iPod Future of the Shuffle

[Alasta]

Lately, I've been thinking about what updates may occur to the Shuffle in the future. It's a tough question, because the main benefit of the Shuffle is that fact that it's so simple, so there isn't much that Apple can add in terms of functionality except for possible capacity increases.

My own speculation is that Apple will regularly update the physical form of the Shuffle to try and encourage people to replace theirs regularly to stay in fashion.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[Lacero]

I could see it becoming even smaller and lighter, and cheaper. But I don't see capacities increasing beyond 2GB at the most, since trying to navigate through that many songs really requires a screen and clickwheel.

 

[cr2sh]

Lately, I've been thinking about what updates may occur to the Shuffle in the future. It's a tough question, because the main benefit of the Shuffle is that fact that it's so simple, so there isn't much that Apple can add in terms of functionality except for possible capacity increases.

My own speculation is that Apple will regularly update the physical form of the Shuffle to try and encourage people to replace theirs regularly to stay in fashion.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Memory will increase, battery life will improve and price will lower.

Design aspects may change, wireless connectivity may be added... but that stuff hasn't even happened to the big one yet. So who knows.

 

[biohazard6969]

I could see it becoming even smaller and lighter, and cheaper. But I don't see capacities increasing beyond 2GB at the most, since trying to navigate through that many songs really requires a screen and clickwheel.

isn't the point of the ipod shuffle to just hold a couple songs anyways? its not necessarily meant to replace a normal ipod, just meant for like a long jog or a workout, thats why it doesn't have a screen, theres no need to make it in more than 1 GB IMO

 

[howard]

this may be a stupid comment, but i think the shuffle could be even smaller...i shouldn't say could cause i don't know..but should.

 

[Bozola]

How about rounded corners all around???

That would be a nice update!

 

[mymemory]

Memory will increase, battery life will improve and price will lower.

"...and price will lower"

Over my dead body!
Steve Jobs

 

[Loge]

Support for more than one playlist - particularly if they go above 1GB.

 

[yippy]

640k ought to be enough for anybody

There will always be a demand for more space if it is possible. Would you like to carry your files in an external hard drive or something that is the size of a pack of gum? Also, higher capacity doesn't have to mean more songs, it could mean higher quality recordings, you never know.

I think the main updates to the shuffle will be higher capacity and lower price.

 

[dmw007]

Lately, I've been thinking about what updates may occur to the Shuffle in the future. It's a tough question, because the main benefit of the Shuffle is that fact that it's so simple, so there isn't much that Apple can add in terms of functionality except for possible capacity increases.

My own speculation is that Apple will regularly update the physical form of the Shuffle to try and encourage people to replace theirs regularly to stay in fashion.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

My predictions-
1) Price Drop
2) Larger storage (2GB+...eventually)
3) Perhaps a tiny LCD or OLED (when they started being mass produced) display.
4) Perhaps multiple colored models (like the iPod mini)

 

[aswitcher]

My predictions-
1) Price Drop
2) Larger storage (2GB+...eventually)
3) Perhaps a tiny LCD or OLED (when they started being mass produced) display.
4) Perhaps multiple colored models (like the iPod mini)

1 - yep
2 - yep in line with 1
3 - unlikely because of cost and new tech
4 - likely

And voice recording!

Metal shell pro 2 giger

 

[quackattack]

Support for more than one playlist - particularly if they go above 1GB.

Yes! I would love to see this!

I wonder, could they update this with software? 1 GB can be a hassle to navigate at times.

 

[DrEasy]

Support for more than one playlist - particularly if they go above 1GB.

All they'd need to do is add a "skip playlist/album" button. You'd just need a few button clicks to get to any song. No real need for a screen, since you should be able to remember more or less which 5/10 albums you've loaded, right?

Add that button and I'll buy a Shuffle right away.

 

[DavidLeblond]

If they fix it so my Shuffle remembers where it left off (randomly when I turn it on it goes back to the beginning of the shuffled playlist forcing me to hit skip until I get to a song I don't remember hearing) then I'll be fine.

Oh that and fix the volume leveling problem. On some of my songs in iTunes I've set the volume louder because the songs are so quiet. Well on my shuffle for some reason these songs are REALLY loud and thats REALLY annoying.

Ok so these are more bug fixes than features...

 

[wordmunger]

How about a "microshuffle?" Basically this would just be a set of headphones. There would be nothing apparent in the headphones that it was anything but headphones, but inside would also be all the electronics of a shuffle.

I'm not talking about this, either. The entire shuffle should fit in a package the size of earbuds.

 

[quackattack]

How about a "microshuffle?" Basically this would just be a set of headphones. There would be nothing apparent in the headphones that it was anything but headphones, but inside would also be all the electronics of a shuffle.

I'm not talking about this, either. The entire shuffle should fit in a package the size of earbuds.

That would be cool, but then you would be stuck with the stock ear buds!

 

[Alasta]

If they fix it so my Shuffle remembers where it left off (randomly when I turn it on it goes back to the beginning of the shuffled playlist forcing me to hit skip until I get to a song I don't remember hearing) then I'll be fine.

If you hit the 'play/pause' button rapidly three times, it will re-shuffle your songs into a new random order.

Oh that and fix the volume leveling problem. On some of my songs in iTunes I've set the volume louder because the songs are so quiet. Well on my shuffle for some reason these songs are REALLY loud and thats REALLY annoying.

I haven't really noticed this. I'd recommend that you make sure you've got Sound Check switched off (under preferences/audio). Sound Check is a good idea in principle but, because it doesn't factor in differences in the signal-noise ratio, it tends to cause problems such as you describe.

 

[Crikey]

I could see it becoming even smaller and lighter, and cheaper. But I don't see capacities increasing beyond 2GB at the most, since trying to navigate through that many songs really requires a screen and clickwheel.

I thought the whole point of the Shuffle was that people don't navigate through songs on it, but either just play a playlist in order or put it on shuffle play.

After reading the tests at PC Magazine where the Shuffle beat all but one of the other players tested in its bass response, I was a little tempted to get one (I play electric bass and sometimes it's hard to make out the bass parts on my 1st gen iPod). But the lack of screen doesn't grab me. Now I'm kinda tempted to get a MUVO N200, because it's smaller and cheaper and has a line input -- I could plug it into the aux outs of the mixer at band rehearsal and record the rehearsal.

I still really want a newer-generation iPod that can record 16bit/44.1KHz uncompressed audio in real time. I despair that Apple will make one, so my next player might have to come from someone else.


Crikey

 

[solvs]

I still really want a newer-generation iPod that can record 16bit/44.1KHz uncompressed audio in real time.

You and me both. They won't even let the mini record at all. But it's an issue with the RIAA. They're afraid you're going to bring your iPod to a concert and start recording the live show (like people don't do that anyway). Kinda sucks that for once, being the best is actually hurting Apple. That, and a lot of people don't really need it. I'd recommend a $30 tape recorder, it will sound better than a lot of what's out there (same for on-board radio).

 

[whyrichard]

a screen for watching wide movies.



dualcore usb. ?



r.

 

[BornAgainMac]

I would have been happy for a $25 dollar Shuffle with even 32 Mb of memory and a 3 hour battery life. I just want a few songs for jogging. I can easily swap out the songs with a fresh new list for my next run. I don't mind if a song repeats during a workout.

The 512 is overkill for my needs so I use some of that wasted space for files. I have the full size iPod when I want more music.

 

[dongmin]

Faster file transfers

I'm about to get a Cruzer 1GB flash drive. If the Shuffle was comparable in speed, I'd definitely get it over anything else. But as is, it's not that practical. Too slow.

 

[solvs]

I'm about to get a Cruzer 1GB flash drive. If the Shuffle was comparable in speed, I'd definitely get it over anything else. But as is, it's not that practical. Too slow.

I'm pretty sure that since they're both USB 2, it's kind of a moot point. When I use my Shuffle as a drive it seems as quick as any other USB flash drive I've used. That's a good price though, if you don't need the music playing.

 

[pretentious]

A clock on the little thing!

I typically set up playlist in iTunes based off of playrate and when I last listen to a song, so I get less repeats and more of a random mix.
I'm typically not far from my notebook, except for maybe a 15-20 minute walk from home to work, so I thought the shuffle would be right up my ally. But I didn't realize that there is no inner clock! Even though the playcount is kept (much better then any other flash mp3 players), play times wasn't. So if I didn't want to listen to anything that I've played within the past week my playlist don't work correctly.

Anyway in the future I think the shuffle is only going to get physically smaller, I don't see any reason why the Shuffle needs any more memory, it'll then need a screen and navigation like what you get from the mini and the reg. iPod. The mini might become a flashed based as cost go down, but I see the shuffle as just a tiny music player for people to sync and go, and don't need their entire library with them.