Confirmed by an Apple repersentative I spoke to on the phone.
Wow. So instead of people buying the new iPod shuffle today, Apple is making customers wait until someone figures out how non-Apple headphones can be used? This is a joke. This is a huge &#$&%^* joke. I can't believe this. They obviously know VERY LITTLE about their shuffle market. I buy headphones that are very durable and can last when I drop them while running, get water on them when I'm sweating, and/or can maintain a minimum sound quality no matter the weather or time length used.
... standard Apple ear phones don't stand up to this challenge! And even if they did, they are way more over-priced than other equivaliant equipement!
As a person who has bought 7 (seven) iPod shuffles in the past (not an inflated number), and has been very happy with the shuffle line-up, this third-generation iPod is a low-blow.
They're not waiting for anything - they'll very cleverly charge you to license the little headphone chip that will let you interface with your shuffle. They just... haven't yet.
Apple are dicks when it comes to peripherals, and they have a LONG history of it. Nobody's used to THIS level of phallusy (intentional), though - trying to control what HEADPHONES you can use with your AUDIO PLAYER is entirely foreign territory for anybody with a logical mind.
The truth is that if every company thought they could get away with this crap, they would. And frankly, I hope Apple does not. DrLiam, you are not alone and by far not the only iPod devotee that is pissed about this one.
I'm disappointed over the past couple years how things have gotten more and more controlling; but that's the nature of companies and products. Most businesses believe that if you can, then you should; and then look back a few years later and wonder why they lost their dominance.
As I inferred before, I also think Apple has lost their design way with this one. With this product they're no longer innovating, they're doing cutesy.
I also loved USB Drive MP3 players like the original Creative Muvo. MP3 Player makers seem to be moving away from the dual function USB and going towards cables. Not sure I like that, although I guess they are trying to maximize the compactness of their designs, since the USB module takes a lot of space.
I personally did not like the 1st Gen Shuffle, not because of what it was, but because there were literally a ton of better MP3 players out there with all the features it had, and more.
Controlling what headphone you could use started with the iPhone... and that was STUPID. They just took it a step further with this one; nevermind that EVERYONE RAGED against Apple for the recessed iPhone jack. You'd think they learned already after fixing the iPhone 3G, and then they pull this crap. I swear there must be monkeys at Apple throwing darts at a dartboard of design decisions. Just pray they hit a good design decision with the next iteration.
It's cute the player has voice over -- my Windows Mobile phone has had that for years but it is not the ideal MP3 player despite that. Despite that WiMo devices still have something even better than voice over, and that's Voice Command. I love telling my phone to play so-and-so artist or track and it doing it without me even touching the playlist controls.
iPhone is long overdue for this functinality methinks, and I think Apple devotees would jump at voice features considering how cool they are.
I currently am using an iPhone Classic as my net surfing gadget, I skipped out on the 3G for the meantime but I'm interested to see what they will do for the iPhone 3rd Gen and what features they are going to pack in.
I have my samsung YP-U2 512mb player and love it. simple controls, very good sound quality, and it plugs straight into a usb port.
It is very small, but still has a screen. I love it. All I want an mp3 player to do is play music and sound good with a long battery life. I don't need videos or games on a two inch screen, no thanks.
And to be honest 512MB is enough for 80 songs at 192kbps WMA which is plenty good for mobile listening and more than I will listen to in one sitting. Best of all I paid $20 for it.
If you want a good mp3 player I suggest looking at samsung's players. you can buy the yp-u2 used or look at their newer yp models. I've always thought samsungs mp3 players were under-rated.
I bought my GF a Samsung YP U3 for Christmas as well, the 1GB version. It's awesome and she loves it. It totally leaves the 1G Shuffle in the dust. It's not as sexy as the 2G Shuffle but it has a lot more going for it.
I would also choose the YP P2 over the Nano 2G, but where I live they were actually more expensive than the Nano, so I got the Nano instead. The cool Samsung player I saw was the one with Bluetooth, so it can connect directly to your A2DP phones. But I ended up not getting one and just stuck to my Nano, since I can't find any decent-sounding headphones anywhere where I live.
digitalvision
Detroit, Michigan
Comments
Confirmed by an Apple repersentative I spoke to on the phone.
Wow. So instead of people buying the new iPod shuffle today, Apple is making customers wait until someone figures out how non-Apple headphones can be used? This is a joke. This is a huge &#$&%^* joke. I can't believe this. They obviously know VERY LITTLE about their shuffle market. I buy headphones that are very durable and can last when I drop them while running, get water on them when I'm sweating, and/or can maintain a minimum sound quality no matter the weather or time length used.
... standard Apple ear phones don't stand up to this challenge! And even if they did, they are way more over-priced than other equivaliant equipement!
As a person who has bought 7 (seven) iPod shuffles in the past (not an inflated number), and has been very happy with the shuffle line-up, this third-generation iPod is a low-blow.
I'm just too disgusted to even think about it.
Apple are dicks when it comes to peripherals, and they have a LONG history of it. Nobody's used to THIS level of phallusy (intentional), though - trying to control what HEADPHONES you can use with your AUDIO PLAYER is entirely foreign territory for anybody with a logical mind.
I'm disappointed over the past couple years how things have gotten more and more controlling; but that's the nature of companies and products. Most businesses believe that if you can, then you should; and then look back a few years later and wonder why they lost their dominance.
As I inferred before, I also think Apple has lost their design way with this one. With this product they're no longer innovating, they're doing cutesy.
I personally did not like the 1st Gen Shuffle, not because of what it was, but because there were literally a ton of better MP3 players out there with all the features it had, and more.
Controlling what headphone you could use started with the iPhone... and that was STUPID. They just took it a step further with this one; nevermind that EVERYONE RAGED against Apple for the recessed iPhone jack. You'd think they learned already after fixing the iPhone 3G, and then they pull this crap. I swear there must be monkeys at Apple throwing darts at a dartboard of design decisions. Just pray they hit a good design decision with the next iteration.
It's cute the player has voice over -- my Windows Mobile phone has had that for years but it is not the ideal MP3 player despite that. Despite that WiMo devices still have something even better than voice over, and that's Voice Command. I love telling my phone to play so-and-so artist or track and it doing it without me even touching the playlist controls.
iPhone is long overdue for this functinality methinks, and I think Apple devotees would jump at voice features considering how cool they are.
I currently am using an iPhone Classic as my net surfing gadget, I skipped out on the 3G for the meantime but I'm interested to see what they will do for the iPhone 3rd Gen and what features they are going to pack in.
It is very small, but still has a screen. I love it. All I want an mp3 player to do is play music and sound good with a long battery life. I don't need videos or games on a two inch screen, no thanks.
And to be honest 512MB is enough for 80 songs at 192kbps WMA which is plenty good for mobile listening and more than I will listen to in one sitting. Best of all I paid $20 for it.
If you want a good mp3 player I suggest looking at samsung's players. you can buy the yp-u2 used or look at their newer yp models. I've always thought samsungs mp3 players were under-rated.
I would also choose the YP P2 over the Nano 2G, but where I live they were actually more expensive than the Nano, so I got the Nano instead. The cool Samsung player I saw was the one with Bluetooth, so it can connect directly to your A2DP phones. But I ended up not getting one and just stuck to my Nano, since I can't find any decent-sounding headphones anywhere where I live.