Computerworld — Choosing the perfect holiday gift can be difficult, particularly when it comes to determining the appropriate Apple portable media player to give to your dearest and nearest. This year, however, it's the tiniest bit easier. And it is because Apple has done us all the favor of leaving last year's iPod lineup in place. If you liked the look of last year's iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod Classic, and iPod touch, you'll like them just as much this year as they've changed very little.
Which to purchase--either for yourself or as a gift--depends a lot on the money you have to spend and what you'd like that iPod to do. Do you want an iPod that plays music only--no video? You have exactly two choices (and only one of them has a display). Need an iPod that stores a large chunk of a massive iTunes library right there on the iPod? Apple offers one perfect iPod. How about an iPod that's equally at home playing games and sending email as it is playing music, podcasts, and movies? You have up to three choices (depending on how particular you are about the device actually bearing the "iPod" name). To help make those choices more clear, let's look at this (and last) year's lineup of Apple's portable media players.
iPod shuffle
Today's $49 4G iPod shuffle looks very similar to the 2G shuffle of yore but, unlike that earlier iPod model, if you care to you can navigate the device by holding down a VoiceOver button (or pressing the controller on the optional $29 Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic). Doing so causes the iPod to announce the name and artist of the currently playing track. Press and hold the VoiceOver or headphone controller button and the iPod lists all of its playlists.
The nearly square 4G iPod shuffle is offered in a single 2GB capacity. You can fit approximately 500 4-minute songs encoded as 128-kbps AAC in that 2GB of flash storage. It's available in five colors--silver, blue, green, orange, and pink. Like shuffles before it, this one bears a clip, allowing you to securely attach the thing to your clothing, backpack, or purse. And, like the 2G iPod shuffle, it has no display but rather, on its face, Volume Up, Volume Down, Next/Fast-forward, Previous/Rewind, and Play/Pause buttons.
The mission of the iPod shuffle remains the same. It's Apple's least expensive iPod and holds over a day's-worth of music (again, with music encoded as 128-kbps AAC), making it a solid choice as a workout companion or a careless kid's first iPod. Although navigable through VoiceOver, there are far easier iPods to operate. And, of course, no display means no videos or extra features that require a display (contacts and calendars, for example).
