Creative: Not Impressed with iPod Shuffle


Perhaps feeling chuffed at selling 2 million MP3 units recently, Creative has fired a broadside at the new iPod Shuffle, The Inquirer reports.

"I wonder if the Shuffle is really easier to use than a similar product which incorporates a screen," says Creative's UK marketing manager, who is quoted in the article. "We don't need to blindfold people by taking away functionality and choice. There's a boundary, and when you cross that it can be seen as patronising."

Creative's marketing man is also a little peeved that Apple almost-seem-to-be taking credit for shuffle functionality. "The problem is, it isn't quite true."

The company had nothing to say about the Shuffle's pricing, or its likely market impact.

Analysis: And what Creative didn't say is more revealing. No "our product is better"? It's a feeble response from a company which seriously didn't expect Apple to enter a market with such a low price point. Soon, we'll all be wearing one.