Elecom Headphones for iPod Shuffle - Who Needs Bluetooth?

Now don't get me wrong.  I mean I love Bluetooth.  I have it in my truck as well as having a headset, headphones, and a presentation mouse all using the Bluetooth standard.  The wireless standard makes my life easier and cuts down on lots of wires... what's not to love?

And yet, there are those times when less can be more, or at least a steady equivalent, and this is one of those times.  It seems the smart people at Elecom came up with the very bright idea of making the latest iPod Shuffle totally portable and wireless.  Now I know the Shuffle is portable.  Heck the dang thing is about the size of a box of matches... maybe smaller, but the wired earbuds can be a bit of a pain when dealing with any MP3 player; even one as tiny as the new Shuffle.

Now if you don't want wires, you can certainly find some very good Bluetooth headsets like this one that I happen to own. But if you'd rather have a regular "wired" type headset without the wires, Elecom has your solution.  The idea is beautiful in its simplicity.  There is a headphone plug on the headphones and the Shuffle simply slides onto  it and is held in place directly on the side of the headphones.  The result is a totally portable wireless headphone system.  Oh, and it's only $50 which isn't rock bottom cheap, but it isn't breaking the bank either.

I haven't had a chance to evaluate these so I have no idea what the sound quality is, but it's a great concept/idea as far as better mousetraps go.

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It's a Good Thing Macs Never have Problems...

I've been a Mac guy for about 3 years now. One of the things that lured me to make the switch was the idea that the computers were more stable and easier to use. Overall that has been true. Even though I grew up on Windows and was much more versed in the inner workings of PC's, I'm happy with the decision to move to a Mac.

However, one of the things I've noticed over the years is a tendency for some users, especially those long term users, to become what I've come to call "Mac Snobs". If you're a PC user, you probably know one... or a few. These are the people who don't need any prompting to tell you how much better Macs are, how superior the OS is, how they never get viruses, etc. Honestly, for the most part that's true, but there are the occasional problems despite what the snobs say.

Here's a great example: Today I updated my MacBook Pro. I knew there was an OS update that had been released a while back, but I was in no hurry to install it. Today when I started iTunes, it informed me there was an update available and I chose to install it. I thought I was installing just an iTunes update, but then I was given the choice to also install the OS update as well. I figured, what the heck, I hadn't heard about any terrible problems, so I said "yes".

The install actually worked with one glaring exception. I suddenly have no sound from the speakers that are built into the laptop. The computer no longer knows they exist. So... now whenever I want to use the system for sound, I'm having to plug external speakers into it. Redundant? You can say that again. Once I discovered the problem, I began searching the Net for a fix. What I discovered was that there are lots of people that no longer have sound. Apple is aware of the problem and will fix it with another update sometime in the future.

Is this a critical flaw? No. It's really only an annoyance. However, it *is* a problem and I didn't do anything to cause it other than to agree to install an OS update from the gang in Cupertino. So don't let the snobs tell you there are never problems. If they do, send them over to my place. Maybe they can get my speakers working again.

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