Li’l Brudder

Thursday, April 21, 2005

ipodshuffle.jpgMy iPod has a new little brother!  Now that the weather’s getting nicer I’ve started running again, and I’m sick of carrying my regular iPod around with me to listen to music while I run, so I caved and got a cute li’l iPod Shuffle because it’s so small and lightweight and can be worn around my neck.

I got the 512MB version because I planned on only using it for running, but since I only ever listen to my music on shuffle-play, I almost like this little guy more than its full-sized older brother.  I followed these instructions for a batch of linked smart playlists and I’ll be damned if I didn’t end up with the coolest evolving dynamic playlist full of the perfect mix of favourites and things I’ve almost completely forgotten about.

I named the little fella… wait for it… Mr. Shuffleupagus.


Comments

4-21-05 · 11:36 pm

Eva says:

Li’l Brudder...he can make it on his own!

Isn’t big brother iPod jealous of his little sibling?

4-22-05 · 11:15 am

Jason says:

I have a 15Gig iPod that I run with, but those shuffles look like a better option.  Drop it?  Who cares?  And yeah, I’m late to the shuffle party, but it makes for some interesting combinations

4-23-05 · 11:36 am

Dave says:

So what made you choose the Shuffle over the other flash players that are available?  I mean - the battery life isn’t all that great, you can’t simply change the battery when it needs charging, no radio or screen…

Flash players offered by Creative - or even SanDisk seem like a really good buy.  Is there something I am missing?

PS: I’m not being critical - I’m looking into flash players myself and want to be sure that I’m not over looking anything.

4-23-05 · 12:15 pm

Robot Johnny says:

I chose the Shuffle because I already have a huge iTunes library that I wanted to take advantage of, and wanted to be sure my player was fully compatible with my dynamic, smart playlists—playcount, rating, etc. (which are part of iTunes’s database, not part of the MP3 file itself) without any fuss.

And I haven’t noticed any battery problems.  I had it playing for abour 6 hours yesterday at work and about as I tested it out, and not a single problem.

If I listened to the radio, I wouldn’t be buying an MP3 player, and the screen doesn’t bother me, since I’m using it primarily for running.

4-23-05 · 4:29 pm

Dave says:

Gotcha.  Thanks for the response.  Heh - the iTunes reason makes sense.

Funny - of all the arguments that I’ve read about the Shuffle vs. Other, I haven’t seen that one.

4-23-05 · 5:13 pm

Melissa says:

So Mr. Shuffleupagus is the newest member of the family.  Do we call it “Shuffy” for short?

4-23-05 · 5:14 pm

Melissa says:

Oops, I mean Do we call HIM

4-23-05 · 6:55 pm

mel says:

You should post a mini-tutorial on how you config. your iTunes for maximum benefit with your iPod. Haven’t figured it out yet myself!

4-26-05 · 7:12 am

Kat says:

“Mr. Shuffleupagus”?

...I hate you.

4-26-05 · 6:22 pm

adina says:

Grrr. I so want one. but i have seen all these people wearing them like absurd necklaces or kazoos. Please discard the string.

4-26-05 · 11:12 pm

Robot Johnny says:

Don’t worry Adina—when I wear it around my neck, I hide it under my shirt so I don’t look like an ass!

4-27-05 · 2:05 pm

MrBlank says:

That link to the batch smart playlists was great. Thanks!