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iPod The new Shuffle is "hard to use"?!

C

czeluff

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 23, 2006
272
2
I'm pretty blown away by all of the hubbub this is causing. Seems to me that an end user will still have an easier time learning to use the Shuffle (5 minutes of learning, maybe?!) versus setting up POP or IMAP on a Blackberry.

I'll be buying this new Shuffle, because I use the in-ear headphones, and the Shuffle is THE best music player for snowboarding. Nanos and iPods and iPhones/touches don't work with gloves on, there are LED screens that can break if I fall, etc.

If this device doesn't target you, then stop stressing. You should be happy that you can now pickup a super cheap previous gen Shuffle on craigslist instead! :)
 
Forget Craigslist, I was able to snarf one of the silver 1GB ones for $29 before they sold out. The new ones look great to me, but..... $29 :D

I just want something cheap for running so I don't have to worry about dropping my touch.
 
If those headphones break you are screwed. You cant just pop in a cheap set and keep going.
 
czeluff said:
... the Shuffle is THE best music player for snowboarding. Nanos and iPods and iPhones/touches don't work with gloves on,
Click to expand...
I think learning how to use part is overblown, but I cannot say how easy it would be to use without actually trying one myself. In any case, I doubt you can operate the new shuffle with your gloves on, either. :) The buttons look way too small.
 
Dino451 said:
If those headphones break you are screwed. You cant just pop in a cheap set and keep going.
Click to expand...
Good point.

Consultant said:
Yeah, people are SOOOO screwed. NOT!

$30, just like the current ones.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB770
Click to expand...
You don't seem to have a clue.

Let's say that I am in Colorado skiing at Steamboat Springs. My Apple earphones break. I can not go down to the local store and purchase a replacement set of earphones. Rather, I must venture down the mountains to the nearest Apple Store in Denver. Let's see, that's only about a 7 hour round trip.
 
It's not "how am I going to learn how to use this?"...but more or less "it's sooooo annoying to use this!". sure for certain instances like snowboarding, it's great, but for the majority, the new shuffle seems like a pain to operate.

I for one will NEVER buy the new shuffle simply because I HATE earbuds and prefer traditional/sports style headphones.

And even if Apple releases a 3rd party adapter and someone makes a "shuffle compatible" set of headphones, the $110+ that would all add up to totally makes it not worth it the price anymore.

Unless they keep selling the previous gen shuffles, they're turning away a lot of possible customers to look at the cheaper competition.
 
bob vansteel said:
It's not "how am I going to learn how to use this?"...but more or less "it's sooooo annoying to use this!". sure for certain instances like snowboarding, it's great, but for the majority, the new shuffle seems like a pain to operate.

I for one will NEVER buy the new shuffle simply because I HATE earbuds and prefer traditional/sports style headphones.

And even if Apple releases a 3rd party adapter and someone makes a "shuffle compatible" set of headphones, the $110+ that would all add up to totally makes it not worth it the price anymore.

Unless they keep selling the previous gen shuffles, they're turning away a lot of possible customers to look at the cheaper competition.
Click to expand...

Im sure a headphones adapter is in the works but I really think that the Apple headphones are good enough for the majority of people the shuffle targets.
 
I just bought the black one earlier today. I don't know why there is such a negative fuss about this ipod. It seems very simple to use. Plus the thing looks almost indestructible. I have gone through two nanos in the past two years. I am hoping this one will last. It is probly the best ipod for golf. I hated taking the nano on the course and almost bought a 2nd gen shuffle for that purpose.
 
I'm loving the look and technology of the new shuffle, but I won't be buying it because of the earbuds. I currently have a classic and a shuffle and do not use Apple earbuds. Not because of the sound quality, though that is an issue, but because of comfort and usablility. I use Bose over-ear headphones for the classic when I'm lounging at home, and I use Sony around ear headphone with the shuffle while working out (simple earbuds can not take the jostling). When a third party intruduces around the ear headphones that are compatable with this new shuffle, I'll be all over it!
 
sushi said:
Let's say that I am in Colorado skiing at Steamboat Springs. My Apple earphones break. I can not go down to the local store and purchase a replacement set of earphones. Rather, I must venture down the mountains to the nearest Apple Store in Denver. Let's see, that's only about a 7 hour round trip.
Click to expand...

Yep. You also cant grab a cheap $5 set if you know you are going to end up destroying them somehow. You also cant get a very nice sennheiser set and use them either. You have to use the apple headphones, and only the apple headphones, or s ones designed specifically for the new shuffle.
 
NoSmokingBandit said:
Yep. You also cant grab a cheap $5 set if you know you are going to end up destroying them somehow. You also cant get a very nice sennheiser set and use them either. You have to use the apple headphones, and only the apple headphones, or s ones designed specifically for the new shuffle.
Click to expand...
And that's the rub.

As was said earlier, there will be an adapter and probably some third party options.

For me, the cost is not the issue. It is the convenience and flexibility that is lost with this concept.
 
It is strange for Apple. Perhaps in use it won't be as confusing as it appears to be. Also it's a fact that most uninformed consumers don't buy aftermarket unless it's waved in front of them - so my guess is that the vast majority of Shuffle buyers will only be vaguely aware of alternatives, and it will not be an issue for Apple in the end.

I skipped the last shape refresh of the Shuffle as I found the first-gen not as intriguing than I'd first thought. Maybe I'll get this and puzzle over it - I have a Shuffle-a-like (only with an innovation called a display) but it's short battery life especially after a couple of years of use is bugging me.

sushi said:
You don't seem to have a clue.
Click to expand...

Not a new revelation on the evidence of posts, I'd say.
 
It's all about the money, only one size= higher price, less costs of production, also because losing the controls is an advantage as well, keeping the controls would have probably kept the Shuffle pretty similar to how it used to be. People will buy anyway because it's not bad. Apple will also (probably) sell adapters and other people will make different compatible headphones, everyone will be happy, especially Apple, and I'll probably buy one for jogging even though I already have a nano and an iphone.
 
Just one click to pause the song and three to go back one.. and how do I fast forward? Oh no it's talking to me!

Seriously, Apple has gone completely form before function on this one. If they don't release a headphone adapter with a clickwheel style remote then I consider the product a design travesty.
 
czeluff said:
I'm pretty blown away by all of the hubbub this is causing. Seems to me that an end user will still have an easier time learning to use the Shuffle (5 minutes of learning, maybe?!) versus setting up POP or IMAP on a Blackberry.

I'll be buying this new Shuffle, because I use the in-ear headphones, and the Shuffle is THE best music player for snowboarding. Nanos and iPods and iPhones/touches don't work with gloves on, there are LED screens that can break if I fall, etc.

If this device doesn't target you, then stop stressing. You should be happy that you can now pickup a super cheap previous gen Shuffle on craigslist instead! :)
Click to expand...

The new shuffle is not good for skiing/snowboarding if you own a helmet with built in headphone speakers like I do. In that case it ends up being pretty useless. Fortunately I have a 2nd gen shuffle that still works great.
 
Sounds like you also can not hook the new shuffle to external speakers, which I do occasionally with my ipods. Way to g, Apple.
 
m-dogg said:
The new shuffle is not good for skiing/snowboarding if you own a helmet with built in headphone speakers like I do. In that case it ends up being pretty useless.
Click to expand...
Good point.

m-dogg said:
Fortunately I have a 2nd gen shuffle that still works great.
Click to expand...
Yep. The large button is very easy to push with your gloved hand. I just clip it to my jacket (on the outside) which makes the controls easy to get at.
 
sushi said:
Good point.


You don't seem to have a clue.

Let's say that I am in Colorado skiing at Steamboat Springs. My Apple earphones break. I can not go down to the local store and purchase a replacement set of earphones. Rather, I must venture down the mountains to the nearest Apple Store in Denver. Let's see, that's only about a 7 hour round trip.
Click to expand...

Same here, I must have purchased 4 of the cheap $9 headphones from Bestbuy or walmart because my kids (and wife) are always wearing out theirs or the cable breaks. I don't let them touch my iphone earphones.
 
They should have put a touch chip in there and have a swipe up or swipe down on the front of the case to change songs.
 
I ordered one yesterday and can't wait to get it. I think the control on the headphones is a great idea for running and cycling in particular. It's great on a bike as you don't have to look away or fumble round and lose balance. I'm not too worried about using the stock headphones but it would be nice to upgrade in the future with some better 3rd party options. I'm pretty sure these will already be in design due to the initial demand. I'm not really sure how an adaptor would work because it would have to attach to the end of the headphones and the conrol would therefore not be in the intended position. The 4GB capacity, voiceover and addition of playlists make this for me, worth getting. Also IMO it looks so much better than the old one and I'm sure many people who have the old one will upgrade just for the looks. I predict that within 1 month the overall opinion will change dramatically.
 
I'm gonna order one too. Who needs buttons? It's much easier to use, for example at the subway, without putting it out of the pocket and then again in.
It's a shuffle and not a nano, so it doesn't need a screen or lots of extra functions.

btw the girl at apple.com which presents the new shuffle is really hot ;)
 
I feel that it's not really about it being hard to use, as it doesn't look like it's that hard to learn. It's just the fact that you have to learn how to use it at all. All the other ipods you can just pick up with little or no instruction.

S
 
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