After buying your iPod shuffle the first thing you need to do is to charge it. That is done by attaching the included USB cable to the headphone port on the shuffle and the USB port on any computer. Then, as with all iPods, you install iTunes on your computer and either copy or purchase music. iTunes works with any newer version of Windows or Mac. You then attach the shuffle to the computer to copy the music to the shuffle.

The new shuffle is so simplistic in design that the device itself has only one switch, one very small LED light, and one port. As shown in Figure 6, all are on the top of the shuffle. Flicking the power switch on and off quickly will activate the tiny LED-light that will show the amount of battery left. The port is a standard 3.5-mm jack which is used to attach the included headphones.

Unfortunately the headphones have the standard hard round ear buds that many of us find uncomfortable. Even more unfortunate is the fact that since the controls are built into the headphone cord (more on that later), you must use these ear buds if you want to have full control over the music on the shuffle. Although some manufacturers have promised shuffle-compatible headphones, at the writing of this article, none are yet available.

At first glance, the switch on the top of the shuffle looks like a simple on/off  switch, but closer investigation reveals that it has three positions. Figure 7 shows that the side of the shuffle sports icons etched in the aluminum to signify the functions of the switch. As you can see from the picture, the icons are so small that they are barely readable, but the switch is easy to use. Flip it to the left to play music in the whatever comes first “shuffle” mode. Flip the switch to the middle and you have the normal play mode, which plays the songs in the order they are stored inside the player.

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Figure 6: The top of the shuffle.

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Figure 7: The three-way control.

In an effort to simplify the shuffle itself, the main music control is now inline on the right ear bud cord, as shown in Figure 8.

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Figure 8: The inline control.

One of the things that made the iPods so popular is that they are easy to use that in many cases, you don’t even have to read the manual. Not so with this shuffle. Apple’s simplification of the device has actually made it a bit more difficult to use. You will not only want to read the instructions, but might want to create a cheat sheet for yourself until you fully learn and remember the functions. But once you do, the system is easy enough to use.

The volume up and the volume down buttons at the top and bottom of the control were quite intuitive, but the middle button is not. You use a single click of the middle button to play/pause the music. A double click takes you to the next track and a triple-click goes to the previous track. The same center button is also used to control the new VoiceOver feature.

We found that it was somewhat difficult to get used to this control. Although you would think that having it hanging near your chin would be very convenient, we also found that having to hold your hand up to control the device was often more cumbersome than having to look down at the device. And if you live in a cold climate, don’t even bother trying to use the tiny control with gloves on.