We were wondering why the new
voice-enabled iPod shuffle even has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack since it's controlled by proprietary headphones, and we just got the answer: non-Apple headphones will require a special dongle that includes the new three-button controller, and Apple says it's working with third parties to bring other compatible 'phones to market. Yes, Apple's cheapest iPod is now the most needlessly complex, and far from cost-effective if you want to use your own cans: assuming the adapter will cost between $20 and $30 like most other Apple accessories, you're looking at minimum $100 outlay for the new shuffle, and at that point you might as well pick up a $150 iPod nano, which is also VoiceOver-enabled in addition to having twice the storage, dongle-less controls, a screen, and numerous other features. We'll see if this thing is so tiny these concerns wash out when we get one in our hands, but does anyone actually feel like the numbers tip in
favor of the shuffle here? We're all ears.
P.S.- Yes, we know $100 can get you any number of fine non-Apple players, we're just talking about Apple's price points. Feel free to suggest your favorite alternative, though!
Update: Apple called to clarify that the nano doesn't have the exact same VoiceOver feature, which is shuffle-exclusive; the nano does "spoken menus" but doesn't say track names as you skip around. We're getting a full list of differences between the two systems, we'll let you know if there's anything else major.
posted Mar 11th 2009 1:21PM
A huge step back. And AAPL is back above $90.00 today... sigh
Yeah, I remember people saying how stupid the original Shuffle was, because it didn't have screen and look at how that turned out.
/s
Seriously, people, look at the video on Apple's site before you judge this thing. The Voice-Over feature is pretty cool, but since I've been a fan of the headphone remote since the beginning, especially since the Zune doesn't have this technology, maybe I'm a bit biased.
"maybe I'm a bit biased."
That's like saying the pope is maybe a bit Catholic.
maybe I like coffee a bit too much
the last gen was way better. i think i'm gonna buy that one anyway
@paul i saw the video and think its even dumber than i did before.
I'm sure investors don't care about the iPod Shuffle release. It's up because the market is up.
Unless you are just pointing out the rising stock prices due to them shattering your hopes of Apple failing?
So Paul how did the original shuffle turn out ? did it take over the world ? No
In-line headphone remotes were of course ripped off from Sony, who used them with cassette players and Cd players, since you are always so clued up on how original Apple are.
Hmmm what an amazing feature the headphones will tell me the track and artist info, and yet If I am already listening to the music my brain will already have given me that information, a screen allows me to pick what music I want to hear without walking down the street muttering to myself while I click next through 4GB of music.
The original shuffle looked like a pack of gum.... and a few years later... it still looks like a pack of gum.... just scratched.
I really don't understand why people get upset about Apple changing a product that they never liked in the first place. And for clarification, I'm talking about the Zune or Sansa fanboys (Yeah, they exist) who have always hated iPods, but for whatever reason come to Engadget to express their "outrage" at this new change.
Apple seems to be the new name in luxury electronics. I like it. Now when someone sees me with my Shuffle, they'll know I'm rich. Wait, that don't make sense ...
Innovative my ass.
Disappointed with Apple ever since the new macbooks gave me no reason to update my MacBook, and their next OS adds no new features i would pay for. ugh
My point is that Apple products are usually evolutionary, and a lot of times revolutionary. This one is neither. If I was an investor (which I'm not) this iPod would cause me to be concerned that AAPL is losing their focus and edge. Whether or not Jobs' lack of day to day control has anything to do with this, is a very curious question in my mind.
Paul,
Although some people just dislike apple products, some of use really liked the shuffle and are really dissapointed with the "upgrade". I loved the first shuffle because it worked by itself, in that I could just plug it in to a computer without a charging dock or anything of that sort. The second generation was great because it was smaller, and came with a clip, however it needed a dock/wire to charge and connect ot the computer. When I saw the picture of the third generation I got really excited: I thought they finally combined the best of the 1st and 2nd gen shuffle. Far from it. They removed basic functionality from the device, so you are forced to use their headphones or pay for a remote. The design is terrible since it does not work on its own. Although the voice part is kind of cool, if it does not have the basic functionality the design is worthless.
This is the biggest Joke. If people keep buying this crap. Then Apple will keep selling it. Its all our faults.
@Paul A. Chapel: I'm an APPLE fan-boy and I yet am here to express my disgust. I have owned 5 ipods, including a 2G Shuffle. And this product is a step back for sure, I think they've actually done their competitors a FAVOR by releasing this over-simplified, yet more complicated product (because of the headphone-remote situation).
The shuffle didn't need to get much smaller, there is such a thing "diminishing returns" (no pun intended)
@Paul:
I, for one, have the (now) last generation Shuffle (2GB). I also have an iPhone, but I prefer the Shuffle for workouts and the iPhone for my car and plane...etc. I also prefer a comfortable set of earbuds with silicone earpieces, so the control scheme of this new iPod has effectively killed any interest I might have in it otherwise.
Re: The True Apple Lovers.
Calm down. Apple wouldn't be Apple if they didn't take chances every now and then. Remember the FAT Nano? People didn't like it as much as Apple thought they would and they changed it the next year. The same thing will happen with the Shuffle. And if you absolutely positively have to have the older style of Shuffle, I'm sure you'll be able to get it on Amazon at a reduced price or on the refurbished page on Apple.com
I don't normally reply on the first post to make my voice heard, but if anyone wants this for any reason then there is a video that may bo of use to you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLzs5aHv3jI
I believe Engadget has reported on it before, but it shows how to replace iPhone headphones with earbuds of your own preference. I am under the impression that the control buttons on this new Shuffle simply utilise one wire that runs as far as the buttons and down to the device itself.
Based on this, you should be able to replace the earbuds with your own headphones and still use the controls for a fraction of the cost of an adaptor. This isn't me condoning this, though; when Apple realise their customers are more informed than they used to be (and have far more options available to them) they will have to start refraining from making such idiotic design decisions.
Sorry for yet another post. I was wrong to characterize this as not being evolutionary, as I suppose it is. However, consumer selection will not be kind to it. They've lost some important features while introducing new ones. I just discovered that there is no way to rewind/fast forward through music, only skipping back and forth between tracks is available : http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/specs.html (see how the controls work) Like I've said before, I do have 2GB shuffle, and I do occasionally use the RW/FF function, not often, but when I need it I need it. I don't need this new iPod.
I don't know why people are so argumentative over this new Shuffle. Clearly, it's going to go down in Apple product history. It will have a special place right next the Newton and the puck mouse.
"Re: The True Apple Lovers."
So a "True Apple Lover" must love all things Apple, even though they may not like this.
That's right, drink the kool-aid, and let the RDF spin you away back to big daddy Jobs...
Thaaaats a good little fanboy. Who luves ya? That right right. Apple luves ya.
Apple fanboys unite!
The video reminded me of the onion's parody MacBook Wheel
All you need is one button
I am huge fan of most Apple products but this is by far the most gimmicky, silly product I have seen in a long time.
A) Why does it have to be so small?
--- It's not like people are complaining about how big the last one was.
B) That VoiceOver trash seems like it would be highly annoying.
--- I don't want to have a computerized voice telling me about all kinds of songs and playlists. It would be like going back to call-in voicemail over Visual Voicemail.
C) Having to remember all the various clicks and holds is annoying too.
Hey Apple, if you don't like the Shuffle just discontinue it.
I wonder if Mr. Jobs had any say about this product at all.
I think apple may have lost site of the fact that small stuff is only impressive if it is equally as functional. Taking things out to make it smaller isn't ingenuitive. The macbook air is a perfect case in point.
I feel embarrassed to own a Mac right now.
Um, how do we know this won't be free, in the box? Like how the universal adapter is for other iPods, or the stand for the iPod Touch?
Don't be so quick to judge. It'll probably be something pretty small, and it might even be free.
When I first saw it I though it was really stylish, but after reading about the controls...
It's common sense. Was it to difficult to add them? Maybe bellow the cover so they wouldn't mess with the sleek aluminum.
The Apple Haters are out in FULL FORCE today
That being said I think the new shuffle has some good points and some bad ones.
Seems apple took this video too seriously..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noe3kR8KqJc
@ Funke, Tobias Dr. - they have not dropped support for fast-forwarding and rewinding!
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3458
You can FF and REW as well as move between tracks. Not exactly an elegant implementation of those controls (which many listeners use frequently) but the functionality is there.
Just Apple hard at work....keeping stuff simple.
Umm... I guess nothing is more simple than putting a usb stick into a case and calling it a day.
Also, I thought microsoft had dibs on microsoft sam ... oh well.
I just love that this post is balanced and non-threatening and devoid of snark and disgust. You guys need pull that mighty mouse out of collective behind and take the kid gloves off your precious corporation.
This is just flat out ridiculous and an EPIC Fail and PAR for the course from the likes of Apple(MiniDVI, MiniDP, etc, etc) forcing you to use their adaptors which half the time never work and are OVER priced.
But Eng plays it off so cool that if MS did this with the Zune or Sony or whatever you'd have them pitching a b!tchfit down to a bad photoshop job of a sweaty Ballmer screaming something.
@Neha
That was the only post needed in this thread.
I suppose they still want to receive their invites, and test units from Apple, so they censor their usual snark that is freely tossed around for everyone else.
@ Neha:
lol... I can see the title now: "Balmy Ballmer says buttons on Headphones aid usability, Apple sneers"!
Seriously, this is the dumbest thing I've heard in a while! This is just another way of ensuring that the consumers buy Apple's overpriced, under-performing headsets! Just call it what it is in the harshest tone you can find: "This is a really dumb idea that alienates all those who have premium headphones, and need only the discrete usability of the iPod Shuffle."
Apple's adapters (I have two of them for my Macbook Pro, a DVI-VGA and DVI-Composite/S-Video) can be nice, but they are pricey! Luxury products? huh?
@Neha
You nailed it! Couldn't have said it better myself.
Neha, +1.
I wish I could give Neha another high ranked click, that post is exactly what needs to be written.
So so true.
The shuffle is now way too expensive to make any sense. Apple has a tendency to do things like this, I mean, look at how expensive the mac mini is. What's the point?
Apple probably has data that suggests people buy it for use during workout, so it's built completely around that.
@nerdtalker Exactly. You need a device to sell at every pricepoint. When you redesign something and jack up the price (nearly double), you pushed out a market that would have looked at it.
@Neha and the rest of the anti-Apple trolls, are you guys being paid to write this crap?
Since when has Engadget been pro-Apple? Did you bother to read what they said about the various App Store rejections?
And how about this, from the post? "Yes, Apple's cheapest iPod is now the most needlessly complex, and far from cost-effective if you want to use your own cans".
The only way you could possibly think that that was pro-Apple is if you are so stridently and unthinkingly anti-Apple that you believe anything other than swearing at them is being "pro-Apple".
You are all trying the theory that if you say something loud enough and often enough, it becomes true. What you have yet to realise is that it only becomes true to other idiots. Normal people with a half-decent brain still realise that your (so easily proven false) claims are rubbish no matter how frequently or how loudly you state them.
FIRST
...to have a failing post!
third to post
first to fail
Pointless "upgrade."
(Inserts $100 mp3 player alternative to Apple product)
Sandisk Sansa Clip, $80 on newegg for 4GB- screen, really good sound quality, still has a clip (obviously, as the name implies...). Or the Fuze, which is larger, but has a full-color screen for the same $80. Or the Samsung S3 for $50...there are a lot of options, all of which make much more sense than this. Ugh.
The 8GB sansa clip is $50 at walmart
An audiophile friend was showing me this, but the Sansa Clip is actually a much better mp3 player than the iPod as far as precision goes. The current gen iPod classic is actually a lot worse than the 5th generation, too, because of the cheaper parts used.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-9968448-49.html
The Philips GoGear SA2840
Wife listens to radio. Sansas have FM radio. Sansas are cheaper than iAnything. For her use, Sansa>iAnything.
Not anti-Mac, just pro-radio.
iriver t7 4g $50bucks... usb built-in... Mass storage support - NOBODY ELSE HAS IT...
Any Hong Kong knockoff is better than this and will probably withstand just as much abuse.
+1 to the $50 walmart 8gb Sandisk Sansa Clip
I have had the 1gb one for over a year, dropped it into water, sweated all over it but it keeps plugging away..
Awesome drag and drop music player- plays almost anything that you have..
https://zunestore.net/us/catalog/DeviceDetails.aspx?p=Zune4(ZuneCatalog)&v=VEA-00001(ZuneCatalog)
FM radio, Video Playback, and Wi-fi, as well as subscription music. $100.
-1 to Apple.
I still can't believe this stupid thing is real.
Just what I need, 4 gigs of storage on a player with no navigation system combined with a proprietary headphone system all for $100 CAD. Good thing they took those $55 1-gig shuffles off the market.
Pro: The last gen 1GB shuffle is a steal right now.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipod?mco=MTE3Njc
I think thats US. Which means we're paying around $130 for the same useless matchstick player.
@iamnotafish
No he's right it's 79 USD
Is there -any- way of controlling it without having to use a dongle? IE, Accelerometer shake, push down on the metal plate, anything?
How can you design a device you can't control? -.-
Fail.
In Soviet Russia, iPod Shuffle controls YOU!
TBH, I'm thinking that anyone who is using a set of cans or their own earphones isn't really the target market for a shuffle anyway.
Maybe I'm wrong though - I've never been interested in any music player without a screen, so I figure I'm not the target market.
Looks cools though. I bet they'll be just as popular as previous incarnations - perhaps more given the state of the economy.
this doesnt really apply to me since i bought the dual driver earphones a while back. but i dont see why apple went with this stupid "buttonless" design. what the f is it with steve jobs and buttons? does he have button-o-phobia?
Maybe hes going delirious, it's been a bit since he went missing.
Although this is kind of comical since The Onion while trying to be fake almost predicted it.
How else are they going to milk people for every cent they have? When you can sell someone a $30 connector that cost you $0.50 to make thanks to legal Chinese slaves, that is called "giving customers the simplicity they want", right?
I'm sorry that the new shuffle isn't perfect for EVERYONE, but for many of us having the controls on the headphone wire is a HUGE benefit.
Perhaps people could just face the fact that no product is perfect for every person, and buy the one that suits them best.
"Perhaps people could just face the fact that no product is perfect for every person, and buy the one that suits them best."
Now ask yourself if this was not from Apple, would you be thinking the same way?
Well said. I use my shuffle (which i got for free from my bank) at the gym and i think that for its purpose the shuffle is perfect. But seeing that the new one requires a dongle...thats just another thing hanging off my headphones which could be a problem when running.
YES!
I see the shuffle as an iPod for gym rats and other people who like to listen to music while exercising. Tossing your iPod in your pocket (if your exercise clothing even has a pocket) is a dumb idea. That's why there is a clip. People exercising have more to worry about then sound quality which is why you see most using ear buds over cans or in the ear style headphones. And to have a built-in remote is perfect. There's no need to fumble around with the iPod or to look down to read the screen.
I call your name!
I use decent Skullcandy headphones at the gym because I don't see why I should settle for rubbish sounds.
Yea but the included headphones such for biking or working out. IMHO
I'll stick with my 4GB sansa clip I bought last year for $10 less with a radio and a screen. Just as practically small.
this sounds very sony-ish
How so?
forcing proprietary accessories, harware, etc. in order to use their product (think MemoryStic series). It didn't work for Sony but Apple is a (slightly) different beast so we shall see.
@ryan,
It is somewhat Sony-ish with the proprietary hardware.... except Sony's proprietary hardware usually does not completely suck. With the new Walkmans, for example, for the noise cancelation to work, you need to use their headphones, however the sony headphones supplied are some of the best. Another thing to consider, is that the noise cancellation is a feature, and not critical to the walkman working. As for other proprietary hardware and software, Sony has been moving away from that, no longer forcing their compression format or their software, Apple is apparently moving towards that.
steve is gone for what, two months and they have already forgotten how to make products?
This project was probably started 6 months to a year ago.
But it doesn't seem like they put too much thought into it, huh?
I'm going to pick up one of these specifically because it has headphone controls.
This makes it infinitely easier when the player is stuffed into a ski jacket pocket and easier to control with no looking when I'm running or skating.
head controls are great (ex. iphone) but they should be redundant to on-player controls
Thanks for letting us all know. We're extremely grateful.
The 90's called, and asked for being impressed by in line controls back.
Switching from Im Running free to Run to the hills when running..!
Up the Irons!
Buy the Sansa Clip.
Contrary to many of the "EPIC FAIL" comments here, this thing looks great and I'll be picking one up in a month or two. This is just what I want for the gym and when running or skiing.
can anyone explain why it has different voices for syncing it with a mac and PC? thats odd.
I believe it's based on the host machines text to speech capabilities. The voice isn't generated by the iPod, but by your computer and then transfered to the iPod.
I'm not positive, but this is what I, and a number of others, think. The newest version of iTunes will interface with the OS's text to voice software and generate audio clips that are small sound files tagged to the song. Because OS X and Windows have their own text to voice software voices, the voices will be different. The only reason Apple is pointing it out is so Windows users who purchase the shuffle don't get upset when it's not the voice they heard in videos.
Apple explains all
http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/voiceover.html
All of my iPods have VoiceOver...or maybe it's just voices in my head
This was the beginning of the end for Apple's mp3 line. There's something about the way innovation in Cupertino is going these days. A total disregard for practicality over forced design.
It has always been common with Apple. But this simple thing. So subtle, speaks volumes.
Most would call me an Apple fanboy. But this thing? Makes me so sad.
Dude, if no one likes it, they are just going to go back to the old Shuffle next year, just like they did with the Fat Nano. Seriously, I've been hearing this 'Apple is doomed' stuff for at least ten years. I even said a couple of times when I was still a PC fanboy and now I have a MacBook Pro.
Dude, if no one likes it, they are just going to go back to the old Shuffle next year, just like they did with the Fat Nano. Seriously, I've been hearing this 'Apple is doomed' stuff for at least ten years. I even said a couple of times when I was still a PC fanboy and now I have a MacBook Pro."
And now you've turned into an equally annoying Apple fanboy, who's saying the same thing about MS, as if your judgment has somehow become more sound since you base either view of those companies success on which one you happen to like/dislike at the moment.
Booya!
But then again, I think someone has a grudge over Paul, and I'm not saying whom, because Look_Around_You might get mad.
Okay, so you're saying.. your guess and opinion is equal or better to Apple's focused market research teams who get paid to go out onto the street and ask people questions about it?
Hokay.
@Look Around You
Evidently his judgement has become more sound.
Apple is increasing market share.
MS is losing market share.
Forced design? Who the hell is forcing you to buy it? Why do Apple's products receive vastly superior consumer satisfaction ratings if they are so bad?