Introducing the iPez Shuffle!
By Harry McCracken | Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 5:32 pm
I’m not sure if there are any deep psychological insights to be gained, but one interesting thing about Apple’s tiny new iPod Shuffle is that it reminds different people of different other tiny things. USA Today’s Ed Baig compared it to a tie clasp. For David Pogue of the New York Times, it evoked Trident gum.
And me? The moment I saw it in person, I thought to myself, Pez. The player’s size and dimensions brought to mind a wrapped roll of Pez candy, the kind you insert into a Pez dispenser. So I did a comparison. The Shuffle is a tad wider than a Pez packet, but its depth is about the same, and it’s quite a bit shorter. And that’s including the Shuffle’s built-in clip.
Once you’ve started comparing an iPod to Pez, the next question is inevitable: Can you use a Pez dispenser as an iPod Shuffle case? I’m pleased to say that the answer is yes. Yes, you can. Almost as if Steve Jobs kept sending designers back to their drawing boards until it would fit, earbud plug and all. That would explain why Apple abandoned the square shape of the second-generation Shuffle for something long and skinny. And suddenly, the removal of the controls from the Shuffle itself make sense.
It is, It is, I admit, a tight squeeze–I probably wouldn’t try this with my vintage Smurfette dispenser for fear of stressing her case. But I was willing to put a Meet the Robinsons one at risk, and the experiment was a rousing success.
How does the iPez Shuffle sound, you ask? Delicious!
There’s only one problem with all this, but it’s a major one: Once you’ve put an iPod Shuffle into a Pez dispenser, there’s no room left for Pez. You could carry two dispensers, I guess. But I prefer to think that somewhere in Cupertino, even as we speak, engineers are working on the fourth-generation Shuffle. If it shrinks again by 50 percent or thereabouts, it’d go into the dispenser with enough space left for six or so Pez. Bonus points if it comes in a rainbow of Pez-inspired colors.
More to come on the Shuffle, I promise–in the form of an actual review…
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BADOOBLE » Blog Archive » iPez Shuffle Says:
March 12th, 2009 at 10:10 pm[…] wasn’t all that blown away by apples tiny new 4gb iPod Shuffle. Then, I found out it fits perfectly into a Pez dispenser. Now I kinda want […]
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The Roundup: Week of March 13th, 2009 | The iLife Says:
March 13th, 2009 at 10:02 am[…] As you should all know, Apple released a new iPod shuffle this week. You can check out full iLife coverage from Dan here. Personally, I have always disliked the shuffle due to its lack of a screen. No I can hate this one due to its lack of screen and lack of buttons. Now, no buttons isn’t always a bad thing, especial in the case of the iPod Touch or iPhone, but here its stupid, because you are forced to you the uncomfortable, cheap, iPod headphones with remote, and memorise a bunch of button press combos in order to control the thing. Check out Dan’s article for more details. The new shuffle comes in grey and black, with 4 GB of memory for $79. It’s about the size of a stick of gum and has a new “VoiceOver” feature that reads you the song title and menu options, and sounds about as good and the Kindle 2’s text to speech voice. But hey, apple has to make money somehow. The good news? 1 GB Gen 2 shuffles are still on sale for $50, and it has buttons! Oh, and I must mention Harry McCracken of Technologizer’s idea for a shuffle case… the iPez! Go take a look! […]
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TargetHD - Blog de Eduardo Moreira 100% Gadgets, Tecnologia e Internet » [pra descontrair] Conheça o iPez Shuffle! Says:
March 13th, 2009 at 2:00 pm[…] Fonte: Introducing the iPez Shuffle! | Technologizer […]
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Pezcast » Pezcast 3-15-09 Says:
March 15th, 2009 at 7:09 pm[…] 4 ipez: https://www.technologizer.com/2009/03/12/introducing-the-ipez-shuffle/ addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.quicway.com%2Fpezcast%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D894’; addthis_title = […]
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Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 coverage a bit overboard? : TechVi Says:
March 17th, 2009 at 9:33 am[…] Apple obviously holds these events because it knows which products have been rated high in the hype department, and will be covered favorably, and which products run a risk of media backlash. Take, for example, last week’s announcement of the new iPod shuffle. No fancy press event, no big fanfare, but the device is absolutely miniscule. Tiny. It’s almost the size of a Tylenol. It fits in a Pez dispenser. […]
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apple-ipod-shuffle-review-third-generation | seomcek.com Says:
May 27th, 2010 at 5:16 pm[…] that the next Shuffle will be the size of a Tylenol, or even perform stupid Shuffle tricks such as stuffing one inside a Pez Dispenser. This is not going to be that kind of review. I found this player unexpectedly interesting, and […]
March 12th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Awesome! EOM
March 12th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
That is the most remarkable use for the new iPod Shuffle yet to be seen. Taking up precious pez space!
March 12th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I see this an an opportunity for people to finally enjoy Pez the way it should be enjoyed: open up a package, toss the dispenser aside, and pour the entire package in your mouth at once. Cut out the middle man/woman/cartoon character.
March 13th, 2009 at 5:35 am
Very cool. Off to tweet this one.
The shuffle does have a flaw: http://www.onlineobservations.net/one-flaw-in-the-newest-ipod-shuffle/
March 13th, 2009 at 7:11 am
I know you don’t want to permanently damage a collectible, but if you could somehow drill a hole in the back of the head… Just big enough for the wire to come out. Bonus points if there’s either a Neo (Matrix) or Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell) Pez dispenser.
August 28th, 2010 at 3:47 am
expunge sorry
delete miserable 87