first, please show me a place where this sandisk 1 GB version sells for under $150. i froogled it, 1 GB is $189, 512 is $139 from reputable sites. even the places you link sell the 1 GB for $160+. shuffle is $99/149 everywhere. no mail-in rebates, no sales, nothing. msrp is $99/149 and those are the prices people will see at best buy, circuit city, etc. most of the time.
as mentioned before, battery system is different. personally, rather than worrying about the life of lithium ion battery being shortened (no, it will not just die in a year) down the line, i prefer the convenience of not having to buy any batteries now. but that's just me.
shuffle plugs directly into an usb port. another advantage (as far as i'm concerned) since that's one less thing i have worry.
radio is a compelling difference for me. voice recorder, i don't care because i don't recall the last time i wanted to record voice on the go.
if i buy a shuffle, i buy it knowing it has no display. i wouldn't buy it first then complain that it doesn't have a display. in the same vain, can i complain that san disk won't play iTMS - something it wasn't designed or claimed to be able to do?
edit: any reason you list shuffle's weight in grams at the end? you should note that the sandisk is almost twice the weight of the shuffle. (~0.8 vs. 1.4 oz.) the main problem with your article is that it's an article mainly about the san disk, with the shuffle used at the beginning as if to lure some mac fans in. most of the details are on the san disk and it's quite clear from the beginning that you have a slant against shuffle. instead of judging the shuffle for what it's advertised to do, you knock it off from the getgo. it's borderline flamebait to post something like this at a mac site and frankly, i'm not sure exactly what you are trying to accomplish. (it's quite obvious that you are expecting some macfan backlash because you apologetically and preemptively post how you like Macs and have bought a mini...) i read david pogue's reviews on NY Times once in a while and he's a lot more balanced. i trust a review he writes because he is at least very good at hiding his bias - at least, he doesn't apologetically write what he likes because he know what he likes has not much of a place in a "review."
