Definately not. For 120$ you can get a Lexar Jumpdrive Elite (1 gb) and the mp3 player attachment. Same as iPod shuffle, more use (memory stick) AND the mp3 attachment has a screen. The Shuffle doesn't have one. The flash drive can be used for data as well.
I would invest in it if I wasn't saving up for a PowerBook G4 or the newly released Mac mini. At Neil, the iPod shuffle can be used for data storage. Infact you can adjust the amount of space on it you want for music and for data. And with a screen or not, you wouldn't really need it. Hence the name iPod shuffle. It was meant for shuffling your music so you don't really need a screen to see. It's small, will soon have more accessories than any other flash MP3 player, and has quite a strong rep utation coming into the market with it's bigger brothers. I want an iPod shuffle.
$89 American ($129 Canadian) for the 512MB iPod shuffle, and $129 American ($189 Canadian) for the 1G iPod shuffle. The top of the line iPod shuffle may be 50 dollars or so over your average flash MP3 player. But Apple has earned a reputation and screen or not, this iPod will surely sell well in the flash market. After all, Apple's goal was to overtake the flash market which had a 60% share on the market, and by the end of 2004, Apple had a 62% share over the flash market. Just give Apple the year and the results will speak for themselves.
The reasoning behind the Shuffle is that many people with regular iPods listen to their music in shuffle mode, I do on my 40 gig iPod. So for them, the Shuffle is great since its tiny (size of a pack of gum) and has no moving parts which is good for running/working out. And since songs are played in random order, theres no need for a screen to choose songs, reducing the cost of the Shuffle. Also, I dont know if you realize how small the Shuffle actually is, as I said, the size of a pack of gum, or about the size of your thumb. There is no way they could fit a screen and navigation buttons on there without significantly increasing the size. The only thing thats stopping me from getting a Shuffle is the fact that I have a 40 gig iPod already and thats half full, so I couldnt fit much on it. Also, there might be players cheaper than the Shuffle, but most of those are no-name brand players that are pieces of crap. Apple's known for quality, so you're paying more for a good quality product
I can see what it would be good for, but I already have a 20gb Pod, and I don't really need any more. A pretty cool idea though.
Todd cleaned up anything I missed or didn't say. LJ, the younger crowd would be 15 and down. Haha. Younger crowd or not, the iPod shuffle is out to take the rest of the market. As Todd said, I use my the shuffle feature on my iPod all the time so you don't really need the screen. You can set it to repeat for a playlist and listen to songs in order. When you plug your iPod shuffle into the computer, it will automatically select songs and add them to it. Or you can set it not to do that. Even more, it will find a perfect fit of songs for the max that can be fit onto it. Oh yes, and for some random iPod news, last year Apple sold about 750 000 iPods. Thanks to the Christmas season of 2004 and the amazing demand for them, they sold 4 500 000 iPods.
Its nice for people who cant afford an ipod or a mini...but i'd ratehr have a regular ipod because the mini's a ripoff and the shuffle has such a samll capacity
A mp3 player needs a screen, yesh. I would find it very annoying not to have a screen. Plus, there's more likelyhood that it would get lost [size of your thumb, good luck finding it]. I'll stay with my Rio Nitrus. Which, by the way, I have in shuffle mode.
Nah, I already have an iPod (Third Generation, 20 GB) so I don't need one. I don't really like iPod Shuffle, anyway... It's too... non-iPodish. -Sylv