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Mossberg Chimes In On iPod shuffle

by , 1:05 PM EST, January 12th, 2005

"I've been testing the new iPod Shuffle for a couple of days, and, in my tests, it fulfilled -- and even exceeded -- Apple's claims for convenience, battery life and song capacity. Sound quality is so good you can barely believe the music is coming from something so small," Walter Mossberg writes in his latest column for the The Wall Street Journal.

Mossberg found that his iPod shuffle's battery lasted 15 hours and 44 minutes, a good deal longer than Apple's 12 hour claim. He was also about to store 188 songs on the device, 68 more than the 120 Apple suggests, without having to down sample any of the tracks.

The lack of a screen on the iPod shuffle "bugs" Mossberg, who points out that being able to view track information is one of the great benefits digital music players have over CD players, but he acknowledges that athletes in particular who are bound to use the device likely won't care as much as he does about that feature. Cutting out the screen also has enabled Apple to undercut the pricing of its competitors.

"This is a good product that will enlarge the iPod's appeal, especially with kids, people on low budgets, or people who work out. I imagine some existing iPod owners will also buy Shuffles as sort of add-on players," Mossberg concludes. "And the iPod juggernaut will roll on."

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
View Name:Guest
Subject: You can get a 512MB MuVo for $5 more
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject: So predictable
Close Name:davebarnes Posts: 118 Joined: 12 Jan 2005
Subject: Guest is wrong.

I went to PriceWatch.com and found the lowest price for a 512MB Muvo to be $123.
I went to BestBuy.com and found the lowest priced MP3 player (256MB and greater) to be $130.

The iPod Shuffle is very price competitive.
You can argue about features (or lack thereof) all day long.

The Shuffle will sell like hotcakes to:
1. People buuying their second iPod. The Shuffle for the gym, walking, running. $99 or $149 is nothing for most of the population of the US or the EU or Japan or Australia.
2. People buying their child's first player. The Shuffle is cheaper (than a "real" iPod), and more rugged. So, if the kid drops it, it is OK. If the kid loses it, it is not OK, but it only cost Mom and Dad $99.

,dave

View Name:Guest
Subject: that thing is gay
View Name:Guest
Subject: Repeat after me
Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2043 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Subject: Re: this thing is gay

Quote
Guest wrote:
i really dislike the screenless design of the new ipod shuffle and wouldnt be caught dead buying one of those things for the fact that it doesnt even use a hard drive... 1 gb isnt going to get many people more than 25 cds onto it and without a screen what is the point of putting that much music onto it? i would much rather just spen $200 more on a 20gb and have a screen to see what im listening to.


And you're the only person that might buy an iPod Shuffle. Arrogance is not very becoming.

Also, what the h*ll does "this thing is gay" mean? Are you a homophobe, as well as arrogant and self-centered?

Close Name:yoyo52 Posts: 1159 Joined: 02 Feb 2002
Subject: Re: that thing is gay

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
i really dislike the screenless design of the new ipod shuffle and wouldnt be caught dead buying one of those things for the fact that it doesnt even use a hard drive... 1 gb isnt going to get many people more than 25 cds onto it and without a screen what is the point of putting that much music onto it? i would much rather just spen $200 more on a 20gb and have a screen to see what im listening to.


Well, then, it should appeal to the gay community, n'est ce pas?

Seriously, though, what a silly thing to say about the lack of a HD! So many people argued that Apple needed a solid state mp3 player specifically for people who do vigorous activity. They have it out now, and the complaint is that it's solid state Listen to Jobs's commentary in the keynote: they are going after the flash portion of the market. What better way to do that than with a flash player?

If you want a HD, get a mini. An iPod mini, I mean.

Close Name:Mace Posts: 9163 Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Subject: Shuffle is ompetitive to Creative flash player

Below is the listed prices from Creative website:

256 MBytes; $99
512 MBytes: $129 (shuffle is $99)
1 GBytes: $199 (shuffle is $149)

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