iPod shuffle - Auto Half Full or Half Empty?
Everyone’s up in arms about Apples new iPod Shuffle, their sub-$100 USB Flash-based mp3 player. It’s been described as “flawed” and the lack of screen elicited responses like, “isn’t a mediocre screen better than none at all?”.
This is the classic glass half empty or half full problem. Either:
- the world sucks, everyone makes bad decisions and we’re all going to hell in a handcart or
- people are good, everything has positive points, and things are getting better.
Taking this from a ‘glass is half-full’ perspective, here’s the rational I would use to nix the screen:
- Only the songs you put on the shuffle will be on the shuffle, i.e. you’re familiar with all your songs.
- A very popular game show (Name That Tune) was developed based on our ability to identify songs by the first few notes.
- There’s a ‘next track’ button if you’re not happy with the one playing. (I’d even take this one step further and remove the ‘previous track’ button).
- It’s very difficult to be active (workout, run, change your car’s oil) and read the iPod’s screen (I’ve tried).
- A screen would send the price over $100.
From that perspective, the iPod shuffle is a brilliant product. A digital music player stripped down to it’s barest essentials; play, stop, next track, previous track, louder, quieter, iTunes integration.
2 Comments
The recent Yay! Nay! response from Macworld reminded me of last November. It’s the same empty rhetoric that we heard from political pundits. Frustrating too. Albeit mp3 players don’t have quite the same global significance as electing a US President.
Anyways, I agree. Apple entered a market they weren’t in…which is good strategically (they now OWN the MP3 player market) and they did it with a product that was still unique.
I thought this comment was great:
The lack of a screen means nothing to me. As you point out, it’s targeted at the someday-i-might-go-jogging market, not the entire-music-library-in-the-palm-of-your-hand market. 40GB of songs means those assumption-busting design wizards at apple better include a screen. Which is probably why they do. 1GB means I can push ‘next’.
My big beef is that can’t swap/add memory. Is that asking so much?
That said - IwannaIwannaIwanna.
-dc