iPod shuffle: There's already a shortage

Damn, guess what's already sold out on Apple's website? Yeah, you know it, it's the iPod shuffle. The shortage isn't quite as bad as last year, when there was a six week waiting list for the iPod mini, but if you're fixing to order an iPod shuffle you're going to have to sit tight for between two to four weeks. If you can't wait that long there's always eBay, where the 512MB and 1GB versions of the player are "only" selling for about $25 or $30 above list price, or you could try and satisfy yourself with one of the dozens and dozens of other perfectly fine flash-based MP3 players out there…oh screw it.

[Mitch @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

They have them....what a marketing tool....they are simply making it appear they're out of them so you want it more!

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Do you think allot of the buyers of the Shuffle are ones that already own another ipod product? If there some statistic on that anywhere? I would guess since its a pretty cool gadget in itself, ipodders would pick one up as well as owning one of the HDD based ones. Plus its damn cheap.

[Z @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

"They have them....what a marketing tool....they are simply making it appear they're out of them so you want it more!"



Exactly. This is simply marketing hype designed to increase product awareness and desire.

Does anyone honestly think that Apple couldn't fill all of it's orders this very moment or that they couldn't have anticipated the orders it received?

Apple is just simply working off of what is a common human trait: Our desire increases for those things we can't have.

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Do you think allot of the buyers of the Shuffle are ones that already own another ipod product? If there some statistic on that anywhere? I would guess since its a pretty cool gadget in itself, ipodders would pick one up as well as owning one of the HDD based ones. Plus its damn cheap.

[Jack @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I don't get it. What's so great about this mp3 flash player? It's big, doesn't have a LCD display, and from what I can gather, it doesn't have an expansion slot for flash cards. Sure, 1 GIG of memory is nice, but there are already players out there that have that amount but still allow you to expand with a card. The only reason why I can imagine the iPod shuffle is selling is because of hype and Mac aficionados.

[blue @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Jack,
I can only speak for myself, but the main draws for me are the durability that the screenless design provides, the ease of use with Itunes and Itunes store, and the simple design.

I bought one to use when mountainbiking. The design is perfect for that.

[Paul @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I think this is selling better than Apple anticipated. People have been buying more than 1. This is my first iPod (ordered the 1GB version during the keynote speech... to be delivered next week), not counting the Mini I bought for my wife for her birthday.

[jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

In response to comment 2:
Everyone I know that has one on order or is thinking about it already has an iPod. That is far from a hard and fast stat but I would say over 50% of the people buying them already have an iPod.

In response to the shortage:
I don't know if I was lucky or if it was planned this way but my local apple store had shuffles the day after the keynote. I picked one up without hassle. I imagine that apple has always had a policy of keeping the brick and mortar stores stocked over online because when people go into a store they expect to be able to take the product home with them as soon as they buy it. Waiting for an online product somehow seems more tolerable for the consumer.

[Andries @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Maybe interesting, but the European version of the Apple site told me to wait for 3-4 weeks to receive my Ipod Shuffle 512. I got it exactly 4 working days (yes four days!) after I pressed the "confirm order button" on january 12th.

In response to comment 2: I bought 2 Shuffles for me and my girlfriend, and yes I already have a 3G Ipod. The Shuffle is just better when riding a bike at high speeds on rough terrain. The 3G Ipod is for the car.

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Yea man that white acrylic plastic is so cool. And durable too. Just about as durable as the plastic of every other flash player though ... But it doesn't have a screen, so that makes it more durable right? No, ... , flash players with screens have been around for many years, and the hard layers of clear plastic over them is just as durable as the plastic composing the rest of the device. But, ... , it has buttons in a circle, just like every other ipod, right? That's gotta be cool? Right? Well, that design and many others have been done by many others, most notably the Rio Carbon. But come on, it's a $100 ipod, that's cheap. Not really, when you consider that it has a weak-ass battery and no screen; the only hardware you are paying for is the chipset, the flash memory, the acrylic casing, and weak battery. Worth far less than the $100 apple is asking. But, come on, its got that cool shuffle mode! Shuffle Mode?! Don't make me laugh.

[mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Yo Joey,
You're missing the point. It works with the defacto industry standard online store, the defacto standard jukebox software, and it's cheap. Look at the price vs. a USB thumbdrive - it's cheap, it works with the best software for digital music, and you can buy songs from the best site. That's why the demand is high. Would is be better with a toughened exterior (sport ipod?) removeable, rechargeable battery, and a small display? Sure. This is a first step - they'll add more features in a couple of years, after the market has built up, and the risk is lower offering a high end version with more options.

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

mike, this isn't cheap, go on froogle and type in 512 mb flash drive, and you can find one for under $50 in 5 minutes (usb 2, not an ebay or related site). And I didn't know that because something was popular that it was the "defacto industry standard". By that logic, I guess Microsoft is the defacto industry operating system, Honda and Toyota and the defacto industry automakers, Intel is the defacto industry chipmaker, nvidia is the defacto industry graphics card maker, etc. Need I go on? Itunes is a fairly slick piece of free software, but it doen't make up for the inequities in the feature / price ratio in the ipod shuffle? Face it, you are buying it for the name and that is that.

[Marc @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I just don't get the draw of the iPod Shuffle. It's a gimped player in every possible way but I guess because Apple sells it, every Apple freak on the planet has to run out and buy it.

[Eric Lampi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

So it works with Itunes. Big deal, it's still no more impressive than any other MP3 player.

Actually, you're getting a stripped down player, feature-wise

It's laughable to consider that standard features "will be added in a few years", for crying out loud, LCD displays have been on portable devices for 20 years!

Whatever.... Suckers.

[blue @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

"Whatever.... Suckers."

Yes, we are suckers for buying a product that you don't like.

[elton @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Placed an order during keynote and getting it tomorrow. I currently have an iPod. Why get another? So that I can use it when exercising and still have access to my current music library.

[JA @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Has anyone in Canada managed to get their hands on one of these after ordering it through the online store? And also do you think I can use my education discount on one even though I bought a 20gig iPod just before christmas?

[gary @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Ok, what people don't understand about the LCD screen: Are you going to be putting a ton of music on this thing that you don't know what it is? NO. You are putting a few favorites out of your collection. What the hell do you need a screen for? They ARE YOUR MOST LISTENED TO SONGS. If you don't know them, you never will.

The battery life is 12 hours. I think that is decent.

What people don't understand about Apple and iTunes and just about everything Apple does is SIMPLICITY. It's not the features they put in, but THE FEATURES THEY LEAVE OUT in some cases, that makes the difference. Just like someone was complaining on another site about how the iPod doesn't come with FM capabilities. Who the hell wants FM when you have an MP3 player of any kind? I surely don't want to be listening to FM when I have my iPod. That's the whole point of MP3 players is you can listen to WHAT YOU WANT.

And for the shuffle part, please. It's probably the people bitching about how shuffle is so stupid that are the same ones that want FM so they can listen to music "shuffled" by someone else by some corporate radio station.

And if you've never used an iPod or iTunes, please just don't comment here. You are someone complaining about something that OBVIOUSLY some people like. If you don't like it, fine. Take your business elsewhere and quit whining on message boards.

[jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

ok here are my problems with the player

1. these things can hold upwards of 200 songs how do you get to song 100 of 200? you hit the next or back key 100 times

2. ok so you have 200+ of your favorite songs on there...what happens if you are shuffleing and you run across a song that you don't remeber putting on there...or as happens with me i just forget who its by...there is no solution to that problem...no screen is not something that we don't need its what seperates the real players from the ones you should be getting free at trade shows

3. the attitude that apple some how is createing this market is insulting...they have the market share in the HDD market but the flash market is a differant story and there players out there that are cheaper have greater storage and are better looking then this thing (i personally like the iriver N10 but its not cheaper) and they all have screens because it would be suicide for any other company to try and sell one with out it

the only real advantage this thing has is it works with itunes and can play AAC and audable (for those who care) every other feature this thing has is industry standard

[Karen @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I like mine. It is perfect for my walk to work. Autofill and go! I bought several and my friends seem happy with it too.

Yes, I have and iPod. This is just simpler for certain situations.

Or, maybe Steve Jobs got to me. Can't say for sure...

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

12 hours really isn't too decent for a flash player without a screen, there is so little that requires power on this thing, they should have at least get 18 hours with this thing.
I'm not nitpicking, no component should be cheap on a player of this price.

[rory @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

"By that logic, I guess Microsoft is the defacto industry operating system, Honda and Toyota and the defacto industry automakers, Intel is the defacto industry chipmaker, nvidia is the defacto industry graphics card maker, etc."

In order: jesus christ yes!, not quite, yes, pretty much. What's your point? /snark

"De facto industry standard" is admittedly a shaky phrase, but the iTunes music store is far and away the most popular legal music download service. I know I have more than most people, but over a third of my (~3000 song) music library is from ITMS. Show me another flash player (or any non-ipod) that can play all of these files and maybe i'll consider it.

[Thoughtful @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I agree that Apple is skimping on the features for this player, considering the price.

Really, it's only good for those who are working out and because of the nature of the exercise don't want to or can't take time out to find particular songs.

The player is rather useless for other situations, such as taking a flight, etc, without the screen.

We aren't talking about a trivial amount of songs...as someone noted, it will hold about 200 or so songs. To find specific songs without a screen is ridiculous.

If Apple thinks random is so great, then why not include FM radio and call that random? After this gimmick, I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple at some point try that marketing ploy.

[Thoughtful @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I think basically Apple is hitting the predictable point where there's not that much more they can do with the basic HDD iPod.

I mean, with the click-wheel: they can't get much simpler. Sure they added a color screen and image capability, but the iPod photo doesn't seem to generate the buzz the other iPods do.

It's kind of like with the walkman: once the basic concept of a portable cassette player was defined, there wasn't much more to do, except to tweak features, make smaller, and here is what Apple doesn't want to hear, make cheaper.

The iPod shuffle kind of reminds me of when the FM only walkman came out: it was an attempt to do exactly what this shuffle player does: expand the market by offering a product of lower price and smaller size, but at the expense of features. In retrospect, Sony should have tried to sell the FM only walkman on the joys of unpredicability, randomness, etc.

[Thoughtful @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

It's interesting that so many of the purchasers of the shuffle are already iPod owners. This is both good and bad for Apple. One, they have a loyal base of customers. Two, they aren't making their base any larger.

I believe in the future the feature of DAP will eventually become integrated into cell phones for many people. Already, more digital cameras are sold in cell phones than as traditional stand alone units. Look at the PDA market: that too has been largely assumed by cell phones. People focus far more on the Treo and various Pocket PC smart phones than on PDAs. Because the installed base for cellphones is so much greater than for these other products, the cellphone will win out everytime. In other words, the cell phone will integrate these other features, instead of these other units integrating the cell phone functionality.

I also believe that Apple realizes this, and hence their partnership with Motorola. In the not too distant future, the iPod killer may very well end up being the cell phone.

[ght @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

cell phone + ipod = iphone (some VOIP already has that name so apple better buy it off them) or how about icell or imobile :)

[pat @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I am surprised at the claim by one of the posters here that he can buy a 512MB flash player for $50. This is not true at all. You can find a 256MB at this price maybe (not so sure) but certainly not a 512MB. The Shuffle is very agressively priced.

The fact that it is using a rechargeable battery contrary to all the other flash players is very good too. While you could buy rechargeable battery, most people will use normal AAA battery lasting about 20 hours. Now calculate the price you would spend on batteries in a year and try to say again that the Shuffle is expensive!

I think consumer are a lot less stupid than people think. The Shuffle is very well priced. When you add the integration with iTunes and the iTMS. I cannot see any other player competing at all.

[Thom @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

#26:

I think the Shuffle will be bringing in a fair share of new customers--I'm one of them--but it's going to be overshadowed in the short term buy the fanatical iPodders who'll buy them up by the dozen for family & friends.

[nt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

You people are hopeless. If Apple had put a screen on that thing, you would complain about how useless it is..

Show me any other player that I can use with AutoFill in iTunes.

What is so hard about hitting forward if a song you don't like comes up? For Moses' sakes, it's your own music! If you don't like a song, why even have it?

And no, I don't care about the retarded players where I have to drag and drop my music from some neolithic directory structure..

[Slaven @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

"ok so you have 200+ of your favorite songs on there...what happens if you are shuffleing and you run across a song that you don't remeber putting on there...or as happens with me i just forget who its by...there is no solution to that problem..."

OMG! There really is no solution to that problem! My brain will get a fatal meltdown and I will never be able to enjoy music again!

I remember a few years back I had a tape-based walkman, I'll spare you the rest of the comparison. Before you tell me about how far we've come from those days: why don't people just accept that market will judge this device, not you. If you don't like it, then you're not the market for it. You can obviously see that there are people, even on this thread, that are interested for reasons other than "no screen, it could be cheaper, it could be smaller". If their reasons are not good enough for you then you should spend YOUR money on something that suits YOU better.

Give it a year then come back here and gloat how you knew this device would fail. Somehow I doubt this will happen and you probably agree with me, which is what really pisses you off.

[Jack @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

After reading this thread, I have come to understand the need for this flash ipod.

It's for all those people who want a flash player to work with apple's itunes download site and their current hard disk iPod. (Not sure any of the other flash players on the market are able to play apple's DRM audio files.) It's for people who want an iPod but wish to be very active with it, where a hard disk player would probably skip.

However, it's not for people like me, who want everything crammed into one small audio device: lcd screen, stopwatch, fm radio, large memory in addition to an expandable memory slot, etc. It's not for people like me who do not wish to use any kind of DRM audio files even if they come from the "defacto" industry standard. (The mp3 format is good enough for me, thank you very much.) And finally it's not for people like me who want a small device so it's not very obtrusive while I jog.

For those people for whom these devices are intended, I sincerely hope you enjoy them.

[Thought @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

#27: the claim was that one could get a 512 MB flash drive for under $50, which is true. That was in response to someone stating that the iPod shuffle wasn't much more in cost than a flash drive.

As for #30, pardon me for daring to express anything close to a negative thought regarding an Apple product. I thought that discussion threads like this one were proper forums to discuss differences of opinion.

I really love and admire most Apple products as well, but Apple is a brand for me, not a religion.

[Nick @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

First of all the purpose of the iPod shuffle is just to carry around a very small amount of your music collection for when you're skiing/snowboarding or do physical activities. You aren't going to be look at the screen everytime a new song starts there is not purpose for the screen. It can also be used for a portable drive to transfer a gb of information. I don't want a screen its the best item for the price and the great ITMS you get to use as well. Stop complaining all you stupid people. Just because you're jealous you don't have the best item on the market get over it. It doesn't include a screen or any "specialized" features like the other ones but tell me which one is easier to operate? Can yours be used also as a disk to transfer documents without a USB cord and all that crap? I doubt it.

[jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

" Can yours be used also as a disk to transfer documents without a USB cord and all that crap? I doubt it."

yes its industry standard

if you people want a tape player you can purchase one for 10 bucks at walgreens


#30 the market will judge it and it will most likely sell well...i still don't see where it will completely dominate the flash market like the ipod has in the HDD market....the ipod came on to a much less competative market then the flash market is today ....there where very few serious contenders and certainly none that had quite the clout as apple had...the product that they offered was a good one at the time...something worth spending money on...this thing is weak by compareison.....i think the real market for these will be peoples first players...all the people that don't have enough money to spend on a mini or even a gen 4 ipod will buy this in droves...and when they get it they will be useing it for more then just excersize and snow boarding and mountain bikeing and listening to there eXtreme tunes while chokeing down an ice cold mountain dew...and when they find out what this thing really is i think they will start to look elswhere...but who knows maybe instead they will buy the "i-screen" thats sure to come out for the thing....either way its just my opinion one i feel like shareing to give people something to think about

[A-Dogg @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

#34 Jeff
"if you people want a tape player you can purchase one for 10 bucks at walgreens"

Wow! Cool! Walgreens sells a tape player for 10 bucks that works with iTunes!!!

Jeff, at least think before you type. moron.

[rachel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I really dont understand all of this apple loyalty. If you post on here it seems to me that you would have some kind of knowledge of mp3 players or portable music and computers, but you get an iPod???

People buy iPods becasue they see them on tv and are made for people with 0 understanding of technology. Or maybe you're in love with AAC which puts you in

[pedro @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

alright everyone... step away from the keyboard and relax... its just an mp3 player.

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Just a last comment, if you people want to buy this product it is your own business, but it is not a good value, it is not supposed to be a good value, and the people who say it is will be proven wrong in five minutes by looking at any popular shopping site. People are not buying this product for the "value", they are buying it because it has the words apple ipod in the title, and/or because it is the only flash player that apple will let them use their itunes store tunes on. And people that think this will be easy to use, have obviously not seriously considered the many vastly superior alternatives.

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Just one more comment, the new flash voyager usb 2 drive from corsair is selling for $190 with 2, countem, 2 gigabytes! Good value my ass!

[Jeremy Holloway @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Mark my words, they'll be giving away a bunch of these for the Pepsi/iTunes Giveaway 2.0 starting the day of the SuperBowl. I wonder if they'll crack down on the bottle tipping this year by blurring the code...then again, there was only a 5% redemption of the songs last year so probably not.

[Alberto @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I think it's funny how all the "anti-mac" people, are intentionally finding things wrong with the Shuffle. If Gates had introduced the thing at CES they'd be falling all over them selves to get one. Actually, with MS's track record he probably will intro the Shuffle in a few months, but he'll just call it something else

[Jeremy Holloway @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

To poster #40, you mean the Microsoft "Stumble"? Featuring the latest WMA codec to better reproduce the accurate representation of listening to your favorite album tracks via a tin can placed over your ears?

[nt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

So what kind of music does this Voyager drive play? And does it work with iTunes? Also what are these 'vastly superior alternatives' you speak of? And don't tell me they are superioir because they force me to keep track of my music by hand or because they come with vibrators..

[dig dug @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

hahahahahaha post 41 good one!

[Steven Fisher @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

#31: I agree with most of your points, but what does DRM have to do with this? I assume you can load the iPod shuffle with MP3, but if not, you could just use AAC -- without DRM. Only songs downloaded from the music store have DRM.

[Furo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

>>They have them....what a marketing tool....they are simply making it appear they're out of them so you want it more!

Why is there ALWAYS some idiot out there with a conspiracy theory? In this case, the very first comment posted. Yeah... Apple is purposely NOT selling them... they enjoy criticism and making paying customers wait, right? The mere fact that they sold 4.5 million iPods in ONE QUARTER shows that Apple's media players are in VERY high demand. Not only that, but the largest complaint is that they are so expensive... well, the Shuffle is cheap... but nobody is willing to buy them, without Apple's marketing conspiracy, right? Moron.

You go ahead and play with your little 128MB Rio piece of crap... hope you didn't lose that proprietary cable.

What I can say is that the overwhelming majority of "negative" media comments are for petty things. No display? Who cares? Most people will know what playlists they've added to their device and in what general sequence, not to mention the inspiration for the "shuffle" name in the first place.

We'll see in a quarter or two how many more millions (perhaps tens of millions) of iPods are sold now that the Shuffle is a reality. I've long said that quality matters... and consumers are proving that to be true. Apple makes THE finest hardware in the computing and digital media industry. Period.

[Z @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I'm not sure why you're so angry, but Furio, the idea is not that people wouldn't buy them in the first place. The idea is not some stupid conspiracy theory. The idea is that sometimes companies will do things like this to increase desire because if people are told that something is selling like hotcakes more so than what it actually is, the masses will respond to it even more. People respond to popularity. The more popular something appears to be, the more the masses will want it. That's life.

So do you think it's out of the realm of probability for a company to do this? To play off this basic human trait? Companies do this all the time. Is Apple doing it? I don't know for sure. And neither do you. But it's certainly probable - and what would be the harm if they did? Everyone would still get their stupid little Shuffles and Apple makes even more money.

Apple is a marketing machine. It's what they do. Not everyone is an Apple fanboy and not everyone will bow down at the alter of Jobs and buy something just because it has the name "Apple" stamped on it. This is evident in the fact that Apple has to market like anyone else, otherwise they wouldn't be as popular as they currently are. They'll do what it takes to maximize their sales. And however a company does it (whether bluffing or limiting how many they make at first) to make it seem (or to make it so) that a product that has barely hit the shelves is already sold out, is not only probable, but common, because in the end, the company makes more.

[Jack @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

#45 In response to your post as to why DRM has to do with this, maybe I wasn't too clear. I meant that if you have succumbed to Apple's DRM file format, then this is the player for you. If you will never use anyone's DRM file format, then this player is not necessarily a grab for you either way. (Although according to its circuitcity specifications sheet, it doesn't play the OGG format that some DRM-free purists are advocating.)

The one thing I see that this player has over many others is that it can connect directly into your computer w/o any special wires, so you could use it as a USB drive, which is really cool, I have to admit. The other thing it has over many players in its class (i.e. the Sandisk 1 GIG player) is the price: $100 (iPod Shuffle) rather than $130(sandisk 1Gig player) [prices found at ResellerRatings.com].

But the fact it doesn't have all the other features when you can get them for an addition $30 really kills it for me. I think Apple will eventually come out with a 2nd generation Shuffle which includes some of the more popular features of other players: (LCD screen, FM radio - because many gyms use FM radios to broadcast the sound of their TV sets for their members -- that's why FM radio is important in a flash player). Until then I personally think this product will mostly be for existing iPodders, Mac-heads, and a few others who prefer saving $30 over getting some of the industry's popular features.

[Joseph M @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

Personally, I would not buy an iPod Shuffle. For one, I already own a flash-based pen drive for saving documents on-the-fly...on that premise alone, I wouldn't invest in something that I already own.

However, I can see how this would be attractive to someone who didn't have a flash-based pen drive who used it for both saving documents on-the-fly and a bit of music playing. Granted, you can buy a bit cheaper depending if you shop around, but otherwise I think you'd be paying a bit more for the Apple/iPod name.

Speaking of that, I do believe that there is a bit of fan-boy attraction to this product. I couldn't imagine buying this $149 iPod while if I owned a 3g or 4g iPod which has x20+ the space and functionality! Seems a little illogical to me.

[Adam @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

I like all the excuses people make for this thing lacking essential features like a screen. Just be honest, you bought it because it's cute and Apple made it.

Thank God Apple doesn't sell cars. I could just see it now.. "It's so beautiful in its simplicity! Why be encumbered with needless things like a steering wheel for trips where you only need to go in a straight line? And it's a steal at only $25k!"