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[AlphaSnake]

Yes, I know there are two threads about it, but this is a question on its own and posting it elsewhere would get it lost. Anyways, I was out all day today and yesterday and came home to the news of Apple finally announcing this talked about flash-based iPod. 1GB for $149? I'm sold. I'll be going out and getting one sometime soon. My 10 gigger 3rd gen died on me recently so this is going to be its replacement.

 

[Willco]

You do know it has no screen, right?

 

[Fresh Prince]

I'd wait for iRiver to reduce the price of it's flash player.

 

[AlphaSnake]

You do know it has no screen, right?

Hmm, that didn't even occur to me. Shuffling (har har) through the songs must be a pain...

 

[Willco]

Hmm, that didn't even occur to me. Shuffling (har har) through the songs must be a pain...

If you want a cheapie player like that, Creative and such have Flash-based players that for $20 more (sometimes cheaper depending where you look) give you LCD screens, FM tuners, FM-reading, line out, etc.

The iPod Shuffle isn't much of a bargain.

... How'd your iPod 3G die, btw?

 

[xsarien]

Hmm, that didn't even occur to me. Shuffling (har har) through the songs must be a pain...

Well, Apple will tell you that keeping it on "random" is the best way to listen to your music. I think it's just damage control, PR style.

Screen aside though, it's a decent price for a 1GB flash player, given it should support everything an iPod supports. But if I were in your situation, I'd just get a new 4G. Those at least have a screen, and "shuffle" right there on the main menu.

 

[Willco]

Well, Apple will tell you that keeping it on "random" is the best way to listen to your music. I think it's just damage control, PR style.

I like how Apple is thinking:

"IT HAS NO SCREEN AND THAT'S WHAT MAKE IT AWESOME. BUY IT! WE'RE INNOVATIVE!"

 

[fennec fox]

If I can't choose what song I want it to play, I'd expect to be, like, $20 or something.

 

[Matrix]

I bought the $99 version online for my mom to use when she runs,if she doesnt like it..I'll gladly use it myself.

 

[Willco]

If I can't choose what song I want it to play, I'd expect to be, like, $20 or something.

You can take it off of shuffle, but they're hyping that up as the main aspect to take away from the fact that it has no screen.

 

[nomoment]

What if... you don't want to shuffle your songs?

Edit: Caught Willco's post above.

I'm not a fan of "lanyard" MP3 players. People who actually hang them around their necks look like idiots.

 

[Fresh Prince]

The thrid thread to start the hate against the iShuffle!

 

[Memles]

See...on one hand I know it's a shoddy deal for a Flash-Based Player with no LCD Screen.

On the other hand, I don't have too many songs to begin with, and really like being able to use iTunes to organize my music and using it to transfer it to listen to makes a lot of sense to me.

Thus my dilemma. I don't listen to music too often while out, but having something of this size is about what I'd need if I did, and I like the functionality with iTunes. At the same time, it seems like the lack of screen could prove really, really annoying with 120/240 songs on there, since I might want to put on a new album, want to see what song I'm listening to, and I can't. I'll admit I like to use the Shuffle function when using my brother's iPod, but the lack of the screen is the one issue.

If the reaction ends up positive, and the DS doesn't drop in price, might pick one up with Student discount using my birthday money. We'll see.

 

[bishoptl]

Considering what I use an mp3 player for - almost exclusively while weight training - I don't care about the lack of a screen. Just load it up with angry music and hit the gym....as I said in the other thread, Apple's workmanship is better than the lousy RCA Lyra (I've gone through TWO of them!) and the price v. storage space looks fine.

I'll take it under consideration.

 

[AlphaSnake]

If you want a cheapie player like that, Creative and such have Flash-based players that for $20 more (sometimes cheaper depending where you look) give you LCD screens, FM tuners, FM-reading, line out, etc.

The iPod Shuffle isn't much of a bargain.

... How'd your iPod 3G die, btw?

There must be a warp with the HD somewhere -- the iPod won't play more than half of the songs now. It'll just hang when they come on and on ocassion it'll try its damndest to play and you'll hear a second or two and then it'll just stop. If you listen to the HD you can hear it spin, slow down, and click...spin, slow, and click...spin, slow, click. I've tried everything possible with it and finally got a diagnosis from my cousin (who works with a very experienced Apple rep) that the iPod is trashed. The HD may have possibly fractured or overheated (which is entirely possible because I once left the iPod overnight on top of the heater). Our heaters look more like furniture too, it wasn't like it's one of those metallic pipes that just stick out. Oh well.

 

[LakeEarth]

What if two songs go together (eg, No Memory and Sin by STP)? Then you're screwed unless you physically turn it into one giant song file in some editing program, which you shouldn't have to do.

 

[Memles]

What if two songs go together (eg, No Memory and Sin by STP)? Then you're screwed unless you physically turn it into one giant song file in some editing program, which you shouldn't have to do.

I'm 90% sure you can turn it off Shuffle.

 

[Pochacco]

Already have a 20GB iPod...so no.
But it would be great for working out or quick trips around town - not to mention a pretty affordable flash drive.

Lack of display isn't that big of a deal imo.
Would it be better if it had an LCD? yes.
Is Apple totally BSing with this Shuffle nonsense? probably.
Do I really need to navigate through my music on a simple flash player? No (especially since you use the awesome iTunes to load music onto it).

It's a simple music player. If you want something more advance, a music player + archive, you get one of the HD iPods..

 

[Blackcherry]

I'm 90% sure you can turn it off Shuffle.

DJ Your Day

If you favour cycling to a hip-hop soundtrack and snowboarding to a little electronica, Autofill iPod shuffle from a specific iTunes Playlist and roll. Download an album from the iTunes Music Store and listen to it in order before you Shuffle it into your collection. Or just drag and drop individual songs from iTunes onto iPod shuffle. With Play in Order mode, you manage the music. If things take a turn for the predictable, never fear. Turn iPod shuffle over, flip the slider to Shuffle and mix on the go.

Awnsered

fix baby: http://www.apple.com/ca/ipodshuffle/

 

[AlphaSnake]

They could've at least offered an LCD remote control with the headphones. Christ.

 

[Blackcherry]

Well, I'm sure that you can jump folders by folders (if not, huuuuuge let down) which dont bother me at all (mo' organized)

 

[Fresh Prince]

They could've at least offered an LCD remote control with the headphones. Christ.

:lol What about for the 4g remote as well?

 

[Pochacco]

If they made an LCD remote, it would probably be bigger than the player itself.
That would be the funniest sight....2 lanyards around one's neck: one holding the iPod, another holding the remote.

 

[Vark]

I'll buy 100 just to piss of Willco and hear him bitch some more.

 

[Willco]

I'll buy 100 just to piss of Willco and hear him bitch some more.

I don't care. Waste your money. It ain't mine!

 

[GG-Duo]

Well, I'm sure that you can jump folders by folders (if not, huuuuuge let down) which dont bother me at all (mo' organized)

i was thinking that they should have this feature, but knowing Apple... probably not.

 

[Macam]

Count me in. I don't have an iPod as of yet since I'm waiting for the 5G, but I was considering grabbing a second hand Mini just for the gym. This solves the issue and given that I'm quite fond of iTunes, barring the lack of a VBR ripping mode in it, this'll help me cope with my gym's incessant fascination with girl pop and gangster rap. All I need now is a good set of headphones so my ears don't bleed from Apple's craptastic ones.

 

[Willco]

Already have a 20GB iPod...so no.
But it would be great for working out or quick trips around town - not to mention a pretty affordable flash drive.

Lack of display isn't that big of a deal imo.
Would it be better if it had an LCD? yes.
Is Apple totally BSing with this Shuffle nonsense? probably.
Do I really need to navigate through my music on a simple flash player? No (especially since you use the awesome iTunes to load music onto it).

It's a simple music player. If you want something more advance, a music player + archive, you get one of the HD iPods..

The LCD display is that big of a deal. We're not talking about a CD player with 12-20 songs. We're talking about up to 240 songs. That would be a chore to remember all those songs and what order you put them in the iPod Shuffle.

 

[rastex]

The LCD display is that big of a deal. We're not talking about a CD player with 12-20 songs. We're talking about up to 240 songs. That would be a chore to remember all those songs and what order you put them in the iPod Shuffle.

Maybe if you're retarded. I mean obviously this thing isn't meant to be used to listen to that ONE special song, it (like all flash-based players) are mainly used for super-convenient on-the-go hassle-free music listening.

 

[Tarazet]

Maybe if you're retarded. I mean obviously this thing isn't meant to be used to listen to that ONE special song, it (like all flash-based players) are mainly used for super-convenient on-the-go hassle-free music listening.

I'm more worried about the shitty Apple Music Store quality. I downloaded a free song (free with Paypal registration, natch) to iTunes. At this point it already sounded bad. Then I converted it to MP3, burned it to a CD-RW, stuck it in my RioVolt, and it sounded atrocious even with very, very good headphones.

 

[Willco]

Maybe if you're retarded. I mean obviously this thing isn't meant to be used to listen to that ONE special song, it (like all flash-based players) are mainly used for super-convenient on-the-go hassle-free music listening.

Oh, so you've never been in the position when you wanted to hear something else other than what you're listening to, retard?

Maybe I'm tired of Album A and I want to listen to Album M. So I'm going to wade through all those fucking songs without a screen?

It's a hassle. Don't be a fucktard.

 

[Macam]

I'm more worried about the shitty Apple Music Store quality. I downloaded a free song (free with Paypal registration, natch) to iTunes. At this point it already sounded bad. Then I converted it to MP3, burned it to a CD-RW, stuck it in my RioVolt, and it sounded atrocious even with very, very good headphones.

I don't use the ITMS for that reason. The songs, despite being cheap, are 128kbps AAC and until they offer higher quality versions, at least on par with CD quality, then I won't use the store. Granted, it's suitable for most people I'm sure, but I'm not one of them. You certainly don't want to be converting a lossy format like the AAC to another one like MP3, as you did. That will detoriate the quality further as you found out. Good headphones won't save the low quality of a song, only encoding the song in a higher quality format or higher quality bitrate will.

The lack of a screen may be an issue for some, but really, it's going to depend on what you intend to use the iPod Shuffle or a similar player for in particular. I view this as a further subdivision of the iPod line both in technology and in use. For me, this is an expendable version to be used for working out or quick trips, as well as simply testing out new gadgets, and Apple gadgets in particular, something I'm always keen on doing.

As for navigating 240 songs....well, that's going by Apple's AAC estimations, which as sonarrat found out, isn't the greatest quality. I'll be putting far less on there, probably around half of that amount or lower to use the space for higher quality. Considering my work outs don't take more than hour, that's more or less 20 songs on average, so that should be ample songs for about a week before I need to change anything.

 

[Tarazet]

I don't use the ITMS for that reason. The songs, despite being cheap, are 128kbps AAC and until they offer higher quality versions, at least on par with CD quality, then I won't use the store. Granted, it's suitable for most people I'm sure, but I'm not one of them. You certainly don't want to be converting a lossy format like the AAC to another one like MP3, as you did. That will detoriate the quality further as you found out. Good headphones won't save the low quality of a song, only encoding the song in a higher quality format or higher quality bitrate will.

Yeah, this is the crux of the problem. I don't want to pirate, though, so what should I do?

 

[xsarien]

Yeah, this is the crux of the problem. I don't want to pirate, though, so what should I do?

If you don't want to pirate, and you have some bizarre, twisted desire to download compressed audio, and then transcode it into another format, you might be better off just doing it the ol' fashioned way and buying the actual CDs.

Most of my iTMS downloads were either free songs of the week, or bought with Pepsi codes. But as far as their quality goes, it's perfectly suitable. If you want "pristine" audio, cough up the extra money and get the real thing.

 

[Tarazet]

If you don't want to pirate, and you have some bizarre, twisted desire to downloaded compressed audio, and then transcode it into another format, you might be better off just doing it the ol' fashioned way and buying the actual CDs.

Most of my iTMS downloads were either free songs of the week, or bought with Pepsi codes. But as far as their quality goes, it's perfectly suitable. If you want "pristine" audio, cough up the extra money and get the real thing.

:/ I guess it's either retail or Ebay, where I won't know if it's pirated or not until it arrives on my doorstep...

 

[Lambtron]

If I got a 512 MB player, I don't think I'd sit there copying albums over to it. That's ridiculous. I'd most likely copy over exceptional singles, and use it like that. Except that's not up my alley.

Although 1 GB of Merzbow on a player smaller than a pack of gum is pretty sexy...

I hate online music stores, btw. Buy the records, having the packaging and the ability to encode the music as you wish is worth the tiny bit of extra money.

 

[Macam]

Yeah, this is the crux of the problem. I don't want to pirate, though, so what should I do?

I just buy CDs secondhand, notably off Amazon. It's often cheaper or comparable to buying them from any online music store, depending on the CD, you get the CD to rip and encode endlessly into any format you want, and you get to know ahead of time the condition of the CD. Most CDs can be salvaged easily even if they're not too well taken care of with a Spin Doctor or similar device. But really, any secondhand store that sells CDs or online stores (eBay even) are great for nabbing music.

 

[Vark]

I don't care. Waste your money. It ain't mine!

If you don't care, then stop posting in this thread. If people want it they want it, why are you trying to convince people so hard otherwise?

 

[Willco]

If you don't care, then stop posting in this thread. If people want it they want it, why are you trying to convince people so hard otherwise?

Uh, if you can't read, I originally replied to Alpha to ask if he knew it didn't have a screen, since his post implied he did not. And guess what? I was right, he didn't know!

I didn't try to convince anyone to not buy it and the only person I gave a recommendation to was AlphaSnake.

 

[Shogmaster]

OMG! A news of a hack just surfaced that mods plain old iPods into iPod Shuffles!

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

 

[Fresh Prince]

OMG! A news of a hack just surfaced that mods plain old iPods into iPod Shuffles!

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

:lol :lol :lol Now it need a shuffle slider button.

 

[God's Hand]

That image shows how stupid iPod Shuffle is.

 

[carpal]

It would be cool if the Shuffle let you skip through entire albums as well as single songs.

As far as shitty sound quality goes, good headphones are only going to make poorly encoded songs sound worse.

 

[AlphaSnake]

Uh, if you can't read, I originally replied to Alpha to ask if he knew it didn't have a screen, since his post implied he did not. And guess what? I was right, he didn't know!

I didn't try to convince anyone to not buy it and the only person I gave a recommendation to was AlphaSnake.

Yeah. It's not that I didn't know, it's just that I didn't even notice. Still +1 for Willco.

 

[fart]

these would be OK if they were willing to sell them at a loss (no 150$ is not a loss). they should really factor itunes music store sales into their prices. they could definitely lower prices on a product like this (you can do the entirety of the shuffle functionality in one chip. the only major costs are memory and packaging)

 

[VPhys]

I'm more worried about the shitty Apple Music Store quality. I downloaded a free song (free with Paypal registration, natch) to iTunes. At this point it already sounded bad. Then I converted it to MP3, burned it to a CD-RW, stuck it in my RioVolt, and it sounded atrocious even with very, very good headphones.

This is my problem with iTunes. I will not pay for low-quality compressed music. For the time being I will continue to buy my CDs and rip them to my harddrive using a tried an true method. And if you get CDs on sale you pay about the same amount ($10-$11/CD) so iTunes really doesn't offer me anything at $1.20/song.

 

[mrklaw]

this would be great for language CDs or audio books. Assuming you can pause and it remembers your position after switching off.

 

[SteveMeister]

Willco, you've gone off the deep end on this one. Obviously the product is not one you'd be interested in. We GET that you're pissed it doesn't have a screen.

Personally, since I like to carry ALL my music around with me (which some people can't fathom), I'll stick with the full-sized iPod. Apple makes different iPod products for people with different needs. For example -- do you NEED to look at a screen when you're listening to music while jogging?

Apple's not performing damage control. That'd be the case if they accidentally didn't include a screen. If it's a big enough problem, nobody will buy the product and they'll change it. We'll just have to wait & see what happens.

Just remember -- not everyone's needs are the same as yours. If this product has a market, people will buy it regardless of how you feel about it.

 

[Willco]

Willco, you've gone off the deep end on this one. Obviously the product is not one you'd be interested in. We GET that you're pissed it doesn't have a screen.

I'm not really pissed. It's a stupid move by Apple, I've voiced my displeasure, but defensive posters seem to be upset. It's not like I'm spamming threads. There was a reason I posted in here and I was following the MacWorld thread. We only have like 100 iPod threads today and it's not like I'm in all of them.

Personally, since I like to carry ALL my music around with me (which some people can't fathom), I'll stick with the full-sized iPod. Apple makes different iPod products for people with different needs. For example -- do you NEED to look at a screen when you're listening to music while jogging?

I'm glad Apple makes different iPod products for different needs, but this is a shitty product when superior players already exist which was something Apple really avoided until now. You can buy players from Sandisk and Buslink for cheaper, and the Creative MuVo TX for just $9 more, and all have screens and offer extras (FM tuner! FM recording! Longer battery life! omgascreen!). And none are really heavier or bigger than the iPod Shuffle. Quite frankly, with the lack of anything in the iPod Shuffle, Apple is just ripping off everyone.

As for the second part, when I'm working out I do need a screen. Not to look at every second, but if I'm going to have up to 240 songs, I would like the ability to navigate through them if I don't like the song I'm listening to.

There is simply no excuse for no screen. Really, there isn't. Anyone who defends that is an idiot.

Apple's not performing damage control. That'd be the case if they accidentally didn't include a screen. If it's a big enough problem, nobody will buy the product and they'll change it. We'll just have to wait & see what happens.

:lol

That's just a ridiculous comment. It is damage control. Anyone with half a brain can look at that press release and see Apple is trying to make their weakness look like their strength.

... Other players have tiny screens! Buttons are confusing! Shuffle is teh future!

I'm not saying the iPod Shuffle won't sell. Steve Jobs could wrap his poop in plastic, spray paint it white and call it iPod Buythis and it'd probably still move a million units.

People are idiots.

Just remember -- not everyone's needs are the same as yours. If this product has a market, people will buy it regardless of how you feel about it.

The iPod Shuffle isn't going to create a market when it's already there and is being done better by other manufacturers. Of course people will buy it. I really don't give a shit. A lot of people buy Ashlee Simpson records. That doesn't make her good.

Again, waste your money! It's not mine.

 

[xsarien]

You can buy players from Sandisk and Buslink for cheaper, and the Creative MuVo TX for just $9 more, and all have screens and offer extras (FM tuner! FM recording! Longer battery life! omgascreen!). And none are really heavier or bigger than the iPod Shuffle. Quite frankly, with the lack of anything in the iPod Shuffle, Apple is just ripping off everyone.

The thing is that not everyone needs, or necessarily wants, the extras. If someone wants something that *just* plays their music - and does it well - that's all that will matter to them. It's the same reasoning behind the bigger iPods. They don't have line-ins, FM tuners, FM recorders, or microphones built into the unit, but given the sales of the device, it should be readily apparent to anyone that the market just doesn't care.