Apple has always been a polarizing company, and the internet is full of both pro-Apple zealots and weirdly venomous Mac-haters. Part of this has to do with the company's history of marketing its tech devices as lifestyles or cultural symbols, but we think a much larger part of it comes from the simple fact that the company has released some fantastically innovative products as well as some real dogs.
So, which is the new iPod shuffle? Well, once you get over the "all my music's in that little thing?" cool-factor, the cons begin to add up quickly. After all, the way they were able to make it so small was by removing all of the controls and embedding them in the included earbuds -- preventing the use of better-quality third-party headphones. Though the company is making much of the VoiceOver feature, which allows the device to introduce songs and artists by means of a computerized voice, it is ultimately less intuitive than a simple, small screen. Finally, while small tech devices are cool, they are also very easy to lose, and the shuffle is hardly larger than a paperclip.
So what do you think? Another form-before-function product from Apple? Or an innovative contribution to the crowded MP3 player marketplace?
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