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"Super Shuffle" a Marketing Stunt?

"Super Shuffle" a Marketing Stunt?

by , 1:50 PM EST, March 21st, 2005

The Super Shuffle that exactly copied Apple's iPod shuffle was nothing more than a marketing stunt, according to an article published by Engadget. The Super Shuffle made headlines earlier in March when it was shown by Taiwanese manufacturer LuxPro at CeBit, the German electronics trade show. According to Engadget, however, the device was never meant to be published, and was only intended to draw Apple's legal guns, along with the corresponding publicity to LuxPro's manufacturing and design abilities.

The story's source is a letter from an electronics manufacturing exec that Engadget didn't name. In addition, the story was not double sourced or confirmed, and should be received accordingly. The exec's letter, however, makes for interesting reading.

According to the letter, this executive contacted LuxPro after hearing about the Super Shuffle, as he was interested in having LuxPro make a new product for his own company. After contacting the company, he said, he was eventually told the truth.

"LuxPro had a USB 2.0 based music player architecture already in development," he wrote, "when Apple launched the shuffle, in January. The guys at LuxPro hatched a plan to leverage the media attention created by Apple to their advantage. They are a contract manufacturer, making their living by selling their circuitry, put into enclosures designed by U.S. or European branded resellers. So, they saw this adventure as a wonderful way to swing the world's spotlight in their direction for a few days.


The LuxPro Super Shuffle, as originally posted by LuxPro itself

There is more in the full article at Engadget. As of this writing, LuxPro is still showing the Super Shuffle on its Web site, along with several other music players.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3149 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Subject: Isn't that called "Bait and Switch"?

They advertised a product that doesn't exist in order to get people to consider their other products.

Interesting approach, if not exactly kosher.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: i'd call it lying

to advertise a non-existant product, clearly ripped off from another popular product has got to be a real marketing stroke of genius.
i know when i deal with a vendor, making things up is always at the top of my list. that way i know up front, i'm wasting my money.
on that note, my time travel rocket shoes are in beta and i'm taking advance orders.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: What's REALLY Funny...

What's REALLY funny is that the Winblows-idiot 'anyone but Apple' crowd were ALL OVER the LuxPro, saying "they were gonna buy one" and how "Apple's lawyers couldn't do anything about this".

Then it turns out the product doesn't even exist. ROFLMAO.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: What capabilities?

"According to Engadget, however, the device was never meant to be published, and was only intended to draw Apple's legal guns, along with the corresponding publicity to LuxPro's manufacturing and design abilities."


Design Capabilities? Sure, design is easy when someone does it for you.

Close Name:kevdo Posts: 54 Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Subject: Why Would I Want to do Business With These Guys?

What a stupid way to get your name out there! With "ethical" practices like these I'm sure there'll be a rush of companies willing to work with them.

Close Name:jimothy Posts: 612 Joined: 04 Jun 2004
Subject: time travel shoes

Quote
Guest wrote:
on that note, my time travel rocket shoes are in beta and i'm taking advance orders.

These things are great! I got them last week Thanks!

Close Name:rea1itycheck Posts: 23 Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Subject: D@mn you iLemmings! I was going to buy one!

Now, I'll have to be content with buying the real thing!

TheAntiRealityCheck

Close Name:DocRoss Posts: 33 Joined: 06 May 2004
Subject: Time Travel Shoes

You got yours last week? I've been using mine for months now. I'll be ordering them next year. Once you free yourselves from the shackles of time, it's amazing what you can accomplish!

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Scammer Jack Campbell outs a scam himself

Is there no honor among scammers? It looks like Jack Campbell tried to get some publicity for his site by outing a scam. I guess he got upset at LuxPro because he was not able to make money off their fake product.

Anybody remember jackwhispers.com?

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

Quote
DocRoss wrote:
You got yours last week? I've been using mine for months now. I'll be ordering them next year. Once you free yourselves from the shackles of time, it's amazing what you can accomplish!


Cool! Can you just pop forward to 2020 and see if Longhorn is released yet?!

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Re; Anti-Apple Idiots

Quote
Guest wrote:
What's REALLY funny is that the Winblows-idiot 'anyone but Apple' crowd were ALL OVER the LuxPro, saying "they were gonna buy one" and how "Apple's lawyers couldn't do anything about this".

Then it turns out the product doesn't even exist. ROFLMAO.


Yep, you're right, the 'I hate Apple' crowd is hilarious in its short-sightedness and idiocy.

Close Name:ShawnKing Posts: 14 Joined: 21 Jan 2002
Subject:

"The story's source is a letter from an electronics manufacturing exec that Engadget didn't name."

Wha....? It's the first line of the story!!

"Jack Campbell from DVForge just emailed us with some very interesting details about that Super Shuffle MP3 player...."

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Re: Re; Anti-Apple Idiots

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
Quote
Guest wrote:
What's REALLY funny is that the Mac-idiot 'anyone but Windows' crowd were ALL OVER the LuxPro, saying "they weren't gonna buy one" and how "Apple's lawyers were going to sue everyone thinking about buying one".

Then it turns out the product doesn't even exist. ROFLMAO.


Yep, you're right, the 'I hate Windows' crowd is hilarious in its short-sightedness and idiocy. I do love being an Apple Slave iBot.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Re: Anti-Apple Idiots

Quote
Guest wrote:
Quote
Anonymous wrote:
Quote
Guest wrote:
What's REALLY funny is that the Mac-idiot 'anyone but Windows' crowd were ALL OVER the LuxPro, saying "they weren't gonna buy one" and how "Apple's lawyers were going to sue everyone thinking about buying one".

Then it turns out the product doesn't even exist. ROFLMAO.


Yep, you're right, the 'I hate Windows' crowd is hilarious in its short-sightedness and idiocy. I do love being an Apple Slave iBot.


Man, you can cut the bitterness with a knife.

Buck up champ... Apple's doing great. You may not like it, but its a good thing for the tech industry as a whole, and stockholders in particular. The latter of which, I guess was not you. Hence the bitterness.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Yea but us Mac users aren't brain washed like Windows users

Only an idiot would use Windows when you spend 95% of your time fighting viruses,spyware, and malware. Having to worry about when the next trojan will hit the system and take it completely down.

Us Mac user are using are computers to be productive and can be on the web without having 4 different apps checking for spyware every hour. Yea were the idiots huh. Only a brain washed Windows user would think that way.

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