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Apple's New iPod Shuffle Not For Stubby Fingers
Some like to say Apple's preference for minimalistic designs came from its disdain of rival Microsoft, which is (in)famous for its cluttered designs, wordy instructions, and sponsor-loaded packaging. But seriously, though, with the new iPod Shuffle hitting shelves all over the world, I tend to wonder just how far Apple plans to go with the minimalistic thing.
The sleek, clean lines of Apple's products have so far won hordes of fans to its side – the iPhone 3G's features might be getting a little old these days, but it's still pretty much the sexiest smartphone out there. Apple apparently had this in mind when they designed the new iPod Shuffle, which is barely larger than a stick of chewing gum.
Taking its minimalistic design philosophy to another level, Apple designed the new iPod Shuffle to have no buttons at all, making the previous iPod Shuffle version (which had buttons for Play/Pause, Forward Track, Back Track, and Volume Control) seem huge. You basically control the thing through controls on the earphone cord, which has a grand total of one main button – that's right, one – and two smaller ones for volume control.
In a nutshell, the new iPod Shuffle works this way:
Press and hold the button – Brings up the Playlist menu.
Press the button twice – Skip to the next track.
Press the button twice, then hold – Fast forward.
Press the button three times – Go back one track (or go back to the beginning of the current track, if you do it six seconds after the track begins)
Press the button three times, then hold – Rewind.
There's obviously no space for a screen on the darned thing (it's only thick enough for an earphone jack), so the new Shuffle uses a text-to-voice feature and reads you your playlists. Just use the volume buttons to scroll through your playlists and press the button when you get to the one you're looking for.
I'm just a little worried about the people trooping to the nearest iStore to get their own new Shuffle. I'm inclined to believe most Apple fanboys don't read the instructions, and it's pretty hard to guess how the new Shuffle without reading the literature.
Oh well. Apple's way of finding out just how far minimalism can go, I guess.
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