How to control the new shuffle if you don't want to use the incl. earphones

i bought a 2gb shuffle today at the cincinnati apple store...they still had many in stock but you have to ask for them...they are not out on display...the sales guy really was shocked and a bit dismayed i wanted that one and not the new one...i explained i did not want to use the ear buds...

Yes and my backlash started the minute I watched the iPod shuffle video. I went to the iPod shuffle feedback page and suggested a 3.5mm jack on the user side of the control.

Part of what I wrote:

"I am hearing impaired and utilize hearing aids 100% of my waking hours. Apple's ear buds are totally useless to me. I called the Apple Store to see if there was something I was missing and was told that there was not. Apple's design choice requiring the use of the ear buds due to the location of the controls angers me more than I can possibly express here and still have you read my comments!!!

A design change in the ear bud cord would put a 3.5mm jack on the listener side of the control so that another device (headphones, hearing aid streamer, etc) could be plugged in vice the included ear buds.

Apple knew what they were doing (Apple is way too aware of user experience for me to believe otherwise) and yet they chose to make this design decision anyway. There are many customers that have no hearing impairment who like a better quality listening device; they were totally kicked to the curb by Apples decision. For those of us with a hearing impairment, Apple hasn't only NOT made an accommodation, Apple has thrown us under the bus."

I encourage all others to let Apple know if you are unhappy with this design change. After all, even though I am ticked off right now, Apple does generally do a good job of taking care of their customers.

Just received my $17 order (including tax and shipping) for a pair of Sennheiser CXL 400. This is my first inside the ear canal type of earbuds. Haven't opened the package yet (the typical impossible to open without a box cutter clear plastic box). It has an odd built-in (to the earbud wires) lanyard arrangement, which is probably why it was so cheap. Sort of like the lanyard earbuds Apple sold a while back. I didn't know about that design feature, but it looks ideal for use with my old-school white 1st gen iPod shuffle, when exercising... Still finding cool stuff for use with my 1st gen shuffle (even if by accident).

Sorry, I know that has not much to do with the original topic.

I use my 2nd generation shuffle for workouts on a treadmill that has speakers to connect to via the earphone jack. A 3rd generation style shuffle would be useless to me because I wouldn't be able to control it while it was connected. There must be several other speaker connection hardware devices that are now out of the loop for the shuffle. Is this poor design or planned obsolescence? 2nd generation shuffles are too perfect for working out with. I can't believe apple would want to cut off that spectrum of a market from their product line. Are they trying to sell me a nano instead? Bah! The 2nd genration shuffle is already exactly what I want for working out. Oh well!

I was excited to hear about this new iPod shuffle, with the ability to have different playlists. But the controls on the earphone cable is a real deal-killer.

I find the stock iPod earphones uncomfortable and they fall out easily. I prefer Sony's "wrap-around" earphones. And for my car, I just plug my current shuffle into the input jack of my car's stereo (using a mini-cable). Neither of these will work with this new iPod.

This new, "improved" product makes it obvious Steve Jobs is not currently in command.

So now I should find ways to "stock up" on the old iPod, in the event my current unit dies.

It's really quite ridiculous to get angry about this.
Not all products Apple makes are going to suit everybody. If the 3g shuffle doesn't suit you, buy a 2g - they're still selling them... Just because Apple makes one product that doesn't suit you you're being 'kicked to the curb' regardless of the many other products they make that will? Come on!... get a little perspective. There are many products available that will work for you. The 3g iPod shuffle apparently isn't for you. It's that simple.

Sheesh.

wasn't Jobs in "command" when they dropped firewire from the macbook?? IMO, he takes the minimalist approach to a ridiculous level. Look at the 1st Gen Touch--NO SPEAKER AND NO VOL CONTROL. That meant NO WAY am I buying one. Once they addressed those deficiencies I bought one for myself and my wife. and we LOVE our Touchs. Too many times, the stuff coming out of Cupertino (via China) just doesnt "do it" for me. Controls are NOT a bad thing IMO.

I was looking forward to this fancy new gadget . . . but since I can't wear my own headphones with this . . .

I'll be sticking to my (now oldschool) shuffle.

Bit of a buzzkill really, some of the ideas are nice and it looks real pretty ^_^


Does it feel like Apple is scraping the pan for every last cent it can take off of us? Forcing us to buy thier headphones from them and whatnot . . .

This really is a tad dim of apple.

What's the shuffle useful for? .... Being small.

Why would anyone want a small mp3 player?.... Because they're doing something that requires not lugging around anything bulky, ie. physical activity/going to the gym etc....

Using apple's headphones in the gym and in the generally noisy great outdoors is frankly dangerous.

They offer no sound isolation, so the volume needs to be turned right up to hear anything (even then it's not enough in the majority of gyms!)

Why on earth didn't apple just have an in-line adapter? I was actually looking to buy a shuffle for the gym, liked the sound of the device and then read that I can't use my own isolating headphones??!?!?

SOO clearly apple would rather I didn't spend £59 and instead bought the old shuffle for half the price that would actually let me use headphones and will let me listen to music.

Who IS their marketing exec? I think they might need their head examined!

dysphasi wrote:

They offer no sound isolation, so the volume needs to be turned right up to hear anything (even then it's not enough in the majority of gyms!)

Blame EU for the 100db cap on iPod audio output level... US versions are LOUDER.

Apple is very strategic, not tactical. By that, I mean +big picture and long term gain+ instead of +specific and short term gain+.

Apple says they are working on an adapter cable with the controls, for use with any headphones. The release date is unspecified. They could have easily had the adapter cable ready for launch of the new shuffle; they did not. Obviously, Apple wants third parties to fill this need with clever niche products. If Apple provided the official solution for $19, there would be less incentive for the third parties to provide clever solutions.

Also, Apple is trying to influence the design of portable device headphones from all companies. ALL of the current iPods (and iPhone) can use the same Apple earbuds with the controls on the cable. But the shuffle is the only one that requires it. And there is (intentionally) no Apple solution that allows the use of non-Apple headphones. How long will it be, do you think, before ALL of the major makers of portable device headphones adds the controls to the cables of ALL (or most) their headphones, just to be compatible with the least expensive iPod model; and they will probably add a mike for users of the more expensive iPods. And that will benefit Apple in the long run (for all of their iPod and iPhone products), even if they lose (or delay) a few iPod shuffle sales initially.

Interesting back-and-forth. You both make good points. I'll add my "beef" with the new design: headphones get lost/damaged. As it is, with my current shuffles/Nonos/etc, if I lose a cord, I have others I can use. Heck, I can even grab a $10 set in an emergency. This new design is definitely gonna mean more moolah and/or greater hassle to replace the cords :P

Kenichi, I don't think a whole lot of people here are buying your BS -- sorry to say. Do you really think 3rd party headphone makers are going to add controls to the cables? First off, the iPod is not the only game in town. Secondly, it is much more cost effective for a company to just use an adapter cable (developed by Apple or some other 3rd party like Griffin, Belkin, ...) that has the controls already on it. Lastly, who is to say that Apple doesn't come out with a future iPod that has additional features on that stupid cable controller -- I can see a scenario in the future where someone has to get a new adapter cable with a set of controls to go with his existing headphones that already have a set of controls on the cable (what a waste).

No, Apple screwed up royally on this one!!! I don't see very many headphone makers doing special versions with the controls on the cables. What Apple should have done is to ship a 3" cable adapter with the controls along with their regular earbuds. And I don't think it will be very long until we see someone come out with an adapter (I give it less than a month). This really should have been done by Apple. In fact, it probably wouldn't be that hard to cut off the controller part of the new crappy Apple headphones and make your own (I still have an extra adapter from the last time Apple screwed up in this area -- the iPhone jack).

Is it any wonder that iPod Lounge reviewed the new Shuffle and said "iPod shuffle 3G. Apple's worst iPod yet, by far."

Just wait and see. It will happen.

Makers of music player headphones are going to spend a few extra dollars per unit to add the controls. They'll probably add the mike too, since it will be more cost effective to stock one type than have one without the mike and one with the mike. Why wouldn't they? They want their products to be fully compatible with the most popular digital media players in the world (not to mention the iPhone). If you don't do it, you put yourself at a competitive disadvantage.

And they won't rely on the adapter either. It would be a competitive disadvantage if your product required a separate adapter. The customer will just buy the product that does not need an adapter. If the customer has a non-Apple player that does not need the control (or an older iPod), no loss there; the product will still work fine even if the control is useless. The adapter will just be a short-term need.

Lastly, who is to say that Apple doesn't come out with a future iPod that has additional features on that stupid cable controller

At some point in the future, you can bet that Apple will do something different. That's Apple's competitive advantage. They have the guts to do something different, and the strategic vision to influence entire industries. Look what they have done to the mobile phone industry with the iPhone, where Apple is not even the market share leader. Manipulating the iPod (sorry - I meant +digital media player+ ) peripheral business where iPod dominates will be child's play in comparison.

Is it any wonder that iPod Lounge reviewed the new Shuffle and said "iPod shuffle 3G. Apple's worst iPod yet, by far.

For every negative (short-sighted) review, there are five positive ones.

You're talking to a person who has an iPod Shuffle, Nano and Classic as well as iPhone. I have two sets of very expensive custom Ultimate Ears. Granted, I am not the typical iPod user, but judging from what I see at my Health Club, less and less folks are using the stock Apple earbuds. I don't know if you workout, but you may want to take notice next time if you do. The reality is that many folks have multiple iPods/iPhone and have invested in a decent set of headphones. And I suspect that will be the case more and more in the future. I'm not going to toss away a $500 pair of earphones just to get a new pair with the latest set of controls on the cables and I don't think others would either.

Knowing that Apple will continuously make changes to their model as you say for so-called competitive advantage, do you think folks are going to take changes that buying a new pair of expensive earphones with the controller on the cable is going to work with a future iPod? No, the savvy user is going to just upgrade the adapter that goes between his nice expensive earphones and the iPod. And what about these 3rd party companies that spend thousands of dollars investing in new earphones for the new Shuffle 3G only to see that it no longer supports all the features of the next Shuffle 4G (now they are at a disadvantage and will likely have to throw away unsold inventory at huge losses).

If you look at all of the top earphone makers today, they have entire lines devoted to MP3 players. For a company that sells a dozen or so different models, maybe they will add a new one as you say with controls on the cable, but it would be insane for them to do this with all their models. Remember, different strokes for different folks -- some folks want "sports" model, some want noise-isolating, some want a certain fitting style, etc. Why would Apple cripple sales of the Shuffle by limiting the choice of headphones? No, this special adapter will win out in the long run as meeting their customer's needs will be the competitive advantage.