I think this post at The Long Tail misses the point about the iPod Shuffle.

My wife wanted a small iPod to take on her daily walk, so she got a 512mb Shuffle, the cheapest one they make. No display, and only 120 songs.

And you know what? She loves it. It does everything she wants, and nothing more.

The world is cluttered with gadgets with feature after feature that somehow seem to lack the one thing need the most. It's much better to have something that may lack the bells and whistles, but what it does, it does very well.

Look at kitchen knives. Ever see a Swiss Army chef's knife? Ever wonder why Henkel or Wistoff doesn't make a combination 9" utility knife/cheese grater/bottle opener/thermometer/toothpick? Maybe it's because Wistoff, et al, know what a chef needs, and that's a knife that cuts and handles well and that's all a kitchen knife is *supposed* to do.

All-in-one gadgets have their place. I have Leatherman Multi-Tools in the truck, in my gadget bag, at my desk, and in the kitchen at home. Why? Because it's supposed to be an all-in-one, and it does that well. But I don't use it to carve up chicken breasts.

I love my 20gb photo iPod, and my wife likes her 512mb Shuffle. She's used to CD players or FM radio, where you can't see track information (Heck, on FM, you can't control the playlist. How lame is THAT? :-) ), so not having a display is not a problem. And she listens to music in a different way than me. I've always had a big music collection, and am used to having a wide variety of songs available to me. If I hear the same track twice in a day, it bugs the heck out of me (The reason why loathe The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald so much is it was overplayed on Calgary radio in 1980). My wife isn't that way, her tastes are more limited, and purchasing CD's isn't a priority for her.

The beautiful thing about all of this is how Apple's roped both of us into their fold. I'll buy iPods from here on out, becuase I liked my original 5gb and now my new 20gb Photo iPod, and my wife will buy at least Shuffles, if not a Nano, because she likes the size/features they offer. They've found a way to please all the people, all the time. What other company can say that?

This entry was posted by Kevin Creighton, on 11.13.2005. You can leave your response.