Shuffle Off Those Apple 'Buds; Third Parties to the Rescue
Posted 03/12/2009 at 10:17am
| by Susie Ochs
Remember yesterday, when Apple released a button-less iPod shuffle, with the controls moved to the earbud cable, and we complained that we kind of hate Apple's earbuds like the Amish hate electricity? Well, rest easy, fellow haters, 'cause Scosche is on the case, and we bet more companies are working on it too.
Scosche, makers of tons of extremely useful gizmos for your iPod, iPhone, car stereo, home stereo, and more, just let us know they're working on three sets of iPod shuffle-controlling earbuds, as well as an adapter that will add iPod shuffle controls to any set of headphones you care to use.

Scosche's three earbud designs. Don't they look comfier than Apple's?
The earbuds -- IDR350M, IDR450M, and IDR650M (most memorable product names ever, huh?) -- will do everything the iPod shuffle earbuds can do. Plus they'll have a wee microphone in the control surface in case you want to record a voice memo on the most recent iPod touch, iPod nano, and iPod classic models. The IDR in those product names stands for Increased Dynamic Range, meaning better-defined highs and lows. They'll be out this spring, priced from $49.99 to $99.99. (Apple currently sells its remote-and-mic-equipped, iPod-shuffle-compatible Apple Earphones for $29. The ones we find uncomfortable.)
Scosche's controller, front, side, and back.
Scosche is also producing an inline control adapter kit that you can use to add iPod shuffle controls to any set of headphones. The company points out that you could also use this to plug your iPod shuffle into a car stereo's 3.5mm input jack (which, as an aside, we can't believe isn't in every single car made in this day and age, but that's a rant for another time) and still control the little sucker.
The inline kit will let you use any headphones with your shuffle, plus add controls to the shuffle when you go to plug it into a stereo or some speakers or whatever.
So there you have it. Help is on the way. Stay tuned for more, as other companies announce their intention to heal the world through better earphone engineering.