An iPod that Talks - Review iPod Shuffle

How can you make something that is simple, simpler? This is a question I ask everyone in my office every day, and it also seems to be the driving force of a company I love called Apple. When I saw the new iPod Shuffle video some months ago, I knew why Apple had become a cult brand.

I have been using a Creative Zen MP3 player with a large 3” screen, but have for some time wanted to shift to a iPod Shuffle or any other MP3 player with a simple interface, at least 4 GB storage capacity, playlist management features and song info, just in case a song led to an argument. Sound quality is very important to me and so the Chinese imports don’t really make sense, though I saw Shuffle lookalikes for as low as Rs 350.



Finally, I settled for the new iPod Shuffle. And I had my reasons—it looked great, was the smallest in size, had no buttons, and could actually talk to you.
So how do you manage an MP3 player with no buttons? Well, Apple has made this so simple that you know the song/artist and can go forward/back on your playlist even with your eyes shut, thanks to the controls inside the right earphone cable. The tiny control panel on the cable has small buttons to increase/decrease volume plus a central button to play/pause and forward/reverse. Press the button longer and it will tell you who the artist is, the name of the album and song. It also lets you browse through playlists using voice prompts in 14 languages, including English.




It has a single 3.5mm jack which is used as the port for plugging in the earphone as well as for data transfer and charging, using the small USB cable.

So, is it all good? There are two glitches that I noticed. One, Apple headphones with the remote are still not available separately in India—if you were to damage yours, you are in for trouble. Two, there are no two-way connectors available if you like to connect your MP3 player to your car stereo.

Anyway, if you like new technology, you are going to fall in love with this one and wonder why they did not think of this the first time.

Specs: 4GB storage
Colors: White & Black
Capacity: Upto 1,000 songs
Battery Charge Details: 10 Hour Backup / Fully Charges in 3 Hours
Price: Rs. 4200 + Taxes
More Details: http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/
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The above review was printed in The Indian Express, on Sunday May 10, 2009