Somehow, I've managed to accumulate the first three generations of Shuffle over the years. This is how I've thought of them:
- First gen – Most iconic and could plug directly into your computer.
- Second gen – Best form factor (area to left of navigation for your finger to open clip).
- Third gen – Confusing as hell, but at least it had song information, I guess?
- Fourth gen – Smallest design, buttons integrated again, plus song info. Bonza.
I always wished they made some combination of the first and fourth generations with an internal speaker too. The idea of being able to play music directly from an SD-card-sized device that needs no cables to plug into your computer still seems cool.
Low-res mockup of advertisement of said iPod that I made in 2009:
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