iPod What the iPod shuffle update should look like.

[ravenvii]

I was browsing the November desktops thread, and saw this image:

And it hit me. This is what the iPod shuffle should look like if it comes with a screen. The left part should be the wheel we have now of course, but the shape and concept is the same.

 

[Lacero]

Looks awfully closer to a nano.

Flash is getting cheaper and volume production means lower component prices. I think the shuffle will be discontinued by the end of 2006.

 

[TheMonarch]

Looks awfully closer to a nano.

A black and white screened 1GB $69 scratchproof nano/USB thumb drive

 

[Danksi]

I find the simple controls of my Shuffle very useful for when I'm walking with it in my pocket - or driving the car. There's nothing to look at, just easily feel you way around the control pad.

If anything I they should simply shrink it as much as possible, if for no other reason but to allow it to be connected to an iBook alongside a USB mouse connector (something I believe is not possible at the moment).

Leave the basic design as is - but don't compromise on the good battery life.

From a product point of view:-

USB Thumb drive/Simple MP3 player - Shuffle
More music and some photo's - Nano
More Music, Photo's and some Video - iPod Video

 

[gammamonk]

Here's the shuffle I would buy. My own 5 minutes in Photoshop. Enjoy.

 

[mpw]

I like gammamonk's but would prefer to see a decent pair of 'proper' headphones like these with a couple of GB's built in and the option to attach to an external iPod. A bit like the 70's radio headphones that office messengers with roller skates and satin shorts wear in 70's movies.

 

[steve_hill4]

I was browsing the November desktops thread, and saw this image:

And it hit me. This is what the iPod shuffle should look like if it comes with a screen. The left part should be the wheel we have now of course, but the shape and concept is the same.

Seems like I might be along in thinking this is a great design. I was thinking of a smaller screen on it, but they really do need one on there to pick up the casual sales.

Mind you, supermarkets here are now selling cheap mp3 players with screen and 128MB of storage for about £14.99, so even adding a screen to the same £69 the 512MB shuffle is, the casual buyers who want somethign cheap and cheerful will buy the throwaway items, then probably complain in 9 months when it goes wrong.

 

[Labi]

Here's the shuffle I would buy. My own 5 minutes in Photoshop. Enjoy.

How about this one

 

[snowmoon]

Dell would sue for copying them ;-)

http://daringfireball.net/2005/09/ditty

 

[Danksi]

Here's the shuffle I would buy. My own 5 minutes in Photoshop. Enjoy.

Nice. Although it'd need to be twice as long, just so it could incorporate the USB connector - the shuffle makes a nice thumb drive so no need to bring cables along for the ride. Even at twice as long, it'd be 1/2 the length of the current shuffle. Need to be narrower to fit the iBooks and some PC's better - may effect the size of the controls though.

 

[ibook30]

I was browsing the November desktops thread, and saw this image:

And it hit me. This is what the iPod shuffle should look like if it comes with a screen. The left part should be the wheel we have now of course, but the shape and concept is the same.

I like it !
No need for the buttons and slider on the left, I'd keep the existing "wheel button" - add the screen, and make it thin & narrow.

The shuffles continue to sell pretty well from what I hear. I think it likely they will keep it around. There is a vending machine company that sells shuffles in airports ... I can't wait until I can pop in my credit card and watch a new powerbook fall into the catch of a vending machine !

 

[willstay]

I agree with Danksi. I love Shuffle's simplistic approach to listening music on the move. Sometimes, retro style wins modernism. Shuffle is an ultra modern device in a retro look. Plug-n-play wherever-n-whenever (you no longer need to carry cables, and you no longer need to see which song it is playing - don't you think only a deaf would need to read what song is being played? )

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

I would buy that. Looks nice to me. But I doubt it'll happen

 

[mkrishnan]

Nice. Although it'd need to be twice as long, just so it could incorporate the USB connector - the shuffle makes a nice thumb drive so no need to bring cables along for the ride. Even at twice as long, it'd be 1/2 the length of the current shuffle. Need to be narrower to fit the iBooks and some PC's better - may effect the size of the controls though.

I wonder what Shuffle sales have been like since the nano came out. I don't have one, but the USB stick form-factor is appealing to me. A screen similar to the one on the iTunes minimized view in the original post would be nice, I guess. Just as long as it doesn't drive up the price. It would be a good way to compensate for the lower price of the flash part of the Shuffle.

 

[Danksi]

I wonder what Shuffle sales have been like since the nano came out. I don't have one, but the USB stick form-factor is appealing to me. A screen .... would be nice ... Just as long as it doesn't drive up the price.

I think the Shuffle's are still selling well....

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1345

I would think any screen would increase the price and it's already too close to the Nano price - although that may help Apple 'up-sell' to customers. I'd rather have no screen, than a cheap/poorly implemented one just for the sake of it.

The Shuffle's a simple device, at a reasonable price-point. Shrink it slightly and reduce the price a little to reflect the price of the entry level Nano and I think it would continue to sell well.

I've posted before that for me (47Gb's of music at home) the Nano is a little too small memory-wise and the iPod's are too big to wander around with. If I'm going to miss out on a large chunk of our available collection, I may as well do it with a 1Gb Shuffle, than a 4Gb Nano. (it's easier and quicker to pick 512Mb/1Gb of music for a day - than 2Gb/4Gb IMO.

 

[mkrishnan]

I think the Shuffle's are still selling well....

Thanks for the link! Considering the pricing of other MP3 players with screens, though, and Apple's past ability to negotiate flash memory prices down, I think they might be able to fit a screen in without a negative price impact. Apple has a consistent history of adding features to iPods at different levels without increasing the pricing....

 

[Danksi]

Thanks for the link! Considering the pricing of other MP3 players with screens, though, and Apple's past ability to negotiate flash memory prices down, I think they might be able to fit a screen in without a negative price impact. Apple has a consistent history of adding features to iPods at different levels without increasing the pricing....

Perhaps they prefer to add features and maintain price-point, rather than cut the price for a more similar product.