iPod shuffle (3rd generation)
Every control moved onto the headphone cable, which meant it only worked properly with Apple's own earphones. Apple reversed the decision a year later.
Released March 11, 2009 · Discontinued September 1, 2010 · From $79 (4 GB)
Every control moved to the cable. Apple stripped the buttons off the body entirely, leaving a clip and a battery at 10.7 grams, with VoiceOver reading track and playlist names aloud to make up for having no screen. The problem appeared the moment you wanted different headphones, because the remote lived in Apple's own cable and nothing else worked properly without an adapter. Reviewers liked the engineering and complained about the earbuds. Apple put physical buttons back on the fourth generation eighteen months later and never tried this again.
Reviews & Reception
Reviewers found a lot of intelligence packed into a very small player at a low price, and were consistent about the catch: the controls lived in Apple's earbuds, so using your own headphones meant losing them.
After using this new iPod Shuffle for a few days, I can say that I like it.
Still, Apple has packed a lot of new intelligence into a truly tiny music player, at a pretty low price.