The discharge of Humane’s AI Pin final week ignited a contemporary dialogue over the unattainable objective of growing devices with out screens. However again in 2009, Apple made the primary try and enter the screen-less gadget market with the third-generation iPod Shuffle. Regardless that Apple now not sells the iPod Shuffle, that one gadget—which allowed you to clip the tiny MP3 participant to your shirt and function the music participant with an ingenious voice-and-remote interface—was a forerunner of what might finally be the person interface of the longer term.
On the time of the iPod Shuffle’s launch, Apple’s trendy music participant was already well-known all through well-liked tradition. The iPod was hovering in gross sales, and the iPhone wouldn’t come out for one more three years. Simply earlier than Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s Macworld presentation on the Moscone Middle ended on January 11, 2005, he made the preliminary announcement of the iPod Shuffle to a crowded home, referring to it as “Yet one more factor.” This gadget had not one of the options of the acquainted iPod, like a click on wheel, display, or laborious drive. As a substitute, it resembled a pack of Wrigley’s gum. It was attainable to query whether or not the Shuffle was an iPod in any respect.
However in line with Steve Jobs, the Shuffle was supposed for cheap flash memory-based gamers, offering Apple with a big probability for growth in addition to an entrance level into the Apple ecosystem. The worth of the iPod Shuffle ranged from $99 to $149, primarily based on the storage capability. The Shuffle, like earlier iPods within the vary, linked to the iTunes software program despite the fact that it lacked a show to point the music at present enjoying. The Shuffle’s distinctive characteristic, which gave rise to its identify, was its capability to play a number of songs at random.
Jobs had completely different plans for the Shuffle than the numerous who believed it might be an remoted providing from Apple. For the reason that iPod Shuffle’s debut, Apple has continued to launch updates for it; the latest main launch was in 2010. The iPod Shuffle of the second technology differed from that of the primary. It was actually wearable via a tiny clip and was considerably smaller. Apple needed to make quite a lot of design changes in an effort to decrease the scale and make it extra compact, equivalent to eradicating the USB connector and substituting a dock that synchronized information by way of the headphone port. The iPod Shuffle was out there in quite a lot of vibrant colours.
Nevertheless, Apple shocked everybody in 2009 when the third-generation iPod Shuffle was launched. That mannequin was the primary iPod to ever don’t have any buttons, along with being the smallest iPod Shuffle. It was half the scale of its predecessor, measuring 1.8 inches tall and 0.3 inches skinny, however it had larger storage. Like earlier iPod Shuffles, the $79 third-generation mannequin had no show and a high-end aluminum design. Nevertheless, it did away with bodily controls in favor of the in-line controls of the included pair of earphones, excluding a tiny slider that allowed you to decide on between enjoying songs so as, shuffle, and turning it off.
The iPod’s person interface was its foremost focus from the beginning. A click on wheel supplied an easy and uncomplicated methodology of controlling the music on the primary iPod. Finally, the press wheel made it attainable for shoppers to function the iPod with out having to look on the display. The clicking wheel was a shift from the best way that units had been managed each then and, to some extent, at present. Whereas fashionable devices might have higher interfaces and make use of extra superior contact shows, utilizing them nonetheless requires your entire consideration.
Just like the primary iPod, nonetheless, the third-generation iPod Shuffle was the exact opposite—a ground-breaking gadget for which Apple sadly acquired little recognition. The third-generation iPod Shuffle had a brand new distant management that Apple built-in into the headphone wire, together with a brand-new text-to-speech know-how that assisted customers in navigating their music. In essence, Apple transferred the controls from the iPod to the headphones’ distant management. Utilizing the iPod Shuffle was a brand new expertise as a result of it was a non-conventional methodology of interacting with iPods. You could cease the music by urgent it as soon as, go to the following observe by urgent it twice, go to the ultimate observe by urgent it thrice, hear the artist and music title by urgent it as soon as, fast-forward by urgent it twice, and fast-reverse by urgent it thrice. Though it could sound terrifying to have all of the controls in your headphones, the UI was actually extremely user-friendly.
Nevertheless, the third-generation iPod Shuffle’s best characteristic was its potential to function and work together with the music participant whereas being completely undetectable. Together with that mannequin, Apple launched VoiceOver, which enabled the iPod to learn details about what was enjoying, together with the artist and title of the music that was now enjoying. Customers may additionally choose from quite a lot of playlists because of this characteristic. To activate the Shuffle, simply press and maintain the middle button on the distant to begin the studying of your playlist titles. When you hear the playlist you want to select, launch the button.
VoiceOver not solely added intrigue to the iPod Shuffle, however it additionally considerably offset the gadget’s absence of a show for playback management. That being stated, Apple acknowledged that VoiceOver couldn’t totally change the capabilities of a show. The reception to the third-generation Shuffle was ambivalent, and for good trigger. The Shuffle was a forward-thinking gadget, however it lacked some options and features. Discovering a sure music was very laborious, and the gadget wasn’t made to rearrange all of the songs alphabetically; additionally, the Shuffle didn’t comprehend the concept of albums.
Though the way forward for screen-free units has been developed for years, there are numerous limitations, making it troublesome to implement. Just like what Apple completed with the third-generation iPod Shuffle, Humane’s AI Pin is transferring in the identical route. Historical past teaches us that giving up buttons and shows on electronics continues to be troublesome.
