6 Reasons Why You Don't Need the New iPod Shuffle

People have been oohed and ahhed by the new iPod Shuffle but I certainly have no intention on ever using it. Here's why:

6. The battery life is worse.

With all the new useless features, it appears that Apple has sacrificed one very useful one, battery life. You'd expect the designers to easily have increased this, especially with the iPod Shuffle that doesn't support video or any screen capabilites.

5. You can only use Apple's earphones

And even Steve Jobs would probably admit that these aren't exactly the best quality. However, these are the only ones programmed to work with the Shuffle so if you break them (very likely to happen), you can't just go into an old shelf and find new ones to keep listening: You'll have to instead wait until next Saturday to go to Best Buy to get a new set.

4. Small = breakable + losable

Apple describes their latest device as "durable" with it's "anodized aluminum case" (what the hell?) but that's pretty hard to believe when the thing's not even as wide or thick as a key. Plus, it doesn't really matter what it's made out of once it falls out of the tiny whole in your backpack or that little part that you just don't bother to zip up.

3. Much more advanced iPods

With the new iPod Nano, iPod Touch and iPhone, I don't see much of a point of downgrading to a measly Shuffle, even in these times. Shuffles don't have cover flow, a screen, FM tuners, screens, applications, e-mail or wi-fi.

2. Unimpressive new features

Let's see what they've put in. A new colour (black), a few more playlists, a new and improved on-off switch. Sure the storage is pretty good but as I have demonstrated, the tininess might not be.

1. VoiceOver; Apple's newest crappy idea

Now let's talk about the robotic, monotone voice that is customized to whether you have a PC or Mac. This is supposed to tell you the songs and playlists but it does start to get annoying listening to the poorly pronounced words every single day. Also, unless you download random songs, you'll probably know most of what's on your iPod and don't need variations of Microsoft Sam telling you what they are. And if you really need a friend, try this.

Christmas Feature: Affordable Gifts You Can Give To A Teenage Girl

Teenage girls' tastes aren't exactly the most flexible things in the world and they have very specific and very unique wishlists every year. But here's a few items that virtually any of them will like:

Nikon Coolpix Digital Camera

An 8 megapixel Nikon Coolpix is very sleek and can be handy for teenagers at any party or trip with friends. Let them capture memories and post these on each of their 24 Facebook accounts.

Perfume

This is just one of the hygenic products that are pretty much essential for any girl so why not a pack of perfume. I'm not really the expert in this area so I'll just let you decide which brand you want to buy.

Aeropostale Gift Card

I'll rave on about Aeropostale; it's popular, good-quality and not too expensive. And you can't go wrong with a gift card because you know how picky girls can be about clothing.

Lululemon Gift Card

Here's another pretty trendy clothing brand that's is really beginning to rise. Lululemon "produces yoga-inspired athletic apparel", which sounds quite lame but don't worry, they're bound to find a few garments they like in Lululemon.

Music CD

Music CDs are still in and every girl wants the new Britney Spears, Katy Perry or Rihanna album. As with the guys, you should know the music tastes of the person you're going to give this to.

iPod

I didn't put a specific type of iPod because they're all very popular and everybody needs one of these to store their 100 hours of music. The newest iPod Nano has some pretty cool features but the iPod Touch still is obviously the most advanced iPod.

Cellphone

I would never want one of these but then again I'm not a girl. A cellphoen can be a great gift for any teenage girl because of their amazing versatility: They can be employed as media players, phones, cameras and internet browsers.

A Book

If you've even glanced at the news recently, you'll probably be aware of how massively in books are, especially with teenage girls. The Twilight series, Chicken Soup series as well as many other publications directed at this demographic will be well-appreciated.

iTunes Music Card

To go along with an iPod, you could give her an iTunes Music Card so she can download all her favorite MP3s from the ever-popular iTunes Store, which by the way also features videos, movies and podcasts.