I only see a need for two and a half non iOS iPods. They are:
- The clip on shuffle, as is, maybe more storage.
- A (probably expensive) frontlit e-ink SSD based Classic – no non-music features – BT but no WiFi
- Something the exact form as the shuffle (I understand if it isn’t technologically possible to also make this the stand alone Shuffle), but servers to turn any headphones into a remote+mic for BT enabled iDevices (including my e-ink Classic
I don’t think the new nano serves anyone, and I don’t think there’s a need for watch computers either. When I run, I run. I’m not putzing around some paved road in a park, I’m deep in the woods, going up and down hills, doing speed work, stretching… the only way I’ve been able to use an iPod while doing this is a shuffle clipped to as high as possible on my shirt, usually the collar, maybe the strap if it’s a tank top, with headphones with a shortened cord that stay attached to the ear somehow. Lately I’ve been using in-ear style that also have an around the ear holder.
Attaching a full sized iPhone with an armband is a great way to hold it while sprinting, but your arms move too much for you to use headphones with it, and trying to put it in a pocket or clipped to your pants just wrecks your form.
Maybe the armband works for me, but maybe not for bikers where the last thing you want to do is touch one arm with the other. That’s why I want this turn any headphones into wireless headphones + remote + mic. Let me secure my iPhone anywhere – pants, a backpack, somewhere on the bike, whatever, somewhere safe and secure. Then let me run the shortest cord possible from the top of my shirt to my ears (a hair scrunchy is a great place to clip a shuffle too). I would even use this just walking around in the winter since the Shuffle is compatible with gloves.
If this device was both a shuffle and the remote thing I’d pay $99, the current $49 if it’s jut one. It should also come with intentionally short headphones.
I’ll go into detail on the e-ink Classic in its own post.