There are really two reasons why an electronic device can fail on the market. One is because the device itself is somehow deficient, and the other is because the device was inadequately marketed by the company that produces it. By extension, a device that's innovative and well made can be a real hit when the company that's makes it does a good job of promoting it. iPod's, which are made by Apple Computer Incorporated- now known simply as Apple Incorporated because of its new emphasis on consumer electronics in general rather than just computers- are one example of this, and the iPod shuffle is a good example of it.

The iPod shuffle is Apple's smallest MP3 player. It's the model that's literally been pared down to have the bare minimum of features so that it can be as compact as possible. It's the model that's designed to do one thing and do it very well- play music. The iPod shuffle has one gigabyte of flash memory storage that can hold up to two hundred and forty songs in Apple's music format with an average length of four minutes each. It has a play time of up to twelve hours between charges of its built in lithium ion polymer battery, and comes with its own docking station that can be plugged into the USB port of a computer running Windows or Macintosh operating systems. Both new music and the charging current come through the docking station. In addition to Apple's proprietary digital music formats, the Shuffle also plays MP3 and WAV music files.

While the technical capabilities of the iPod Shuffle are very impressive, its appearance also has a lot to do with its success. The no nonsense design of the Shuffle has been carried over to the casing and controls of the device. Absent are the LCD screen and variety of ports and jacks on larger iPod devices. Instead, the iPod Shuffle simply has a single jack that serves the dual purpose of supplying music to the headphones and serving as an interface for the docking station. The device itself is controlled by the familiar wheel device that typify other models of the iPod. The Shuffle also lives up to its name with the "Shuffle Switch" which will cause the device to randomly play the songs in its flash memory in one position and play them in sequence in the other position.

The iPod Shuffle's casing is also distinctive because of how compact it is and the fact that about half of its volume is taken up with a built in clip that can be attached to belts, sleeve, or accessories. The entire unit- including the built in clip- measures only about an inch high by a little over an inch and a half wide, and is less than half an inch deep. (This is really impressive when you look at the fact that the depth included the clip- the device itself is closer to a quarter of an inch deep!)

In all, Apple's iPod Shuffle is a marvel of stylish technology with benefits that come with its utilitarian no frills design.