ipod Shuffle Redesign 0/5

The 3rd generation ipod shuffle seems like a minor evolution of this niche product. The previous version of the shuffle already accomplished tiny sizes by sacrificing displays and the extra capabilities of their bigger brothers. This generation shrinks the shuffle further at the cost of losing all controls on the player itself. The new shuffle has a feature that reads back artist name and song titles over the music to make up for the lack of display.

Controls are now added on the headphone cord, which will be appealing to people that don't want to dig for the unit in a bag or pocket. It seems like a good idea, but really, it is not. ipod headphones are always flimsy - I have gone through many pairs, and they are also the last resort for when better headphones are not available. Yes, 3rd parties are already making extension jacks with controls so you can use any headphones, but why go through all this trouble to get decent sound when better alternatives are available.

At this point at it's size the engineers could make a design that is based solely around the headphones and skips the cord running away from the head altogether. The size decrease seems meaning less, it's the cord that is the problem. That would be beneficial to anyone involved in any sort of sports activity where music is desirable.

In conclusion, this new revision of the shuffle adds benefits of little or no value over the previous generation. It should have gone an extra step and introduced another revolution in music players.

UPDATE:
Originally I scored this at 2/5, but downgraded this due to Apple taking an anti customer stance with the product and forcing licensing fees on any third parties that wish to make compatible head phones. It's not quite DRM, but it severely limits what is compatible with the device. It breaks standards and makes devices less cross compatible. For that, FAIL 0/5.