iLounge Reviews iPod Shuffle as 'Worst iPod Ever'

iLounge has released an in depth review on the new iPod Shuffle declaring it the worst iPod ever released.

You can read some of iLounge's concluding remarks below.

For the full review click the Read More link.


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it’s also the worst iPod the company has ever released—designed not for the value-conscious consumers who originally wanted shuffles, but apparently, for the ever-narrowing niche of athletic users who want to listen to music but for whatever reason find the similarly shrinking, Nike-friendly iPod nano unappealing. In brief, the third-generation iPod shuffle is more challenging to use for simple things than the versions that came before, the least distinctive visually, and the most overpriced relative to what it actually delivers. It may be a clean design visually and impressive electronically, but conceptually, it’s a mess.
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unlike its grandfather, which was criticized back in 2005 on features, but respected for its strong flash storage capacity for the price, the new iPod shuffle would be a waste of money if you wanted to use it as nothing more than a flash drive: you can get a 4GB storage device for $10 if you shop around. And even as a media player, it’s not a good deal: you can buy a full color-screened Sandisk music and video player for under $80 these days; even a low-capacity Microsoft Zune is in the ballpark. Add to that Apple’s requirement of proprietary new headphones or unreleased and not-coming-soon remote control accessories, and there’s absolutely no reason that we would recommend this device to our readers—or frankly, anyone—unless they are size-obsessed to a fault. It’s the lowest-rated iPod we’ve ever reviewed, and not by just a little: it’s comparable in folly to the Motorola iTunes phones we tried and disliked in 2005 and 2006.

Prior to his leave of absence from Apple, Steve Jobs commented that he was proud not only of the products the company has released, but also the ones that he cancelled before they saw the light of day, and damaged the company’s reputation. The third-generation iPod shuffle is one that should have stayed in Apple’s labs. It is at best a designer’s in-joke, a tip of the hat to those who once absurdly suggested that Apple would eventually release a buttonless piece of hardware, yet never actually believed it would happen. So here’s your token applause, Apple: you’ve proved that you could make a device as fit for The Onion and Saturday Night Live as for more serious media. Now could you please go back to making easy to use devices that “the rest of us” will lust after?
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