| The iPod Shuffle is a step in a whole new direction | | | | consider, although with this model it plays a major role. |
| with micro MP3 players. They've just never gotten this | | | | When you put the iPod Shuffle next to other MP3 |
| small, like the newest iPod shuffle. This is mainly | | | | players that have been dubbed "small," the iPod wins |
| because of better chips from Apple that do more with | | | | out in pretty much every area. Other MP3 brands |
| less space. Traditionally, you always had to give up | | | | make you rely on buying batteries, external media like |
| something when you chose a smaller sized version of | | | | cards and memory sticks, and generally won't play |
| anything electronic. That's not really true anymore. | | | | your music for that long. The iPod's battery is a built in |
| Another model from Apple that follows this same | | | | lithium-ion batter, the same kinds they use for the best |
| principle is the iPod Nano. This MP3 player is almost as | | | | cell phones on the market. Most users say their iPod |
| thin as a credit card, but still has plenty of space for | | | | shuffle plays hours of music for them, before needing |
| your music, and a great battery. | | | | a recharge. The iPod storage is also built-in. All you do |
| People have always wanted to carry their music | | | | is sync it up with your computer and download all of |
| around, whether they listened to it while traveling or not. | | | | the songs through the USB port. |
| We had tape players, "Walkmans," and decades later | | | | Apple also put out numerous other models of the iPod. |
| we had the first round of MP3 players, which were a | | | | Features that the shuffle doesn't have are video |
| joke. They were big and bulky, often had no screen, | | | | playback, photos, or mainly anything graphical. The iPod |
| lights, or any way to tell you what song you were on. | | | | Shuffle is geared towards those who are only |
| The biggest joke of them all was actually an | | | | interested in the audio, and want a micro solution. The |
| enormous sized one, heavy and made of metal, from | | | | shuffle has become so small that it can clip onto |
| a boutique audio brand, which had an on/off switch, but | | | | basically anything and go unnoticed. The reputation of |
| no other way to tell if the unit was on. Storage also | | | | the iPod Shuffle before was that it couldn't play the |
| left a lot to be desired. | | | | songs in the order you wanted to, since its "random |
| The iPod Shuffle is such of a night and day difference | | | | play" function was always on. Now, today's model lets |
| from those old models. Size isn't the only thing people | | | | you turn that random "shuffle" mode on or off. |