iPod Shuffle Review (4th gen, 2011 version, purchased from a Source for a little bit less money than the new one)
3rd gen on the left, 4th on the right
I bought the one that's available today because my old one stopped working (Yes, I realize my complaints about the 3rd gen iPod don't work with the new headphones. But literally a day after writing the article it started giving me the five-orange-blinks-of-doom, and that was that).
The new (well, current model, about to be replaced by the exact same thing just with different colours) iPod shuffle has half the storage capacity of the third gen, uses a wider form factor, and has 6 more buttons on it. To top it off, the buttons on the iPod headphones don't work with it (it's possible mine just don't work. I looked online and found very few people complaining). The headphones that came with it are a solid 6 inches shorter than the last set.
With the 3rd-gen Shuffle, if you wanted to listen to podcasts, you maneuvered the menu to "podcasts", and they would play in order. Tap twice, and it would go from one podcast episode to another. With the new shuffle, each podcast acts as its own playlist, so once one is done, it just repeats until you pick another. Terrific.
On the plus side, I can use whatever headphones I want. Also, genius mixes. I guess that's cool? Whatever. I already like it less.
