The First Generation iPod Shuffle: A Blast from the Past

Today, we're doing something a little different – taking a look at an old Apple product that's still fascinating. This is the first generation iPod shuffle, which I purchased on Amazon Marketplace for a steal of $25. As part of my efforts to collect all iPods from past and present, I couldn't pass up this deal. Let's take a closer look at it.

The iPod shuffle has been sitting in the sun for quite some time, so its edges are well faded. It came out in 2005, which means it's been waiting around for five years – a long time for an iPod that was once considered cutting-edge technology. As you can see, there are three generations of iPod shuffles on display, with each one significantly smaller than the last. This is the 512 megabyte model, which should be located somewhere on the side.

The original iPod shuffle came with this lanyard and these must be the old earbuds that accompany it. Take a look at what's inside – we've got literature on how to use the device, user guides, stickers, and a warranty that expires after one year. It's interesting to note that five years have passed since the last software update, so let's see if anything has changed.

As you can open up the plastic casing, you'll notice a little battery level indicator – it's been sitting here for five years with no charge, as expected. The big switch on top is one of three positions: off, continuous play, or shuffle mode. The USB connector says 512 megabytes and USB, which means you can plug this directly into your computer instead of using a dock or cable.

The directional buttons on the bottom are for fast forward, skip, play, volume up, volume down, back, reverse, and pause. It's amazing how much functionality was packed into such a small device. Now that we've opened up the lanyard, let's connect it to our headphones – the idea is to hang this from your neck and plug in your ears.

Let's compare this first generation iPod shuffle with its newer counterparts. This second-generation model is nearly half as big as the original while still retaining similar controls, thanks to the new clip on the back instead of a lanyard. The third generation has taken it to an even smaller size, using anodized aluminum or special edition cases.

When you connect your first-generation iPod shuffle to your computer, a little light will appear behind the plastic – this light glows while charging and connected, and flashes amber when syncing with iTunes. Now that we've connected our device to iTunes, let's label it with its name: Michaels iPod Shuffle First Gen. We'll also select the option to automatically choose songs for our iPod.

In this case, we have the option to fill from music or playlists, as well as adjust settings such as replacing all items when filling and choosing higher-rated items more often. For now, let's set it so that there is no space reserved for CDs – since there aren't any in this iPod. To get things started, we can simply leave iTunes select songs, then start playing with the device.

When you turn on your first-generation iPod shuffle, the light indicates that the device has just been activated and turned off. If you want to play some music, press this button – if you pause it, the light will indicate that the playback has stopped. Press down on the right key to speed things up or hold the left key to reverse or skip tracks – volume controls are available too.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enall right today we're doing something a little different it's still an apple product but it's an old one this is the first gen iPod shuffle I bought this on Amazon Marketplace for $25 I'm trying to collect all the iPods from present and past and I couldn't pass up this deal so let's take a look at it it looks like it's been sitting in the Sun for a while so the edges are well faded this came out in 2005 so it has been waiting around for a long time five years so again this is the first shuffle here is the newest one here is the second generation one you can see just how different they are in size this is the 512 megabyte model it should be somewhere on the side here 512 megabytes or 120 songs works with the PC and the Mac of course okay we see the original iPod shuffle came with this lanyard and these must be the old earbuds okay so look what's in this first we got some literature how to use it user guide stickers warranty 1-year limited warranty and this is five years later some software with iTunes I wonder which version of iTunes this is and here are the covers for the old earbuds they don't include these anymore because they always fall off there's the line yard the old earbuds you'll design can play them through this and the shuffle itself okay let's peel back the plastic the back is a little battery level indicator it's been sitting around for five years so of course there is no charge there is this big switch here the there are three positions one is off one is continuous play and one is shuffle of course the USB connector says 512 megabyte and USB so instead of connecting to a dock or to another cable or a 30 pin cable you just stick this into the USB on your computer these are the directional buttons so fast forward skip play pause volume up volume down back reverse okay let's open the lanyard so we can get that connected the liner plugs into the USB so you I guess leave this cap somewhere safely so you don't lose it the idea is you can now hang this from your neck and plug in your headphones bottom there you go get your lanyard your iPod and your headphone so let's see how this compares to the newest generation of iPod shuffles this is the second generation of course nearly half a size still a similar controls has this clip on the back so instead of a lanyard you just clip this to yourself to a clothing or whatever and then the third generation which is very small so as you can see the the iPod shuffle went from this white plastic to this anodized aluminum or if you got the special edition this is in a case right now but the special edition is actually polished stainless steel I also wanted to point out that when you do connect your shuffle first-gen to your computer a little light appears behind the plastic up here let's go ahead and do then as you can see this little light from behind the plastic glows while it's charging and connected and when it's synching to iTunes it flashes amber so now I have connected my iPod shuffle it has appeared in iTunes I've gone ahead and label it Michaels iPod shuffle first-gen and I've also selected the option to automatically choose songs for my iPod should I see here is the option to automatically fill from my music or from on my playlist and the bottom corner is the autofill options and you can choose settings so you can review what you want to do replace all items when all the filling choose items randomly choose higher rated items more often and it's given me how much space I want to reserve for disc use in this case I'm going to see 0 so right now in order to get it going I'm just going to let iTunes select the songs and then I'll start playing with it so let's turn it on I'm going to put it on shuffle ok the light now indicates to me that I've just turned it on and it's turned off so if I want to play this is the play button and the light goes off let's pause it and it should start flashing so that's letting me know that it's a waiting for me to resume play so you can hold down the right key to speed things up hold down lefty to reverse it or skip to the next track volume up right that's been an unboxing of the first generation iPod shuffle 512 megabytes thanks for watchingall right today we're doing something a little different it's still an apple product but it's an old one this is the first gen iPod shuffle I bought this on Amazon Marketplace for $25 I'm trying to collect all the iPods from present and past and I couldn't pass up this deal so let's take a look at it it looks like it's been sitting in the Sun for a while so the edges are well faded this came out in 2005 so it has been waiting around for a long time five years so again this is the first shuffle here is the newest one here is the second generation one you can see just how different they are in size this is the 512 megabyte model it should be somewhere on the side here 512 megabytes or 120 songs works with the PC and the Mac of course okay we see the original iPod shuffle came with this lanyard and these must be the old earbuds okay so look what's in this first we got some literature how to use it user guide stickers warranty 1-year limited warranty and this is five years later some software with iTunes I wonder which version of iTunes this is and here are the covers for the old earbuds they don't include these anymore because they always fall off there's the line yard the old earbuds you'll design can play them through this and the shuffle itself okay let's peel back the plastic the back is a little battery level indicator it's been sitting around for five years so of course there is no charge there is this big switch here the there are three positions one is off one is continuous play and one is shuffle of course the USB connector says 512 megabyte and USB so instead of connecting to a dock or to another cable or a 30 pin cable you just stick this into the USB on your computer these are the directional buttons so fast forward skip play pause volume up volume down back reverse okay let's open the lanyard so we can get that connected the liner plugs into the USB so you I guess leave this cap somewhere safely so you don't lose it the idea is you can now hang this from your neck and plug in your headphones bottom there you go get your lanyard your iPod and your headphone so let's see how this compares to the newest generation of iPod shuffles this is the second generation of course nearly half a size still a similar controls has this clip on the back so instead of a lanyard you just clip this to yourself to a clothing or whatever and then the third generation which is very small so as you can see the the iPod shuffle went from this white plastic to this anodized aluminum or if you got the special edition this is in a case right now but the special edition is actually polished stainless steel I also wanted to point out that when you do connect your shuffle first-gen to your computer a little light appears behind the plastic up here let's go ahead and do then as you can see this little light from behind the plastic glows while it's charging and connected and when it's synching to iTunes it flashes amber so now I have connected my iPod shuffle it has appeared in iTunes I've gone ahead and label it Michaels iPod shuffle first-gen and I've also selected the option to automatically choose songs for my iPod should I see here is the option to automatically fill from my music or from on my playlist and the bottom corner is the autofill options and you can choose settings so you can review what you want to do replace all items when all the filling choose items randomly choose higher rated items more often and it's given me how much space I want to reserve for disc use in this case I'm going to see 0 so right now in order to get it going I'm just going to let iTunes select the songs and then I'll start playing with it so let's turn it on I'm going to put it on shuffle ok the light now indicates to me that I've just turned it on and it's turned off so if I want to play this is the play button and the light goes off let's pause it and it should start flashing so that's letting me know that it's a waiting for me to resume play so you can hold down the right key to speed things up hold down lefty to reverse it or skip to the next track volume up right that's been an unboxing of the first generation iPod shuffle 512 megabytes thanks for watching\n"