugs into headphone jack, and a "tape" plugs into the tape deck. Low tech, but plays my music in the car.

There's no option to do this anymore with the new iPod shuffles.

But... you already have a Shuffle in your car, so you don't need one of the new ones, do you?

 

[iSee]

A common scenario will be:

Someone buys 3rd Gen Shuffle.
Accidentally breaks headphones, or loses them.
Ends up with an unusable brick until they can replace the headphones, which will no doubt be a similar price to buying a whole new Shuffle.

That's totally unfair!

At its size, the new shuffle would be more like an unusable lego brick.

Get your facts straight, dude.

 

[iOrlando]

you people realize if Steve went on stage and talked about how it is so much cooler having the buttons on the headphones...everyone would go...ahh..now I see it..you are so right...what was I thinking....buttons on the actual device? pffff

 

[0098386]

Ok fair enough you got some reasons for whining. YOU CAN'T SKIP SONGS, WHAT? You can with the earphones, right? That can't be right. Ok so you can't stick it into an amp, big deal, so many ipods to get instead, but I am sure they will come up with an amp cable with controls.

If you reach what I posted instead of being upset about people being critical I said skip through, which means to fast forward or rewind.

Apple apologists are quite funny though. "every computer used to come with a processor, but thank god for Apple pushing the way forward by not providing one in their latest iMacs"
Seriously I wouldn't mind IF it came with a remote with a jack on the end to then use any headphones. But you know what? They didn't. And they're going to charge way too much for one when it is out.

 

[Ade-iMac-177]

Is anyone else suffering from the "I really want to like this, but I don't think I do" syndrome?

I'm not even underwhelmed or disappointed, it just feels, so... Samsung or SanDisk.

Yes. i know what you mean. It is not a bad product and i actually feel bad for tearing it apart in a previous comment it is just i am not excited by it like i am about a number of apple products. But they can't all be super amazing and new all the time. Some times incremental and minimal updates is all you get. To be fair it is a nice product, it's just not for me.

 

[ri0ku]

When I saw the design i imediatly thought.. "Apple should make usb pendrives..." The design is cool altho i can see the front being abit boring and might have been cool with the apple logo on like on the back.

I like the fact its only the apple logo on the back too and doesnt have "I POD" under it.

I think the use of headphones thing is abit lame.. altho I anticipate that they will release a control wire so that they make more money and you can put your own headphones in (it makes sence)

The voice thing is total garbage tho.. what is the point.. like someone else has already stated.. "why do we need a crappy voice telling us what music we are listening too" from our own music library.. I mean im hardly going to go "whoa whats that song? i dont recignise it" why would it be in my library in the first place?

The voice's are also quite lame there very low quality and i just think there useless... if they talk through your playlist it might take forever..

all in all it will be nice if the price was dropped and they brought out a controller wire so we can use our own headphones

Like I said im sure they will anyway.. means more money for them

 

[neoelectronaut]

So are these available today?

I'm tempted to pick one up on the way home.

I love how tiny it is. I had a 2G shuffle but the 1GB limit was a bit hard to swallow, so I ended up giving it to my sister when I got my iPod Touch with the educational deal back last June.

And the iPod Touch is nice, but the screen is getting scratched to hell (I do have a screen protector, but frankly I'm afraid to see if any of the scratches have been deep enough to penetrate it.) and it's overly large to deal with.

So it'll be nice to have something tiny that I don't have to worry about breaking or scratching easily.

Edit: Just saw on the site it's available Thursday. *twitch*

Oh well, maybe I'll wait a week or two afterall. I can imagine that they'll be hard to come by at first anyway.

 

[stainlessliquid]

Another product with a proprietary connection to an essential function. Looks like Apple is returning to their old ways.

The revolutionary new VoiceOver feature enables iPod shuffle to speak your song titles, artists and playlist names.

I wonder how many people still listen to Snoop Doggy Dog Doggystyle, some interesting song names people will have to be calling out.