A little bitty gift
Published by on January 21st, 2008
I have been thinking about an iPod Shuffle for a while. The full-size fifth generation iPod I have is excellent, but cumbersome when commuting. What? A little thing like that cumbersome?
Well, yes. I have to walk, train, walk some more, tube - and depending on the challenge the tube network presents potentially tube-walk-tube-walk-tube some more - then walk again. It’s around a 2 hour journey door to door, and music helps the time pass a little quicker and blocks out any screaming kids. With the iPod tucked safely in a coat pocket, it can be a pain to navigate around tracks, pause, un-pause, etc., when fully kited out in winter travel gear and and work bag. So a small, clip-on device, easily accessible and which offers basic controls, would be a more convenient choice for me. I simply found I was not using the 5G for travel, and I don’t need more than 4 hours of stuff per day.
So why a Shuffle when there are bigger/better/faster devices available at that price. Integration with iTunes and Mac is, of course, a big factor. Another is the exceptional design, this clip-on configuration is, I think, one of the best designed small devices I have come across - and it really is small. Proof of its suitability will be Tuesday when I brave the transport system once more.
But it has smaller memory than others
Yes, like I really NEED 30Gig of data on my commute - I don’t even have 30Gig of -tunes and video on the machine it syncs with in the first place. I need 4 hours of sound, that’s it. I read and write during appropriate parts of my journey anyway.
But it has no screen
Well, I click a next/previous track button. If it’s not the track I want, I click again. Rinse and repeat, I’ll get there in a few more clicks. Last thing I want when negotiating the bustling London underground is to be peering at scrolling text on an inadequate screen. Anyway, there aren’t 20,000 songs on there so I don’t need to be scrolling through much in the first place.
But its rubbish ‘cos its Apple
Oh shut up.
The best part of all is I did not have to buy it. thanks to jEN grabbing a handful of extra hours over the seasonal period, she decided to purchase it as a surprise gift. That is very cool. I’m off now to call jEN’s manager and let him know how happy she is to do extra hours…
4 Responses to “A little bitty gift”
January 21st, 2008 at 9:47 am
Yep, the classic ;make sure you can operate the player blindfolded’ strategy, one of the weaknesses IMO in the physical design of the iPod Touch and iPhone. I’ve never counted cable remotes as particularly effective, given wear and tear sees them break after a short time.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:10 am
I bought my wife a Shuffle (I have a 1st Gen Nano, still going strong). Every time she clips it on her jacket to wander to the shop I get a little twinge of jealousy.
Like you, most of the time I use my iPod is for commuting so it’s very much a case of less is more. Load it up with tracks I know I like (or can tolerate) and you are good to go.
Ultimately all I now do with my Nano is select ’shuffle tracks’, but as you say it’s hard to use in a pocket when you have gloves on!
So, I bought a Shuffle too… a nice blue one.
January 21st, 2008 at 11:25 am
You’re very welcome!
(Call my boss and I’ll break your wittle fingers though…)
April 10th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Word of caution: Make sure you unclip it from your clothing before throwing it in the wash! Yea, it sounds stupid but I know several people who just completely forget (I guess because it’s so small and light) and wash it