iPod Shuffle

Went out and got an iPod Shuffle today, the tiny iPod memory-based player that looks like a pack of gum.

The iPod Mini, recently submerged underwater in a gym bag overnight, is showing signs of life, but not a full recovery. I re-submerged the Mini last night in clean water. In the gym bag it was in some sports drink/sports bar crumbs. The dissolved-and-redried sugars may have gummed up the works. This morning the LCD light came on... for a moment. A sign of life.

I've been running without music since the Mini's drowning. With the heat lately and my planned outside run I decided that I needed to replace the failing Mini. I figured that I could always take the new one back within 15 days if the old one comes back to life.

Then I made it to Best Buy and realized how much the Minis cost. Yikes.

So I opted for a Shuffle. Keith has one and likes it. Everything I read about it said it's a great player. I was a little concerned about the lack of screen, but lately I've been playing in shuffle mode on the iPods anyways.

So I bought it. And I did something I never do... something against the very fiber of my being... I bought the Best Buy extended insurance policy for $19.99. I've just blown through so many of these iPods. I was about to say "thanks, but no thanks" when I imagined the runs and bikes that I'd be taking this thing on. The sweat. The heat. The power gel. I paused for a moment. Asked about the price again. Asked about redemption and terms. Seems like I can basically return it for any reason in the next two years. In the words of the cashier "even if you just want to upgrade to the newest model." Interesting. I wouldn't see that as ethical, but if they're proposing that as a valid usage for this insurance... in fact, using that as part of the pitch to make the sale... then maybe I'll consider it. The fact that I bought the extra insurance pretty much guarantees that this thing will never break. I feel dirty and taken.

The Shuffle is tiny. I broke out my first MP3 player, the first MP3 player, the Diamond Rio PMP300. I've always seen it as small in my head. It's massive compared to the Shuffle.

I've been very happy thus far with the Shuffle. Simple interface, tiny and light. Good sound, although I'm practically tone deaf and not the best source of audiophile info.

It took a company like Apple to pull off the Shuffle. If any other company had presented a flash MP3 player with no screen and a focus on shuffling it would have been seen as an oddity. The industry was heading towards OLED screens as the main point of differentiation. The brighter and more complex the better.

Shuffling is an incredibly good and important concept. But it takes a brand like Apple's to get people over the initial hurdle of "are you kidding me?" Technology should be simple.

I've voiced here on the blog that many times I obsessively click through songs to find the right one, often spending more time trying to find the song that fits my mood than listening to music. When I'm in control of the music it doesn't seem as good.

But when listening to the radio, or Heather's in control of the music, suddenly I don't feel that I have to find the right song for my mood. I get into the music and love it.

By putting the iPods in shuffle mode lately I've been able to free myself from this compulsive behavior and just enjoy the music again. It's still my music but I don't know what to expect next. Which makes it more like a radio station.

It seems simple but took some balls to implement. I believe that shuffling truly works for personal music players. Kudos to Apple and their usability/human factors teams. Excellent work!

The iPod Shuffle allows you to play in random order or in linear order. Still, not having a screen or menus creates some challenge as you put 240+ songs on there.

I like to have an audio book with me at all times. Sometimes I'm in the mood for music and sometimes for books. With the Shuffle I can put the book at the end of the linear list. Which means I can start the player and go back about twenty times (through the chapters to the one I was listening to). Not ideal.

To me, the killer feature for the iPod Shuffle is Three Playlist. They need to put three buttons on the outside where I can choose to play individual playlists or combine them. I'd have a workout list, a chill songs list and a book list.

Most times I'd randomly mix the workout and chill lists. And then sometimes I'd go to the book list in linear mode.

It doesn't kill the simplicity ethos of the design. It does steal some of the purity from it. It truly is simple right now. But I think consumers can handle it. And with that simple ability to handle three playlists the Shuffle would be a bunch more applicable.

Overall I'm happy though. It's a nice complement to the two 40Gb iPods and one 4Gb Mini that we have at the house. Hopefully the Mini will come back to life. In the meantime, I'll shuffle.

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