Phew....
Friday, March 13, 2009 at 8:54AM 
The Apple store was down again on Wednesday and I received a couple of messages telling me so.
Oh no!
After spending out on the new Mac Pro last week, I have to admit, I was a bit anxious as to what was the reason behind the downtime as there hadn't been any recent rumours flying around.
Much to my relief, the surprise launch was for the new iPod shuffle... phew!
Never really had the need for a shuffle although the new voice technologies looks pretty smart.
Actually, looking into it, it isn't new technology at all. I wondered how they'd managed to cram the voice synthesis into such a small device. I also wondered why the voice on the shuffle was different if you sync'd via a Mac rather than with a PC?
D'oh!
Looks like all the heavy lifting is done on the computer end using the voice technologies built into OSX or Windows. Your computer generates the track information using the OS voice technologies, then transfers it back to the shuffle.
What a very neat idea!
PS Don't know why so many people are upset that you have to use the supplied earbuds. Apple have moved the controls to the earbud lead. Surely most people buying a shuffle are buying it for the convenience and not because they are audiophiles.
Sheesh!
PPS Looks like third party manufacturers will be coming out with new, higher quality earbuds to support the Shuffle.
Reader Comments (4)
There are several reasons people don't want to use the supplied earbuds. • I want to plug it in to the AUX port of my car radio. • They fall out with only moderate physical activity. • We need to use sound isolating earbuds while on the motorcycle to protect our hearing from the wind noise and we can hear the podcast or music while at a much lower volume. • We use a noise-canceling headset on the plane.
In all cases we have to buy the extra-cost adapter from Apple. For many people, this will be a hidden-cost because they may not know they need the adapter until after the initial purchase.
There are a significant number of people, albeit a minority, who cannot use the apple earbuds because they do not fit. I am one of those people who have to use headphones because earbuds just drop out.
Tom & Nigel, I stand corrected! Never had a problem myself with the supplied ear buds, but I can see your POV :-)
I personally always thought that Apple earbuds were fine, until mine broke and I bought a different set of earbuds. That's when I realized how uncomfortable the Apple one's have been.
Anyhow I think it is a non issue, if one is unhappy with the Apple earbuds, I am sure one will be able to wait, until a third party supplier provides an adapter ;)