Apple revamped its iPod lineup Sept. 1, and gracing store shelves are new models of the iPod Touch, Nano and Shuffle.
IPOD SHUFFLE: I was fortunate enough to be in the audience in January 2005 when Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the first iPod shuffle. After the keynote, I strolled the three blocks to San Francisco’s flagship Apple store and bought one.
The original iPod Shuffle was a simple plastic case with a small navigation ring to control music playback.
Fast-forward five years: The Shuffle is now an aluminum case with that same navigation ring.
My original Shuffle held 512 megabytes and cost $99. Today’s Shuffle holds 2 gigabytes and costs $49. The 2010 Shuffle comes in five colors and features 15 hours of battery life.
Apple did a rare thing when it released the new Shuffle — it brought back a previous design.
The new, fourth-generation Shuffle looks almost identical to the second generation. The third-generation Shuffle was designed without any buttons on the iPod — the controls were integrated into the earbud cord. That wasn’t popular with users.
I’m impressed that Apple listened to users who made the second-generation Shuffle a success.
The best feature is called Voice Over. Pressing a small button on the top of the Shuffle makes it announce the name and artist of the song playing. You can also press and hold the Voice Over button to hear the playlist menu and press it twice to hear battery status.
The Shuffle always has been the darling of the workout set. In the ever-competitive world of “make it better, stronger, faster, smaller” design, Apple made the Shuffle too small and too stylish. Now that it has come back to the old design, I’ll bet sales will increase.
With any luck, Apple will leave this design alone for a long time.
IPOD TOUCH: Outwardly, the Touch looks…