Time Machine Does Products Too
It would seem that Apple have managed to transcend the gap between reality and the digital domain with their upcoming Leopard app Time Machine. Not only can Time Machine recover lost files, but it can recover the visual style of past iPods to new products. Interesting.
Initially I wasn’t too keen on the 2nd Gen Nano’s styling, but I can see the benefits, and it’s growing on me. For a start, it should be much more solid with that wrap-around aluminium body, and it is definitely one damn impressive piece of engineering as it is even thinner than before. And shoe-horning 8GB or memory in there is just plain awesome.
Shuffle Love
Design wise, I have been a fan of all the previous iPods. Bar one. The Shuffle. Let’s face facts, it may have sold well, but aesthetically, it sucked. Big time. So, when I first saw the photos of Steve with the 2G shuffle on Engadget I thought that it was some new remote or something, but lo and behold it’s the 2nd Generation iPod Shuffle, and it is ‘teh sex’.
The 2G Shuffle is an inspired design, because as Steve said, it addresses the number one issue with the original Shuffle; ‘carry-ability’. A large percentage of Shuffle users use their Shuffle for high impact activities like running, so the have to resort to using a strap, case or whatever to fasten it to their person. The new Shuffle tackles this head on with a built in clip. In fact it is like one giant quite tiny audio-playing bulldog clip. Now that’s cool, it’s gonna stay attached to its loving owner (unless you are stupid enough to wear the white ear buds at night or in a rough neighbourhood), and I don’t need to buy some damn expensive case to hold it. Bonus.
One debatable downside of this change in design is that the USB connector has gone. To counter this the Shuffle now comes with a dock, which connects to the Nano through the 3.5mm audio jack. When I bought my first MP3 player last year (RIP beloved Mini Disc) I ended up buying a Samsung YP-U1, primarily because of its built in USB plug, so I could use it as a USB disk to transfer Uni work between machines. However, the prices of USB flash drives have plummeted, so who cares if this thing doesn’t have a build in connector? Hell you could buy yourself a new Shuffle, a 2GB flash stick and still have plenty change left from the original price of a 1st Generation Shuffle.
So whilst the shuffle has minimal features, who cares about displays and equalisers etc. when you are exercising or rushing about. At the end of the day, if you want more control, more storage or a screen, buy one of the Shuffle’s bigger brothers.
A reasonable 55 of your pound coins will get you one of these babies, and I will have to think of an excuse to get one soon. After all, Apple has finally provided a major incentive for me to use iTunes more, and I’ll be going into the reasons why soon.
Discuss