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joose

2:40 PM on 11 March, 2009

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Rubbish.

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Steve

3:05 PM on 11 March, 2009

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The worrying thing is that they will literally sell millions of these new shuffles. Are people stupid or just blissfully ignorant?

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lifethroughalens

3:40 PM on 11 March, 2009

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I simply cannot fathom how pathetic Apple have been with this one.

Maybe they could actually build the mp3 player into the cables of the headphones for even greater minimalism, or perhaps they could patent humming and charge people to, just stand and hum to themselves.

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Ben

3:42 PM on 11 March, 2009

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It's an iPod shuffle. Do you really think that the vast majority of people in the market for one of these care what headphones they have to use with it? If there's enough of a market then I'm sure third parties will bring out 'special' headphones and/or Apple will make an adapter to include the remote but allow any old headphones to be plugged in on the end.

Oh, yeah, and the 2nd generation shuffle is still on sale, too.

The voice thing sounds really cool - can't wait to try that out at the Apple store. The size and weight is great, too - looks good being worn in the pictures. The design is very industrial and minimal, I'm a fan :)

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John McLean

3:46 PM on 11 March, 2009

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What the heck? Surely the whole point of a mini-MP3 player is you attach it to your clothes somewhere reachable, rather than in a pocket or bag, so you don't NEED an inline remote.

Sigh...

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chancykid

3:54 PM on 11 March, 2009

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All the main gadget blogs seem able to contend with this flaw. (maybe they've overlooked it in all the excitement)

This is exactly why I read TR. you have the most impartial views of any website. If Apple make a good product, you praise it. if not, you don't.

I'm a huge fan of the Ipod range, but I agree with what you say here. Not that it will change the views of the mass buying public. This will sell millions. Anyway, keep up the good work TR!

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Gordon394

3:55 PM on 11 March, 2009

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@John - very good point.

@Ben - I wish the majority would, but as a tech reader you certainly should! An adaptor could make non-modular headphones far too long.

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Gordon394

3:58 PM on 11 March, 2009

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@chancykid - much appreciated.

The only loyalty we have at TR is to good products, not companies. Problem can be only a few companies consistently make good products which sometimes leads to accusations of fanboyism but as you see, the moment they don't we're all over them ;)

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AndyR

4:04 PM on 11 March, 2009

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Worst Apple design ever, locking you into those awful headphones is just crazy. I was thinking about getting a Shuffle over the next few weeks, but as I have some Westone UM1 headphones I can't get the new Shuffle now. Epic fail Apple!

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jcwacky

4:23 PM on 11 March, 2009

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Can I just add following this quote from the article:

"It rather needlessly uses different voices depending on whether you sync to a PC or Mac - and predictably, the Mac voice sounds far clearer"

I'm presuming this is because it uses the text to speech engine built into the operating system of the computer you sync it with. (Rather than have a whole engine of it's own on the device which would take up loads of space!) So the reason the voices differ between Windows and Mac is because they both have their own engine. So it's not Apple's fault but Microsoft's fault if the Windows voice is not as good as the Mac voice.

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MadMacs

5:10 PM on 11 March, 2009

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I've never been a huge fan of the Shuffle, and this new refresh isn't about to change my opinion either! :)

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Kashif Bhatti

6:15 PM on 11 March, 2009

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@Ben - completely agree. the vast majority buying this will not care two hoots how good or bad the headphones are, they just want something simple to play, well, simply music. It will sell.

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Chris

6:22 PM on 11 March, 2009

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@James

I agree - sort of. I wouldn't be surprised if the text-to-speech (TTS) processing is done by iTunes and samples of the speech are loaded to the Shuffle along with the music. That might make more sense in a device with bags of storage and less processing oomph than a pocket calculator. The difference in the voices between PC and Mac may be because Apple have licensed different TTS engines for Mac or PC. They probably economised for the PC version though :)

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Gordon394

6:22 PM on 11 March, 2009

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@Kashif @Ben - you forget the shuffle is often a secondary player for people going to the gym, etc. With the loud music in these places better headphones are more vital than ever.

It certainly will sell, but that doesn't mean it deserves it when compared to something vastly superior like the (now £38) 8GB Sansa Clip: http://www.trustedreviews.com/mp3/news/2008/11/12/SanDisk-Boosts-Tiny-Sansa-Clip-to-8GB/p1

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philbot

6:26 PM on 11 March, 2009

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what a load of nerdy snobs you are. most people are quite happy with the supplied headphones - out of the 20 or so friends who own ipods / iphones on me and one other have upgraded to CX300's or whatever. In fact most people wouldn't want to spend extra money after buying an iPod. the shuffle looks brilliant, I hope they sell mi££ions.

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rav

6:34 PM on 11 March, 2009

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the headphone flaw is annoyingly stupid but what about the price. £60 for a screenless, featureless mp3 player. am i the only one who thinks the old shuffle was actually a nicer design and more practical?

saying that you gotta love how apple can turn a flaw into a feature. no screen but hey its got voiceover (to interrupt your listening pleasure). kind of like the how the air had no ethernet (or any) port but was built for the wireless world.

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Gordon394

6:43 PM on 11 March, 2009

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@philbot - I'm guessing you DIDN'T read the link at the very end of the article then...!

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Drazisaurus

6:45 PM on 11 March, 2009

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I don't see what all the fuss is about. It looks sexy, and the thing will now finaly tell you what song you are listening too. Add in the fact that you can now switch between playlists, browsing your collection should be alot quicker. Bravo apple for being different.

I use my shuffle for exercise and maybe listening to some audiobooks and podcasts, music quality isn't my concern for these activities. Not having a screen is a bonus as i dont have to search for it in a pocket or bag, i can just change the track by pressing a button... easy. I'm sure most shuffle owners will feel the same way as this. The shuffle is obviously a secondary music player.

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Drazisaurus

6:51 PM on 11 March, 2009

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Mind you, it is way over priced, 2-3gb too big, and they should have bundled the apple in-ear earphones with it.

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ilovethemonkeyhead

6:56 PM on 11 March, 2009

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@James

of course, all that speech nonsense could be avoided if apple'd just added a mirror finish OLED screen, one that can only be seen when it's on. minimalist and functional...

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pwackert

11:23 PM on 11 March, 2009

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Your title for this article is just silly. You're really forgetting who these products are targeted at. I reckon at least 80% of people who buy these products buy them because they look good,"the latest thing to be seen with" or they want a simple easy to use product. They don't care if the headphones sound rubbish. They're not gonna buy another pair of 30/40 quid headphones for something that's essentially a fashion item. No-one in there right mind should buy an apple mp3 player, because of the "lack of features", "limited file types supported"," locked to itunes", etc etc. but millions of people DO because they're simple and easy to use. They're not TECHY and complicated like most other companies products. This is what apple does. My 60yr mum (who has an ipod nano) doesn't care what the sound quality is like, it works easily and simply and that's all she cares about. As soon as the other companies wake up to these facts the better the audio music player market will be.

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ruthless

11:27 PM on 11 March, 2009

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Another 'Space 1999' product from Apple.

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Gordon394

11:32 PM on 11 March, 2009

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@pwackert - The title is entirely accurate but is silly because you 'reckon' you know who is going to buy them? That's silly ;)

What you forget is a huge number of shuffles are bought as secondary players and the third party earphones are already owned. Unlike a phone or MP3 player, investing in a high quality pair of earphones sees you use them for far longer than one or two years.

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lukealexander

1:30 AM on 12 March, 2009

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What a delightful world we live in - where sound quality is a secondary (or even tertiary) feature of an AUDIO device.

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Peter6

3:29 AM on 12 March, 2009

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Most people I know just use the Apple headphones - 90% of people would be happy - Maybe 3rd party headphones with these controls will be standard soon. Probably not a bad idea.. The text to speech function will one-day be a real winner.. This is Apple setting a standard.

And if you don't like it you can get a iPod nano.

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Gordon394

4:58 AM on 12 March, 2009

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@Peter - you're missing the point. Apple deliberately doesn't set 'a standard', it chooses to use proprietary connections on its iPod range so NO ONE ELSE can join in. Don't you think it would be handy if Sony, SanDisk or Samsung could release units with a dock connector so they worked with all Apple accessories... they can't.

The same problem exists with earphone controls - what works with one brand doesn't always work with another. Would you like 5/10/15 versions of each model of earphone so they would work with different manufacturers?

Then what happens if you want to swap between MP3/handset manufacturers in future? It's time to invest again in new earphones... it's not the answer.

PS - if "Most people {you} know just use the Apple headphones" you should be lecturing them at great length not to.

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ilovethemonkeyhead

7:56 AM on 12 March, 2009

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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3458

they have to have a detailed instruction manual for the thing. this is just full of fail.

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Randy

8:45 AM on 12 March, 2009

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I think this iPod would be brilliant, if it was... yeah, completely different.

There will be remote sold to plug-in 3rd party headphones, but then i reckon the Shuffle will become one of the ugliest mp3 players with controls dangling off the mini-jack, instead of on the player.

See what happens when Jobs isn't around? :)

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Randy

8:53 AM on 12 March, 2009

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Oh and one more thing - if i would design it, i would implement accelerometer to change tracks by shaking it one way or another, and/or i would add multi-touch to the surface. That would keep the neat form-factor and add even more IWOOT (i want one of theese!) factor imho :)

And so it wouldn't randomally skip tracks when you're running and jumping - accelerometer would switch on only if you'll hold the Shuffle in your hands. How hard can it be?

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JonathanWilliamson

8:59 AM on 12 March, 2009

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I may seem a Luddite, but I have a first generation Shuffle which I use for running and for the gymn. It is perfect as a secondary iPod (albeit with only 1Gb of memory) and the lack of screen is not an issue for me. I think removing the controls and appending them to the headphones is kicking the *rse out of it however. The first generation Shuffle was hardly a brick.

Incidentally, I agree wholeheartedly with those who advocate the immediate replacement of the bundled Apple earphones. They are indefensibly poor. Lukealexander is on the money.

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haim

9:13 AM on 12 March, 2009

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To be fair, Apple is hardly alone in the proprietary connection issue. Sony is notorious with its phones, even if their sound quality is good. I wouldn't be surprised if Sony used a proprietary connection on their players, if they weren't being creamed by ipod sales.

I already look so silly with my big cans, player AND headphone amp, that changing to a small sexy player isn't really gonna help, so I'll give it a miss. But I can understand who Apple is targetting and that they don't really give a rats rear-end if trusted reviews readers, and their ilk, are not buying.

So yes, a technical flaw, but perhaps a business strength.

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GoldenGuy

9:49 AM on 12 March, 2009

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So let's take stock for a second. Our internal dialogue went something like this :

Me : Say Apple, it's great you lowered the price of the Shuffle, but I wouldn't mind one of those cool orange ones you did, but with a slightly higher capacity.

Apple : Here's the thing - no. We are, however going to remove all the colours, get rid of the controls, make no attempt to put a screen on, lock you into our astonishingly crappy earphones, AND make our entry level product even more expensive.

Me : No, I love YOU more.

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Nomad

1:21 PM on 12 March, 2009

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I like the way that the ignorant masses are used as an excuse to make this completely acceptable and also removes our right to complain about it.

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Gordon394

1:48 PM on 12 March, 2009

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@GoldenGuy - pure genius :)

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Alan Edwards47c

3:14 PM on 13 March, 2009

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What you could do is take the shell of a 2nd gen Shuffle and add a PIC to generate the centre-button pulses on the wire when you press it's buttons. Hack in a 2nd 4-core 3.5mm socket, and use it as an in-line remote for a 3rd gen!

More seriously, now they've removed the controls there's plenty of space to add a small OLED display.

ALan.

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99tollap

5:17 AM on 14 March, 2009

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Sandisk most be falling over laughing. They don't even have to bother improving the Clip, because with each new release Apple just makes the competition worse and so does the job for them.

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Rickysio

12:04 PM on 14 March, 2009

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Dear Readers,

While your concerns about the lack of any sort of control other than that astonishingly great button that does anything and everything is justified, Apple surveys indicate that it is more than sufficient, and has been appropriately lauded by everyone.

Expect the next iPod Shuffle to be without buttons. Or any form of input.

Yours,

Steve Jobs.

(PS. To dissidents, please make your way down to the nearest Apple store to get yourself {s}brainwashed{/s} acquainted with the new Shuffle.)

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timple

10:25 AM on 16 March, 2009

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As has already been said if sales were based on product quality the Sandisk Clip would be the clear winner in this segment. BTW how many have Sandisk sold relative to the ipod shuffle?

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acgs1

4:41 PM on 20 March, 2009

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@Philbot Just because you're satisfied with the supplied buds doesn't mean it's not a bad thing that people are locked into them, surprisingly enough! Apple are just annoying more and more people and chipping away more and more of their market. You don't have to be a nerdy snob to think 'I'd like to use other headphones with this.' The satisfaction of the masses does not mean that nobody is allowed to dislike it.

@Nomad I completely agree.

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