My New iPod Shuffle

On tuesday evening I send my sister to the nearest electronics store to buy an iPod Shuffle for me.  I had called the store and made sure they had the third generation models in stock and was told that they did.

The guy who answered the phone explained that they had blue, silver, green and pink and that they were all 2gb models, but the prices were $74, $79 and $89 depending on the colour.  I thought this was odd, but was just happy they had some.  I asked if they had any headphone extension cord with the volume buttons built in and explained what it was, but the guy had no clue what I was talking about, so I showed my sister and she said she’d have a look.

I was quite pleased as her and my step-dad left because the blue one that I wanted happened to be the least expensive, and I would have something to listen to while I fell asleep again!  The battery in my iPod Nano had begun to swell and I couldn’t use it anymore, and my MacBook Air is still being repaired.

She came back and passed me the iPod Shuffle.  It was the second generation model!  I was not amused!  I had made sure it was a third generation model on the phone.  My mom said she could bring it back and exchange it the next day, so I called the store again and explained what had happened.  The same guy answered and told me that I should go on the website and make sure the one I want isn’t what he sold!  He also said to make sure it was the model I wanted etc.  He was twisting things around as if I was the one who didn’t have a clue about iPods!  I asked him if I could bring it back the next day to have it exchanged and he said if I wanted it exchanged I had better bring it back in the next fifteen minutes!  He didn’t sound too happy.

My step-dad said he wasn’t going back, so my mom drove my sister back there and exchanged the second generation for a third generation, which somehow was still a 2gb model, but cost $11.30 less than the first one!  My sister also said that all of the third generation models were the same price.  I’m wondering how someone who knows so little about a pretty popular item can work at an electronics store?  I’ve bought a lot of things at The Source and usually it’s a good experience, but I will never go to this re-seller again!

I’m pretty happy with the iPod Shuffle overall, but I really dislike the earbuds that were supplied!  They never want to stay in my ears.  The sound quality isn’t too bad if you can keep them in place, but since apple changed the shape and no longer supplies foam covers they just don’t stay put!

When I find a cord that has a volume control and the other button built in I will use my noise reduction earbuds.  I’m hoping to find one before I fly again because regular earbuds are not that good on planes.

The controls on the apple supplied earbuds are also not that easy to use when you can’t really grip them and personally, I think they should be down further from your face.  The next time I buy an iPod it will definitely be an iPod Touch.  I’m still not happy about having to buy a 32gb model just to be able to use it (with VoiceOver) though, so I’m also considering the iPad instead.