tenthofjune

So, Apple have brought out yet another generation of iPod shuffle (what was wrong with the previous one I don’t know).

Now, as expected, the memory increases, but someone at Apple has decided that the previous shuffle wasn’t small enough and designed a smaller version at the expense of any actual controls on the unit so the controls have been moved to cable on the right earphone. What if you don’t want to use Apple’s supplied earphones? You’re snookered. Why couldn’t they have duplicated these controls on the unit? It’s only three buttons.

Even before iPods, I had a portable minidisc player but found the supplied ear-bud Sony earphones useless, not anything to do with sound quality, but simply that unless I held my head perfectly still (say, in a vice) they would not stay in my ears. When I went back to the shop I found I was far from alone; I therefore bought a pair of ‘in ear’ earphones that I have used with every iPod since. None of the ear-bud iPod earphones have ever got out of the box.

Apple say that third party earphone manufacturers will be making compatible earphones but why should I have to pay out for another set when I have a perfectly usable pair. This needless extra expense is on top of the price hike on the previous version.

The other problem is that some people will want to plug it into a set of speakers rather than earphones; again how are you supposed to control it then?

Is it any wonder that people die in house fires after pulling the batteries out of smoke detectors.

How many smoke alarms out there are non-functional because people get sick and tired of the smoke alarm mistaking cooking for smoke?

I’m not talking about burning food here, just normal cooking, no smoke, yet the smoke alarm keeps going off. Can nobody design a smoke alarm that detects just that, and only that?