Apple Doesn’t Like Buttons

Published on March 12th, 2009

[T]he Apple CEO has been on a crusade to wipe moving parts from the face of Apple’s products as early as the replacement of PowerBook trackballs with trackpads or the removal of the physical scroll wheel from the original iPod. The iPhone and iPod touch were further steps towards a button-free world, relegating as many controls as possible on the touchscreen.

And now we have the buttonless iPod shuffle. With the exception of a single switch that controls the unit’s power and lets you change between shuffle and ordered play, the iPod shuffle itself contains no buttons. Instead, the playback controls are integrated into the headphone cord: you can squeeze either the top, bottom, or center of the remote to execute different functions.

If you ask me, the war on buttons has gone too far. [...] The fact that Apple has to put up this diagram tells you how much more complicated it is: how would you figure out the controls without this chart? The only markings on the controls are the “+” and “-” that mark volume controls. There is no indication of how to play or pause music.
[...]
I understand the desire for the Apple design team to push themselves and try to accomplish something new and perhaps even revolutionary, but in the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, perhaps they were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.

As this other article points out, 3rd parties should soon have adapters to allow other earphones. If Apple allows them.

53 users responded in " Apple Doesn’t Like Buttons "

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# 1 mrpips said, on March 12th, 2009 at 5:35 am

That’ll work well at the gym…

# 2 JimR said, on March 12th, 2009 at 5:38 am

I guess that means T-shirts from now on….

# 3 SparkyOne said, on March 12th, 2009 at 5:41 am

4 years of jet engines and weapons and 128K still sounds like shit.

# 4 jobs said, on March 12th, 2009 at 5:47 am

#2 No T-shirts, turtlenecks.

#3 I think itunes store is now 256 aac.

# 5 ArianeB said, on March 12th, 2009 at 5:50 am

I have an Apple TV and my least favorite thing about it is the stupid remote. The thing would be so much better with a traditional pause, play, fast forward, rewind, chapter skip, chapter return, and most importantly a freaking POWER BUTTON!!!

The only way to turn it off is to unplug it. The closest equivalent is “standby” that originally did not exist, and even now its buried in the on screen menus. Even in standby mode the thing generates a fair amount of heat.

# 6 bobh said, on March 12th, 2009 at 5:53 am

They just moved the buttons up onto the headset cord. They’re easier to reach there if the ipod is on your pocket.

I think the shuffle is designed for joggers and fitness types to use while exercising.

# 7 Winston said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:09 am

Apple doesn’t like reasonable pricing either. This is a grossly overpriced 4GB thumb drive with a $0.25 audio IC added and made in a Chinese sweat shop.

# 8 mrmigu said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:11 am

If they wanted to build something for fitness types, they would add bluetooth, and create a wireless headset that has controls on them. like other manufacturers do. This would prevent any movement caused by excersicing to pull the headphone out of your ears.

Apples target market is not something that want something usefull, its those who want something with a picture of an apple on it, no matter how useless.

# 9 Named said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:13 am

No. It’s now an essential wardrobe accessory. Apple has moved to hubris 100%.
“Even the iPod shuffle clip gets the rock star treatment. Now forged in stainless steel, the clip attaches securely to your shirt, jacket, workout gear, even your backpack. And the sleek, durable, anodized aluminum case — available in silver or black — makes iPod shuffle a wardrobe essential.”

Please leave the hive. Apple does not approve of thinking different.

# 10 TreeBeard said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:15 am

It cracks me up when people hammer Apple for not making something useful. Not useful? ha!

Kudos to Uncle Dave for the Jurassic Park reference!

# 11 faxon said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:22 am

Since only cool, superior, eco friendly people are allowed to operate Apple products, the elitist company also makes it nearly impossible for anyone to learn how to use the Itunes software. There is no instruction page, no help page, and I’ll be damned if I could ever figure out what a “check”, a “dot”, or any other of the non-labeled things on Itunes do or are for. On the original shuffle, a little criss crossy symbol meant something, but I could never figure out what. And, of course, no instructions anywhere. Thanks, superior, elitist, snobby, bastard, BMW or Prius driving Apple fan boys. I am very happy with a 30GB Zune, paid $85 for it, and love it and it’s software. The video is great, and it is rock solid. But I am not playing the fan boy game, am I? I guess you have to be nuts about “American Idol” to love Apples. Dumb herd mentality.

# 12 Personality said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:27 am

Useless upgrade. Like most Apple shit

# 13 Kanjy said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:49 am

Is there any good reason why only the first ten to twenty pixels of pictures load on this blog? I notice very frequently, and only on this blog, that only the very top parts of pictures are loading.

# 14 Mackie said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:50 am

#11 faxon – Us Mac users use something called the internet. Not sure if you’ve heard of it, but people can post questions and/or answers to questions to help people out. It’s endless information. Might wanna try it sometime, its very helpful if you need some help on what something does or how it works. And I can’t name one American Idol contestant, unless I look it up on the information network I’ve been elaborating on, so that kinda blows you senior thesis out of the water.

# 15 Mackie said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:53 am

#13 Kanjy – That sounds like it’s on your end, bro. Cause I’m fine.

# 16 Named said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:56 am

14,

You should use that “Internet” thing to look up grammar.

# 17 Olo Baggins of Bywater said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:01 am

Mackie…I’ve had the same issues with iTunes. That software sucks. New nomenclature, no wizards, no tutorials, new icons lacking pop-up descriptions…classic cult software: if you don’t know how to use it, tough.

And your answer is “go to the Internet?” How about if the software worked just like all other mature software works? No, that software is different, just like this new shuffle is different…because it’s different.

# 18 TreeBeard said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:08 am

Yeah, that iTunes is crazy complex!! I’m taking an adult ed. course on syncing at my local library.

Ever notice the way it starts up as soon as you plug in your iPod? What kind of dark magic is that?

Why oh why didn’t I buy the far superior Microsoft “Zune”?!

# 19 McCullough said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:12 am

Yeah, the button thing. Jobs seems obsessed with this. I love it when people get CD’s/DVD’s stuck in their Mac Notebooks. Their is no way to extract them except to take the machine apart. I make lot’s of $$$ doing this. The customer hates it. Keep up the good work Apple.

#13. Switch to Firefox at least for this blog…I bet you are using Internet Exploder.

# 20 Named said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:15 am

19,

My favourite was the false screw on the bottom of the MacBook. Only reason for it was symmetry… Of course, it being an Apple screw, it was far superior to anything seen before… EVAR!

# 21 Mackie said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:17 am

Well guys, I guess the reason I’m so confident with iTunes is because I got my first iPod when they first came out. I’m not sure how old you guys are, but I’m a college student, and maybe ‘can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ applies here.

#16 Named – I looked it up then remembered my nightmares I had in high school. Thankfully, I completed all those shitty classes before college and I’m an engineering kid so who cares about grammar.

http://apple.com/support/itunes/

That might be of some help.

# 22 Deep-Thought said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:21 am

Not less absurd as any iPod Nano in the past.
In fact for people willing to use a device limited as a Nano, it is probably really a better device than the old ones.

# 23 McCullough said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:23 am

#20. Yes the first time I saw that I was puzzled. I thought it was a design flaw, or for future use, but no, just for aesthetics.

# 24 Named said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:31 am

21,
“Thankfully, I completed all those shitty classes before college and I’m an engineering kid so who cares about grammar.”

Make sure that you keep me abreast of what you work on. I don’t want to use anything an “engineering kid” with bad grammar handled. Who knows how your English deficiency can lead to catastrophic failure.

# 25 Mackie said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:49 am

#24 Named – I’ll be sure to keep you updated. I don’t know how I’ll do that, but maybe I’ll take an out an advertising space at CNN so I can just keep the whole world updated on me and my godless, grammar-less work. If you could see my grades in my ENG courses, you would notice professionalism is used when it is appropriate, though. No need to use your interpretation of my blog posts to create a psychological analysis which will forever govern my future.

# 26 Mackie said, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:55 am

#24 Named – I’ll be sure to keep you updated. I don’t know how I’ll do that, but maybe I’ll take an out an advertising space at CNN so I can just keep the whole world updated on me and my godless, grammar-less work. If you could see my grades in my ENG courses, you would notice professionalism is used when it is appropriate, though. No need to use your degree in psychology to create a psychological analysis on how my informal blog posts will affect my professional life.

# 27 TreeBeard said, on March 12th, 2009 at 8:16 am

#19.
Don’t tell your customers about the paper clip trick!

[That would require a hole - Apple doesn't like those either - ed.]

# 28 Sister Mary Hand Grenade of Quiet Reflection said, on March 12th, 2009 at 8:25 am

#18 – I bought the brown Zune but accidently flushed it.

# 29 Paddy-O said, on March 12th, 2009 at 8:26 am

# 24 Named said, “Make sure that you keep me abreast of what you work on. I don’t want to use anything an “engineering kid” with bad grammar handled.”

Good thing Von Braun didn’t head up the US Lunar program, his English grammar was horrible. We’d have never made it to the Moon if he worked on the project.
LOL!

# 30 LinusVP said, on March 12th, 2009 at 8:45 am

I don’t like the way Apple Headphones feel. They hurt my ears. So I guess I won’t be getting the new shuffle.

# 31 SammerX said, on March 12th, 2009 at 8:58 am

I’d get one of these if it was not for the inline buttons… The player looks great for working out but why would I want to get a new headset? I already have a massively expensive shure headset that works great; not going to downgrade for some silly inline buttons. Even if they add a peripheral to allow one to use the buttons with other headsets I am sure it will be 1: very expensive and 2: break. Honestly it looks really flimsy in those pictures as well. All the apple earbuds I have had ended up with the wire splitting right at the splitter (haha), I can see the same thing happening at each end of the inline buttons.

Its a cool idea but it never should have made it out of the R&D phase, I am sure they could have come up with some other (much cooler!) way of controlling the new shuffle.

Other then that I think it looks great.

# 32 Dave W said, on March 12th, 2009 at 9:26 am

#29 Right you are.

The ear buds like Apple sells either fall out of my ears or have to be jammed in so hard that they hurt. I much prefer the type (many brands) with squishy foam rubber or silicone sort of bullet shaped ends that actually go into the ear and seal. Keeps out most of the traffic/ambient noise as well.

Of course I’m a proud non-owner of any Apple Computer products with the exception of a Quicktime instillation on one or two PCs over the years.

I DO own a lot of Apple Corp. music products. Beatles records and CDs. .

# 33 pedro said, on March 12th, 2009 at 9:58 am

Title reads:

“Apple Doesn’t Like Buttons”

Funny, I don’t like mac.

#6 Let me know when mac puts the buttons on Steve Job’s behind.

#10 It cracks me up to see macfans rationalize their futile waste of money on useless things copied from someone else.

#14 Nice. Why give help on something you make, right? Let the support of mac products be that of an open source product. In the end, macfan attitue is akin to linuxheads when it comes to helping others.

The good thing is, you can find better software than itunes on the internet.

#21 Is more like “Old dog knows better than to get into that shit” thing.

#24 I think he lives in venezuela. Be gentle.

Translation of post #25: I’m a macfan and as such, better than you.

#27 It happens.

#31 Wanna be in the blissful macless heaven? Get Quicktime Alternative http://tinyurl.com/65u9tj

# 34 orangetiki said, on March 12th, 2009 at 10:00 am

less physical buttons means less things to break, and spots on the assembly line.

# 35 rfelix said, on March 12th, 2009 at 11:36 am

Have you guys seen this yet? The iMac shuffle. Apple has finally gone too far. http://imacshuffle.com

# 36 Buzz said, on March 12th, 2009 at 11:50 am

These will sell by the tens of millions.

The fact that there is zero visual distraction involved with operating the unit will literally save lives behind the wheel/handlebars.

I’m amazed at the various blogs and comments that tear this gizmo a new aperture, all coming from people who are not its target user. Every 17 year old looks at it and says “cool” and loves the idea. Old farts just don’t get it, unless they’ve managed to hang onto their imagination

No, the new Shuffle is not The Perfect Solution. That will only appear when the iPod listens to your thoughts. Then a stream of comments here will complain that plays a Sinead O’Connor track every time they think “shithead.”

# 37 jescott418 said, on March 12th, 2009 at 1:30 pm

Realistically its another Apple product failure. They seem to have run out of good ideals. Now their into gimmicks. I have to say why fix what is not broke Apple?

# 38 BubbaRay said, on March 12th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

self-promotion aside, I loved the iMac shuffle, rFelix. Too bad it has any buttons at all. But who needs that as long as wireless is built in? My tinfoil hat would interface perfectly!

# 39 Angel H. Wong said, on March 12th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

“That would require a hole – Apple doesn’t like those either – ed.”

Aha! That confirms my theory! Steve Jobs doesn’t like holes nor buttons because he can’t find the clitoris!

# 40 Angel H. Wong said, on March 12th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

ooh! I almost forgot.

It seems like SNL was somehow predicting the future of the iPod on this skit.

http://gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/34624.html

# 41 Angel H. Wong said, on March 12th, 2009 at 3:10 pm

damn, wrong clip, Looks like NBC made sure the weekend update parody of the iPod Pequeno is gone from youtube.

# 42 Mackie said, on March 12th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

#33 pedro – Evidently you didn’t read my post #21. There’s a link to Apples iTunes support page. But, yeah, I’m pretty sure that site’s exclusive to Macs.

I’ve never heard “Old dog knows better than to get into that shit.” I think you made that up.

I live in Columbus, OH. Come by sometime and I’d be happy to show you around.

Don’t get your scrutiny of #25. One question: Have you ever had a Mac, or used one for an extended period of time? I bet you say you have, surprise, surprise.

# 43 father time said, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:16 pm

Mackie.

An engineer with poor grammar skills will, at best, be marginalized, and at worst, soon out of a job and the industry.

You are on the fast track to the latter, but continue to believe as you do because your attitude clears a path for the better qualified in the dog-eat-dog world.

# 44 Mackie said, on March 12th, 2009 at 8:25 pm

#43 Chronos – I’ve played this as a source of sarcasm for long enough. Is it a capital crime to blog a little informally? It surely seems so. The vast majority of my professors are speak Japanese or Chinese as a native language, which makes it extremely hard to understand them. How do you explain their rise in the engineering field in both research and instructing? Mere happenstance? I don’t think so.

# 45 pedro said, on March 12th, 2009 at 9:15 pm

We need more Engrish

# 46 Mackie said, on March 12th, 2009 at 9:30 pm

Believe me, pedro, I hear it daily

# 47 JL said, on March 12th, 2009 at 11:07 pm

Its a good product for the blind if you ask me

# 48 father time said, on March 13th, 2009 at 3:31 am

Boo hoo Mackie. I live in a country who’s single national language I don’t speak. This is the second time I’ve done this with my life. Get used to it in the new global economy. It would do you well to learn Mandarin.

# 49 soundwash said, on March 13th, 2009 at 3:59 am

wtf is that..?

The New Depression Era Minimalist’s iShuffle
-taking cost cutting to the extreme.
motto:”we cut the cost so you don’t have to”

(?)

this is not styling, this is nothing but proprietary acce$$ory marketing 101 ala sony..(and logitech speakers, to a degree)

proprietary connections, **especially** putting the sole transport controls to the unit on a wire, is the ultimate act of user-unfriendliness -and just plain sucks.

further, unless this unit has line-outs, it means you cant even use it to drive a pre-amp
in a home/hotel/dorm or poor man’s car-stereo etc.

-just chuck versatility to the wind?
way to go for the college demographic Einstein.

i’m sure needing replacement headphones
will hurt big time..double that if your
out of a job and have no access to $5
knockoff street vendors..

wooO, it talks 14 languages! BFD.
-can it tell me where i left my keys?

this is apples idea of progress?

this is shishi with one shi missing..
-pass.

-smallest music player in the world?

me thinks i’ll stick with my generic $25 2gb usb-key player w/voice & FM. -plug it in, open
any file manager, drag your audio and/or data files over, done. i have music, security podcasts, NA and most all of the tools and definitions i need for my jobs in one unit.

true versatility.

on top of that, i can fall asleep on the subway and still wake up with the player
in my possession…ha!

shuffle that homeslice!

-s

(heck, almost makes me want to repent and
dust off my walkman wm-d6c pro.)

# 50 Mackie said, on March 13th, 2009 at 5:21 am

#48 Chronos – Why don’t you answer my question. The point of my response was not to bitch, but was to set up an alternate circumstance for you to comment on, not to tap dance around. If a man that can hardly communicate with his professional peers can make it in engineering, how is my one informal blog posting going to knock me off? That’s what I thought. And congratulations on moving to a country where you don’t speak the language. I’m amazed beyond believe.

# 51 QB said, on March 13th, 2009 at 5:26 am

soundwash, so let me get this straight. Will you be buying one or not? You seem to be on the fence.

# 52 pedro said, on March 13th, 2009 at 9:11 am

#47 Don’t think so. No Braille instructions nor signs on the control.

#51 I’m doubtful too. He should make it clearer.

# 53 soundwash said, on March 14th, 2009 at 4:28 am

#51 & #52..

-ah no. i’m a big open source/universal
plugs & standards kinda guy. i really hate companies that come out with products that uses non-typical voltages, connectors or similar concepts.

i’m also very hard on equipment and typically have at least two or more of an item because one has failed from abuse.

i like having the ability to take parts from companies products and plug’em straight into another’s.

-and i should be able to use a product out of the box in the dark.

( i was a sound engineer for 8yrs+ and worked alot in very dark nightclubs doing live recordings)

being able to feel my way around equipment i never used before in the dark makes sessions so much more enjoyable etc..

-s

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