“Like the iPod 5G and iPod nano, the new iPod shuffle
is nearly perfect, an exhilarating combination of portability and usability. I love it,” Paul Thurrott writes for Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows.
“I was a huge fan of the first generation iPod shuffle… I ended up purchasing two versions of the original shuffle, a 1GB version and a 512 MB version, the latter of which I gave to my wife,” Thurrott writes.
Thurrott writes, “The second generation iPod shuffle is almost comically small…. the sound quality is stunning, though I tested the iPod shuffle with the nicer headphones Apple ships with its other new iPods. Apple rates the battery life at up to 12 hours.”
“The iPod shuffle 2G requires Apple iTunes 7.0.2 or newer, which is a free download from the Apple Web site. (The iPod shuffle
packaging is too small to include an install CD.) This is just fine with me, as iTunes is the best digital media jukebox out there anyway, and the software provides you with access to Apple’s market leading iTunes Store online service. As with the other new iPods, iTunes 7 is also used to manage the iPod shuffle
, via a nice graphical interface,” Thurrott writes.
Thurrott writes, “Apple’s new iPod shuffle is a wonder of size, weight, and usability, and the perfect companion for music lovers who don’t want their portable audio player to get in the way. If you need something more sophisticated–say a device with more storage or a screen–then Apple’s got you covered with the new iPod nano. And naturally, those with even more dramatic requirements will find the new iPod 5G to be the best portable audio player of them all. How Apple is able to keep hitting them out of the park is unclear, but they do. The iPod shuffle
is cute, wearable, durable, and features great battery life and excellent sound. There’s no such thing as perfect, of course, but the new iPod shuffle
comes pretty close. Highly recommended.”
Full review here.
Thurrott has come a long, long, long way: Apple Computer’s tenuous hold on the portable audio-player market might soon fall thanks to a predictable foe, Dell, whose Dell Digital Jukebox (Dell DJ) is off to a strong start. The Dell unit is a bit bigger than Apple’s elegant iPod, but it features a more intuitive scrolling navigation wheel and support for Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows Media Audio (WMA) format, which all online music services except Apple use.. The Dell DJ also features dramatically better battery life than the iPod, lower prices, a built-in audio recorder, and–gasp–a simpler interface than the iPod. As the owner of two iPods, I’ve long expected the PC world to catch up with–and surpass–Apple’s entry. My only surprise is that it’s taken this long. – Paul Thurrott, Connected Home Media, December 5, 2003 (source)
Related articles:
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Dell’s ‘DJ Ditty’ flash-based MP3 player is dead – August 22, 2006
Dell dumps line of hard drive-based MP3 players, nobody notices for over a month – February 06, 2006
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Dell dumps ‘DJ’ hard-drive MP3 player line – February 04, 2006
Apple 2G iPod Shuffle disassembly guide – November 03, 2006
Reg Hardware reviews 2G Apple iPod shuffle: ‘great grab-and-go gadget for music on the move’ – November 03, 2006
Steve Jobs gives Apple employees new 2G iPod shuffles – November 03, 2006
First 2G iPod shuffle unpacking photos – November 01, 2006
Apple’s new 2G iPod shuffle available worldwide this Friday – October 31, 2006
Apple now shipping 2G iPod shuffle orders – October 30, 2006
AP: Apple’s new iPod, iPod nano, iPod shuffle ‘clearly worth the wait’ – October 19, 2006
Apple unveils new iPod shuffle: world’s smallest digital music player – September 12, 2006
The guy sounds like a fanboy, which is a bit of a switch for him;-).
“Once you go Mac, you never go back”
I’ve been following Thurrot for some time, as I was considering whether to switch to OS X, or Vista.
What I found, was that he is actually far more balanced in his opinions than many people give him credit for.
He tends to be honest, and certainly credible.
Ut’s funny (for instance), how he broke the news of the Intel Switch. Well he was panned by a lot of Mac users for that suggestion.
If you look at his reviews of Tiger (when it was released), you will find that he has always been a Mac zealot.
He’s just honest. That includes about Windows when it’s good and bad… and OS X.. when it’s good and bad.
Well, the Shuffle is going to sell like crazy. That’s for sure. The first quarter numbers are likely to stun even the staunchest Apple supporters amongst us, I predict. Ya just gotta love it.
Thurrot was one of the enlightened pundits who praised the original iPod in 2001.
One would have to be literally in thrall, serfdom, and enslavement to µ$oft to express anything other than fanboy admiration for this new Shuffle, seriously. There’s nothing out there even remotely close. Perfect, well, it’ll be perfect when someone comes up with a USB-to-mini-jack adaptor for it, so we don’t have to bring the dock along.
MDN word ‘better’- should have been ‘best’
This guy is a carrion crawler. He goes wherever there’s food. Just wait– once Vista is released, he’s going to publicly fill his pants. With love, of course. Love.
Billy Ash = Thurrtt Fanboy
You know the guy is bad when he heaps praise and you feel dirty.
Well, Thurrot MIGHT come around to liking Vista, but at one point he called it a “trainwreck”. At the moment, he has taken a wait-and-see attitude on Vista. At least that’s my take, per his web site. Overall, he has been absolutely the most critical tech writer towards Vista on ANY Doze-oriented site I’ve ever read.
Am I the only one who was thinking, “what are they talking about? The new Shuffle is only 1GB!” I’ve only just figured out that 2G means ‘second generation.’
Oops.
Thurrott teeters on the edge of “honesty” for a reason– he sounds credible enough that most people don’t completely discount him, and so that when he takes an oppositional stance it looks as if he’s “being real” and can be relied on. Unless he is mellowing in his older years, he’s still an opportunist.
Yeah, ultimately he does have to embrace Vista-it’s his livelihood. Whatever his professed good feelings for OS X (at times), he has GOT to prefer Doze.
You think that Thurrott laughs himself silly whenever he bates MDN into linking another one of his trivial articles?
When he bashes Apple, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and must be out of his mind. When he applauds them, he’s a famous industry expert.
Tards,
You obviously missed MDN’s Take. It points out Thurrott’s speciousness quite well – if you’re not “tards,” Tards.
Mr. Thurrott has obviously come a long way, which can’t be said of Rob Enderle of the “Enderle Group.”
It isn’t called “iPod 5G”, it’s just “iPod”, and doing so diminishes the fact that they are 30GB and 80GB because the average shmuck on the street thinks the “G” in “5G” means “gigabyte” and not “generation”.
People are stupid and an editor should know this and demand exactness from writers.
Turdrot, even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.
the apple uk store syas the shuffle has one gig storage, why does thurrot syas it is 2 gig, whats going on ?????
H
Attention to detail….
I bought a new shuffle yesterday, and discovered almost immediately why Apple didn’t place the control wheel dead-center in the device, as I would have done if I’d made it: by placing the controls off-center, I can tell just by feeling the shuffle which way is “up” on it, and therefore which button around the wheel is which. Thus I don’t have to look at the device at all to control it.
Nice, Apple. Very nice.
“Like the iPod 5G and iPod nano, the new iPod shuffle is nearly perfect, an exhilarating combination of portability and usability. I love it,” Paul Thurrott writes..
Meanwhile deep within the Redmond Death Star…
Darth Ballmer: *hissst* You summoned me, my master.
Emperor Gates: I sense a deep disturbance in the Force
Darth Ballmer: I’ve sensed it too my master, it’s the traitor Thurrott, he has joined the Rebel Alliance. *hisst*
Emperor Gates: Yes, see to him at once
Darth Ballmer: As you wish, my master
********************
Paul Thurrot at his computer downloading songs to his new 2G iPod Shuffle. Suddenly his breathing gets hard, there’s a severe tightening at his throat, he’s grapping at invisible hands choking him. His eyes roll up in his head and he collapses, head striking the keyboard of his Dell laptop.
The Dell explodes, because it has one of the defective Sony batteries, Paul Thurrot is engulfed in flames, his house burns down, his dog is running down the street with it’s tail on fire.
Lesson to be learned, once you join the Dark Side, there is no return.
Everybody says it’s a 2GB iPod but the one i ordered and i am supposed to get on Wed is 1GB. there was no option for 2GB?!!
Am I missing something here?
Billy, get a Mac and you can have both!
Let’s not forget this comment from here (http://www.connectedhomemag.com/Audio/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=41429)
HP stunned onlookers this week when it announced that it will license the iPod from Apple Computer and bundle Apple’s iTunes application with select consumer-oriented PCs. Sometime this summer, HP will ship an HP-branded iPod portable music player that will feature a unique blue color, the company told me.
Given HP’s strong relationship with Microsoft, the Apple deal comes as a surprise. But HP’s PC competitors, including companies such as Dell and Gateway, have launched their own digital-music strategies and partnered with other companies to get into the market quickly. Clearly, HP felt that the Apple deal would give it a unique competitive position.
HP’s blockbuster deal with Apple will have one exciting side effect. The company will be working with Apple to add support for Microsoft’s superior Windows Media Audio (WMA) format to the iPod by mid-year. You heard it here first.
I suppose I should have mentioned that I did get a Mac.
A nice 24 incher iMac.
I loves it.
But I still reckon that Thurrot is credible..
Certainly more credible than some of the zealots here who insist that Macs are perfect.
They’re not perfect… they’re certainly better than PCs however. Thurrot usually has that same perspective.
The 2G shuffle means it is the 2nd Generation Shuffle not a 2 GB shuffle. There isn’t a 2 GB shuffle out on the market right now.
Magic Word: Trouble, as in “People have TROUBLE comprehending simple ideas.”