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First off, the good. It’s incredibly cool—so futuristic, it does not have a single button. We get it. And most of us, grumbling aside, would love to run out and buy one. But coolness aside, there is a larger question arising from Apple’s refresh to the iPod Shuffle line: how do we connect it to other stuff? Cars, speakers, TV…anything that accepts a line-in connection can play music from an iPod. But what do we do with this new Shuffle?

For right now, only Apple’s included headphones can control the device. Speakers with a USB port as input might be able to control the Shuffle using the included Shuffle USB Cable (the same one used for synching/charging), but most speakers lack such a port. Another use of the USB cable could be in cars; Ford’s SYNC system has the ability to control/connect with devices using a USB cable, so the steering wheel controls could be used to control the Shuffle. Shuffles, in fact, make excellent car MP3 players, because they are small enough to hide out of sight easily, and they do not represent a huge loss should your car be broken into!

But what to do with the larger number of speakers sold for iPods, many of which include a standard dock connector and a line-in cable? Perhaps Apple could redesign the headphone control as a dongle+headphones. This way the control, plus a short length of cable, could be plugged into the Shuffle for controlling the music, and regular headphones or a line-in cable could be connected to the other side of the control. This would also reduce the unique number of headphones Apple is required to make—currently there are unique headphones for regular iPods, iPhones, iPod Shuffles, and the high-end earbuds. Complexity equals overly expensive products!

Until there is a way to hook up the new Shuffles, it is easy to imagine many users sticking with their older generation models. (These can still be purchased from the Apple Store. Does this herald a change in Apple’s policy of intentionally depleting inventory ahead of a product launch?).

Will you wait to see what types of controls are made available before purchase, or will you buy a Shuffle with only the included headphones for control? Any bets on if we will see a Shuffle-to-Dock converter?