Tuesday, June 9, 2015

The 4th Generation iPod Shuffle

I have another iPod that I couldn't let go, one that has served me for almost a decade already: my orange iPod Shuffle. I bought that when I decided I wanted to jog outdoors. The iPod 5.5 Gen was so clunky to use while jogging that I decided the Shuffle would suit me best while exercising (the irony here is, the iPhone 6+, which I also use for jogging, is much bigger than the iPod Classic). And back then, I begun to like the color orange, so I decided to get the Shuffle in that color.


It was kind of liberating. I made a smart playlist that is under 1 GB big, with songs that fall under the category "Rock" and which have not been played in a month. (I've since moved to "techno" for my exercise music.) I just clipped the Shuffle to my shirt and started to run.


But, as with all things electronic, the first to go is either the battery or the hard drive. For the shuffle, as with my 5.5 Gen iPod, the battery gave up the ghost. This wasn't really a great problem with the big iPod because I just needed to connect it to a power source and it will play.

The Shuffle battery problem, however, cannot be solved this way. This is because the charging port is the same as the headphone port. So the Shuffle cannot play music and be connected to a power supply at the same time.

This is one of the problems brought by the over-simplification of almost all Apple products. (I see the same thing with the new MacBook: you cannot charge the MacBook and charge, say, an iPhone at the same time...)

That made me sad...


But, it turns out the nephew has two extra iPod Shuffles that he is not using. So I asked him if I could have one and he agreed, but only if I get the pink one. I didn't mind. It's not orange, but for other colors, I really have no qualms. (Apple has also discontinued the orange color for some time already.)


So, I have now revised my playlist. It is now worth 2GB of electronica music interspersed with rock & hiphop. I bring the pink Shuffle with me and I use it at the gym. I even use it while moving about. It's clipped to my shirt and, thankfully, it responds to the new(ish) Apple EarPods with remote.


My problem with this generation of Shuffle? It is hard to clip the thing into anything without pressing the "Back" button. And I can't seem to memorize the button presses required to activate the "VoiceOver" functions.


One solution is to just lock the thing and just control the iPod with the in-line remote on the EarPods. Another way is to put your pointer and thumb on the corners and your middle finger at the back of the Shuffle. However, that solution is really not so easy and I still end up pressing the back (or reverse) button... So, just lock the thing up by long-pressing the Play/Pause button.


And the "VoiceOver" thing? When you buy a Shuffle, you are essentially giving up control to the iPod. It'll play things that are in it. The absence of a display prevents you from knowing what's coming up. That makes the use of a Shuffle very interesting. So I really don't pay that much attention to VoiceOver.

My orange Shuffle? It'll be preserved and will be an heirloom of my house. 



This iPod Shuffle 4th Generation is Highly Recommended!

Photos shot with an iPhone 5s using the app Hipstamatic:


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