I am a runner and I like a small indestructible music player that integrates smoothly with my computer.
When I bought my first Shuffle a few years ago, it was love at first listen. The device was perfect for my needs. I could run ten miles with the light clip on my shirt or waistband and use my own sports headphones.
The second-generation Shuffle was as perfect as it could get.
My first one lasted through a year or so of vigorous sweaty running before it died. I was satisfied with my investment and bought a new one.
Then last year Steve decided that nobody needed buttons at all and created this silly little thing: the 3rd generation Shuffle.
It really has no buttons on it at all, just a single slider for power. The controls are in a little bulge on the headphone wire. This means that not only do you have to use Apple’s crappy earbuds, but you need to learn some strange Morse-code-like tapping signals to tell the darned thing to switch songs and choose playlists.
Apple was kind enough to embed some chip in the headphone wire that makes it so you have to use their headphones or proper Apple licensed third-party headphones.
Did I mention that I’m a runner? Runners sweat in copious amounts. Earbuds slip out of wet ear canals. The only kind of headphones I can use are the ones that have a headband or the ones with loops that go over my ears. Sports headphones.
Apple must have hoped that headphone manufacturers would flock to them, licensing their little control widget and making hundreds of different models to choose from. It never happened. As I considered the future death of my 2G shuffle, I searched far and wide for Sony headphones that would work.
The closest I found were clumsy adapters that fit between the cute gadget and the headphones, totally negating the Apple-ness of the device.
…then my 2nd-gen Shuffle died…
I had to have my running music, but no other MP3 players would work so smoothly on a Mac and were as small. I bought one of those silly button-less Shuffles, along with the clumsy Belkin adapter.
When Steve brought the buttons back last week, I ordered mine right away. It looks just like the good Shuffle did, only a smidgen smaller. It even has the nice features of the suckified version such as playlists and the VoiceOver feature.
And it works with my sports headphones. Just went for a 10-mile run this afternoon to inaugurate my new toy. Gave the old 3rd-gen one to one of the kids.
I love it.
Steve, please leave the Shuffle alone for awhile.