I now have an iPod shuffle. I've wanted one of these since they came out back in January, but now it's done. I have one. My thoughts are below...

First off - I love this thing almost as much as I love my 20GB iPod. As you've probably heard or known, it's tiny, light, and has great sound quality. I can see myself taking this to school every day. My normal iPod, although awesome, is a rectangular bulge in my pants rather than a sleek mp3 player. Don't get me wrong, my 20GB is still better for long trips, in the car, and as my main alarm clock. But the shuffle really is awesome for casual music playing.

Why is the iPod shuffle so awesome? Because on my normal iPod, the mode I usually use is the "shuffle" feature anyways. Sure, I don't have 1200 songs on my shuffle. But I have my favorite songs on it, which I enjoy more than the random stuff I have floating around iTunes. It tests your music knowledge too - I didn't recognize some of the songs I heard today on my shuffle, and had to go check what they were...

iTunes makes it extremely easy to update songs. Although USB is slow, you don't have to wait to plug your shuffle in to re-arrange, add, or remove songs from your shuffle. iTunes allows you to keep the iPod shuffle in your source list at all times, and it auto-updates your iPod when you plug it in. Autofill is cool, but I don't think I'll be using it until I compose a smart playlist which filters out songs that suck (Christmas, GarageBand, etc.).

The display on the normal iPod is nice to have, especially when you're looking for a particular artist or song. But I don't think Apple would have had a screen on the shuffle even if it cost them nothing. It would ruin the design, add weight, but most importantly, ruin the whole "shuffle" aspect. If it had a screen, you'd be looking for a certain song just to realize, "Oh darn, I don't have that one on my shuffle". Random rocks.

Will the iPod shuffle be a hit? Is it already? Is 1GB really enough? The answer to all of these questions, although some may doubt it (just like with the mini), is a definite yes.