Hey all, I just wrote what turned out to be a really, really long review of my day with the new shuffle and being the clutz that I am in the morning bumped my mouse and in doing so I clicked it and it closed the window. After writing the review, some aspects stood out more than others and I will give you those rather the extended version just to save us all some time. So without further ado, my thoughts after a full day with the shuffle. (PS, for the record I also have a 3G)

-Insanely small. I don't care how many pictures you see or how many descriptions you read about the size of this thing, you will not believe how small it is until you see it in person and physically hold one.

-Earbuds. I am giving Apple a TON of respect on this. They finally included a slider on the part where it splits to avoid tangling. I have other brands of earbuds that have this simple, yet effective device, and oh boy does it work wonders. A friend of mine had her earbuds replaced by Apple for her 4G and she got this very type. It's about time these became standard. Well done.

-Sound. Wow. I would not have expected the sound coming from this device to be so good. Maybe I had low expectations and my reaction is off base as a result, but I was blown away at how crisp it sounded and the amount of bass that came out. And that's not to mention how loud it gets; I don't recommend testing it out for yourself.

LED communication. Still not too sure about this. It takes a bit of getting used to interpreting orange and green blinks, but it is manageable. The point of the device is to play music, plain and simple so given that, I think this is an effective method. Plus, rarely will you ever have to look at it while using it which leads me to my next section...

Controls. Simple, effective, no complaints. I like being able to control it while it is in my pocket without having to "dodge" buttons for fear of accidently brushing them on my way to my goal. I am sure all the other 3G owners out there know what I am talking about. While there is a hold feature (holding down the play/pause button for a few seconds) I have yet to use it.

iTunes integration. If I had to grade this, I would give it an A-. It was a little slow to upload songs if I dragged and droppped them in and the lack of firewire is a bit disappointing, but everything else is great. I LOVE having the option to leave the shuffle icon in my playlists to allow me to put songs in whenver I choose. If something comes up that I like I just put it in and then next time I connect the shuffle, voila. Solid.

Accessories. F minus minus. In my opinion, included earbuds should not be considered accessories; they are needed to use the device. Headphones that you buy separately are accessories because they are upgrades or another style, etc. Sorry, I digress. The only other accessory included is a piece of string with a USB cap attatched to allow one to wear the shuffle as a necklace. I don't know about you, but if I ever saw someone walking down the street wearing one like that, I would, borrowing a line from Dane Cook, "punch him in the face." Believe me, that person would thank me later on. It is just a horrible, horrible idea and to be honest, when I saw it in person I felt like I was the one punched in the face and then was laughed at by Apple. They give you a piece of string, and then in the instruction booklet say, "other [accessories] are available for purchase." While I know that including say, an armband, would raise the price beyond the psychological $100 barrier for most people, don't give us a piece of string. Or even don't include anything extra and just give us the player and earbuds. Just don't give me a piece of string and tell me I can be fashionable. I would rather put in my pocket if I walk down the street because it is so small.

Ok, I am starting to ramble on again. I hope this was informative for some people looking to get one. Despite my disappointment for the string, this is a solid digital music player. In fact, I should not let something like that ruin the experience for me so I am going to throw it away and pretend it never existed. Done. I am thrilled to be one of the first people to own a shuffle and to be able to share my experience with all of you. It is a wonderful product that allows new users to experience the world of digital music that Apple has created and for current iPod owners to compliment their current models with a more portable, less breakable, yet just as effective tool to play the soundtrack of our daily lives.