# Re the new "iPod Shuffle" has Apple lost it's mind, or am I blind to the genius? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305 "2005-01-12T00:58:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/21 "2005-01-12T12:25:02Z")
> [@Etherman](#): > > I don’t know if lack of a display is that big a deal. Remember cassettes? And CD’s? All you had was a “skip to next track” and maybe a track number, which you had to cross reference with the CD case. You also had about ten different tracks. The iPod Shuffle can hold 240. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/22 "2005-01-12T12:47:30Z")
I’m predicting the next one to hit the market will be the _iPod Silent_ - stores up to 3GB of music and playlists - it won’t actually include any features necessary to _play_ them, but you’ll know they’re in there and hey, _it’s an iPod_. ---
**Author:** ![Sat\_on\_Cookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@Sat\_on\_Cookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sat_on_Cookie)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/23 "2005-01-12T13:06:18Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’m predicting the next one to hit the market will be the _iPod Silent_ - stores up to 3GB of music and playlists - it won’t actually include any features necessary to _play_ them, but you’ll know they’re in there and hey, _it’s an iPod_. Thanks for the wake-up laugh. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/24 "2005-01-12T13:13:33Z")
> [@astro](#): > > So real world usability is supposed to take a back seat cause _“it’s an iPod”_? I love that. I’m putting it on my whiteboard at work. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/25 "2005-01-12T13:34:32Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > No display Mac = buy your own display. > No display iPod = buy your own display. > > It MIGHT be genius. I could foresee a new class of audio products that use an iPod as a storage device, like a CD, and provides a high-quality display as part of the bargain. > > Get in your car, put your Shuffle into slot of your car radio and select a playlist. Get home, recharge the thing by sliding it into your home stereo. Use the display on the hi-fi. Same with boom boxes and the rest of it. > > Or maybe I am wrong. My Mac-obsessed friend sent me [this](http://www.macbidouille.com/news/photonews19/day3-6-460.jpg) yesterday. He tells me it’s a way to use your iPod with a home-wide sound system. And it has a display. I’m not sure about any of the details, or even if it’s legit, but it _looks_ like what you’re talking about. But I figure anyone who can afford a home-wide sound system with a control box like that will buy the normal, big iPod anyway, so I don’t really get it. ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/26 "2005-01-12T14:09:29Z")
> [@astro](#): > > The lack of display is just such a bizarre design choice for a company like Apple that likes to have cutting edge products. I used to hold Apple in high regard for design until I had to use the round, ‘hockey puck’ mouse, the ‘toilet seat’ iMac or find a pen/pointy thing to start my G4 in the morning… For operating systems they are great but their hardware is not always perfect. Can’t wait to see how you turn on the new Mini Mac! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/27 "2005-01-12T14:23:06Z")
> [@Terrorcotta](#): > > For operating systems they are great but their hardware is not always perfect. Can’t wait to see how you turn on the new Mini Mac! Looks like the power button is at the back, next to all the ports etc. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/28 "2005-01-12T14:30:30Z")
My husband and I have all but decided to buy a Mini Mac for our oldest son. He needs a new computer and space is an issue. I also want to expose him to different operating systems. I won’t buy the iPod Shuffle, though. The lack of a display was the deal-breaker. When I saw the spot about it on _The Today Show_ this morning, I was all over it. I didn’t realize it lacked a display until I went to apple’s site. ---
**Author:** ![brix11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@brix11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brix11)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/29 "2005-01-12T14:36:38Z")
No one’s mentioned that the iPod Shuffle is the only flash player that will play the iTunes Music Store’s AAC encoded files without the need to convert them first. This is a big plus for me, although I think the increasing use of propietary codecs is ridiculous. I’m not sure I’d miss the display on something like this, then again I’m the type who prefers ‘shuffling’ anyway. Plus, it seems easy enough to update the playlist in iTunes; I’d just throw on enough tracks to get me through whatever I’m doing then go back and change it. ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/30 "2005-01-12T14:54:31Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Looks like the power button is at the back, next to all the ports etc. You’re right, I looked at the specs and that’s the ticket. Monster specs, by the way. I just hope the power is easier to push in than the G4. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/31 "2005-01-12T14:56:24Z")
This actually sounds like something that would be designed for me. I spent almost a year converting my albums and tapes to mp3s, and I use the Windows Media Player to make enormous playlists, then I set everything on shuffle - it is like having a radio station programmed with only songs I like. I got a satellite radio system for Christmas, and I love it, but I find that having music sorted by genre gets boring after a while. I make CDs for the car, and I’m forever mixing genres, but a CD only holds about 20 songs or so. This sounds like something I would really like, so I’m going to go look at it and see what kind of hardware stuff I’d need and if it would be compatible with my PC. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/32 "2005-01-12T14:58:15Z")
> [@Etherman](#): > > I don’t know if lack of a display is that big a deal. Remember cassettes? And CD’s? All you had was a “skip to next track” and maybe a track number, which you had to cross reference with the CD case. Does anyone know what **Etherman** is talking about? Was he defrosted from some glacier or something? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/33 "2005-01-12T15:25:05Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Does anyone know what **Etherman** is talking about? Was he defrosted from some glacier or something? 😉 Yes. A CD is just like a vinyl LP, but without the needle. And it’s smaller. A cassette is kind of like an 8-Track, except it’s smaller and you have to flip it over to hear the other side. Does that help any? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/34 "2005-01-12T15:25:15Z")
I’ll wager part of what enabled Apple to reach the $100 price point was a side benefit (to them) of losing the display: no navigation software. As I recall, they contracted with an outside vendor to produce the iPod navigation software, and Apple still doesn’t own the software outright. Since they don’t have to install a copy of that software on the iPod Shuffle, they’re probably saving themselves a bundle in software license fees. The Shuffle will appeal to a pretty huge segment of portable music listeners, I’ll wager. Most people I know like to listen to their music on “Random” anyway, and almost no one sits and listens to their portable player long enough to make it through 240 songs at one stretch. At 4 minutes a song, that’d be 16 hours. By then, you’d need to refresh the battery anyway. Unfortunately, this player sounds like it might be almost impossible to use with audiobooks. Unless, perhaps, you can force it to draw from one iTunes playlist only, put the files you want in that playlist, and turn off the shuffle. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/35 "2005-01-12T15:38:32Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > It MIGHT be genius. I could foresee a new class of audio products that use an iPod as a storage device, like a CD, and provides a high-quality display as part of the bargain. > > Get in your car, put your Shuffle into slot of your car radio and select a playlist. Get home, recharge the thing by sliding it into your home stereo. Use the display on the hi-fi. Same with boom boxes and the rest of it. > > Or maybe I am wrong. Or maybe you’re not: [Apple & Leading Car Companies Team Up to Deliver iPod Integration in 2005](http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jan/11cars.html) ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/36 "2005-01-12T15:47:59Z")
A friend of mine at work just came pu with a good point - for your MiniDisc player you can get headphones with a display screen integrated on the cord - why not do that (much like IPod’s current remote earbud combo) and put your skip buttons on there? I think it might be a decent idea for a price break cheap intro to Ipod (especially with the way it handles their exclusive coding) and be a great second Ipod for those so inclined to need one for [insert reason for not jogging wearing 1000 worth of gear]. What I think would be neat would be to have ‘book rentals’ much like the dvd rentals currently at airports. At airports, bus stations, highway rest stops, have a machine that you can plug your Ipod or Ipod Shuffle into and instantly buy or rent an inexpensive book on tape or whatever to give you something more to listen to. It’s hooked up to the interweb so you can sync it to your home system then or later. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/37 "2005-01-12T15:51:56Z")
I think the shuffle is awesome for when I go to the gym or take the baby on a walk. I don’t need a display for those times and the small size would be ideal. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/38 "2005-01-12T16:07:54Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > – it’s not designed for anyone who already has an iPod or other MP3 player, it’s for someone who’s looking to get into the portable MP3 world **cheap**. Actually I alreaedy have a 40GB iPod and I think the Shuffle would complement it well. The full-size iPod doesn’t fit in a pocket comfortably, and it’s fragile - at least I assume it’s fragile and treat it accordingly because it’s expensive and I know there are moving parts in there. I wouldn’t use it outdoors (jogging, bicycling\*) or while walking around inside (working in the lab). I think the Shuffle would be perfect for those occasions. I already have all my music on iTunes and presumably it can manage both iPods. \*I know, bicycling with headphones on is a bad idea. I’d only use portable speakers, and only while touring in the middle of nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Graycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Graycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graycat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/39 "2005-01-12T16:08:32Z")
If I had known about this last month, I would have waited and bought it for my daughter, rather than the Rio Forge I got her for Christmas. I would have saved forty bucks over the Forge, got twice the capacity, and how much do you need a display when all you have loaded is two or three audiobooks and one Hilary Duff CD? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305/40 "2005-01-12T17:00:15Z")
Why this little thing could not have come at a better time in my world. The Mr. got himself an Ipod a couple of months back, couldn’t be more over the moon about the thing, he loves it. So I was wanting to take some music to the gym, or while working on the garden, or painting the house etc. I was afraid to mention this to the Mr for Christmas, certain he’d insist on getting me an ipod or ipod mini. And to be honest I felt it would be a terrible waste. I don’t need all of that capability. I wouldn’t use it that often. I’ll get frustrated when I have to relearn all the controls everytime I want to use it. Why not just get a cheap MP3 player that does little more that play at random? We just had this conversation not three days ago. And for all my protests, when he ended with, “Well, okay, but promise you will let me choose and buy it.”, I knew I was sunk. I had not convinced him one little bit I was certain. The beautiful part is that it is already compatible with the itunes stuff he already has set up on my computer. I tell you, they made this, just for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-new-ipod-shuffle-has-apple-lost-its-mind-or-am-i-blind-to-the-genius/284305.md?page=3)