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Provides: Audio playback
Developer: Apple
Minimum Requirements: iTunes 8.1+, a USB 2.0 port
Price: $79.00
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If the iPod shuffle was art, it would be beautiful. If it was a concept design, then it would be elegant. If it was functional, it would be amazing. Wait, what was that last one again? It’s not functional? You read correctly. The iPod shuffle is quite possibly the only piece of Apple gear I’ve been unhappy enough with to actually return. Let me explain why.

But before we get to my drama, let’s talk about the new iPod shuffle itself.  Quite obviously, it has received what many believe to be a vastly unnecessary redesign.  If you ask most last gen shuffle owners, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that they are more than satisfied with the way it works for them.  Some would say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  I don’t fully agree with that viewpoint, but it works in this case.

The last gen iPod shuffle does everything it needs to, in a form factor that is nearly perfect.  It has all the controls necessary for music playback built right into the case, along with a clip, which is a bit odd for Apple.  Why odd?  Because they could collect licensing money from the arm bands etc. that could be sold specifically for the device if it didn’t have a clip.  But that would be evil and mean, not that Apple would ever do anything like that…

Speaking of doing something just to collect the money from licensing fees, the new iPod shuffle has a special chip inside of the controls on the headphone cable.  This special chip allows Apple to restrict which headphones will control the iPod shuffle, and which will just sit there without any sort of control.  This could be the dumbest idea Apple ever had.  It’s great for manufacturers, since many iPod users develop a hatred for the standard iPod buds, but it’s just not right.  An iPod shuffle is very likely not your first iPod, which means, you likely have a set of headphones you’ve already spent money on that can be used with it.  But let’s just entertain the thought for a few moments that you’re going to use this strictly for running, which isn’t that far fetched really.  Then I suppose it’s not terrible, since you wouldn’t want to use super nice headphones while working out.

What irritates me the most about the special chip is that I have a feeling this isn’t its last appearance.  I don’t like the idea of this thing making its way to other iPods or the iPhone. I imagine at least one manufacturer will come out with an extension cable with controls to alleviate the issue.  But that doesn’t make it right.

Okay, so back to the point.  The new shuffle is basically a tie clip.  Well, it’s a bit too wide and not long enough for that, I tried.  But it is very small, thin, metallic, and buttonless.  There is one switch with three position.  Off, play, and shuffled play, but make certain, it’s not a button.  All other controls (read buttons) have been moved to the headphone cable similar to the iPhone.

When I first learned of this, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, since this is more or less how you control the playback on an iPhone, only with more options. I realize the iPhone has a screen with virtual buttons, but when it’s in your pocket, it’s very similar.  Yet I’ve come to hate it still.

“Why,” you ask?  Simple.  The only thing I and many others use the shuffle for is working out.  Chances are, you’re going to be sweating while using this.  It takes me a good 20 minutes of decent jogging to get damp and somehow this tiny amount of perspiration was enough to render the controls temporarily useless.  The volume went to one notch above silent, and ceased to respond to any button clicks for at least an hour.  Later that night it worked again after its circuits apparently dried off.  But I enjoy music while I run, not fiddling with an MP3 player that’s supposed to “just work.”

Oh, and the controls. You could say Apple has really gone to the edge of simplicity with the physical design, but completely in the opposite direction with button clicks.  You’ll feel like you’re entering your commands in Morse Code through the clicker.  I’m sure this will be a feature on the next iPod shuffle that will inevitably be just the controls that are currently attached to the headphones.  They’ll be synced just by plugging their seemingly unneeded headphone plug into the headphone port on your Mac.  You’ll be able to select playlists, artists or songs simply by tapping the first letter in Morse Code.  Could it get any simpler?  Could it?  I think not.

But with these controls come some other upgrades.  You obviously get more storage space at 4GB, so you have a ton of space for extra stuff.  Extra stuff like Podcasts and playlists.  This is the first iPod shuffle to allow for podcasts.  I’m not sure if that’s because it’s also the first to be able to handle super long songs in its memory, or if it was too hard to control before.  I honestly never tried to sync a podcast (as an imported song) to a previous generation of shuffle.  But the new one allows for it, and it works as advertised.  You can also push and hold the center button on the controls to hear the song title spoken for you.  Currently, this is just a text-to-speech voice sound file being played that your computer auto generates every time you sync the shuffle.  It’s not a DJ in an awesome put on voice, but it could be much worse.  In the future, it’s possible that artists could announce their own songs.  This is actually a great feature, and I hope it sees its way into other iPods, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t.  And why stop there…why isn’t this already a feature in iTunes?

If you can get past the headphones, and actually keep them working, there’s nothing wrong with this iPod.  It has some really cool features, like support for Podcasts, Playlists and increased storage space to house all of that audio, or perhaps higher quality audio to accompany those great headphones you have that you want to use with it…oh right, I’m sorry, you can’t do that.  But, it will even speak the song titles and menu system to you.  It’s actually pretty cool.

If you really want one of these, which I can honestly understand the urge, I’d advise you to hold, at least for a bit.  Just wait until someone comes out with a decent set of headphones and then buy this if you really have to.  I’m sure someone will develop one of those headphones with a dock on one ear to hold the shuffle, making it essentially wireless.  If and when that comes out, I’ll consider buying another one, but until then, I don’t feel sorry for returning the new iPod shuffle, not one bit.