Grand Larseny

A few days ago Apple unveiled a new model of the iPod Shuffle. Here’s a link to the Shuffle’s homepage along with a video guided tour of the new tech; just try to drool as little as possible.

Here’s the key points for people afraid of clicking links on the web* 

• No buttons on the Shuffle. None. Every button you need is now on the headphone cord
• Much smaller than the older, incredibly small, Shuffle
• VoiceOver to speak the current artist and playlist to you
• Did I mention there’s no buttons on the friggin thing

There has been a bunch of hemming and hawing from people over the missing buttons, as can be expected, but I believe this will be regarded as a brilliant move. Honestly, though, the move is very striking from a design standpoint. When you look at the thing it looks solid, like a single stick of gum or a piece of plastic packaging to be thrown away. Looking inside is no less spectacular; it really makes you feel like you’re living in the future.

The point of the Shuffle, the overriding vision, is to be small. You can have your music in your pocket with any iPod, but the Shuffle’s goal is to reduce volume (volume meaning size, that is). This means there are scenarios where using the Shuffle would not be optimal because there are much, much better options. Scenarios like:

• Playing music in the car
• Carrying around a large library of songs
• Playing songs on a good speaker system
• Playing songs on good headphones

The iPod Classic is great for the car, with a large library, and I use it pretty regularly with a huge speaker system and it responds well. The iPod Nano can be used with good speaker systems and great headphones. If you want to experience your music, these are great options.

I contend that the Shuffle is about consumer driven, perhaps throw-away, media. It is not about tuning your senses to engage as a listener with the artist, it is about appeasing your senses to get on with your day. That, to me, is why the new design of the Shuffle is so brilliant. Yes, you need to use Apple’s brand of headphones to use them, but why would you want something else?

When you’re on the go the best way to control your music is where you can always reach it, on the cord of the headphones. I fell in love with cord-based controls back in the mid 90′s in Hong Kong and again with the iPhone. When I’m moving I don’t want to control every little thing, just tell the music when to shut up and when to start again.

In the end, for me, the thing that kills the Shuffle is what kills the iPod Nano and iPod Touch; the iPhone. Apple has met my needs, and I think that this is one missed purchase they can be happy about.

* I am actually afraid of these people.  Unless you clicked a link to get here, you must go around all day typing misspelled felonies into web browsers. What came after my blog, www.embowzelment.com?

Making a terrarium inside a wine bottle; this is also something I want to do. It seems that I’ve reached a tipping point where now I have a grip of projects that I want to complete (a grip is, roughly, more than a smattering, but less than an avalance), which makes for fun, if a little scattered, times.

Lifehacker has a good rundown of a gentleman’s efforts to create a miniture terrrarium inside a used bottle of rose (pronounced roh-say) wine. Trust me, if you want to even contemplate this project you have to be a snob, so the pronunciation is as critical as correcting those who say it wrong.

Should be good for my desk where the closest thing to nature I’ve got is adhesive vinal wood desks.

The world’s biggest diamoind heist, it turns out, may well have been an elaborate scam. Well, if you can draw a distinction between a scam and a robbery.

Over at Wired the have the full story given by Leonardo Notarbartolo, who is a gentleman I have not had the pleasure of meeting. It’s a really interesting read. The whole ordeal strikes me in a lot of ways like one of the Ocean’s movies. Another great read by Joshua Davis, a very talented writer.

Much hero-worship has been done regarding US Airways Flight 1549, the flight that crash landed in the Hudson river. I think it’s time that a more critical eye, a more experienced eye, takes a look at the true facts behind the admiration. Thankfully, we’ve got McSweeney’s.

Please, review this compelling list of reasons as to why the flight in question just doesn’t add up before making up your mind on this issue. The truth deserves as much.