In defense of Apple: Allow me to retort...

...to this.
As Sabra said, "I don't understand why looking at a product before you buy it would be such a big deal." It's not as if the information on mp3 players is that hard to find on Algore's Internets. And I REALLY don't understand the bitching about Apple here. It's not like they have a damn monopoly on mp3 players. I was tempted to say, "dude, if you're that hard up for a cheap mp3 player that works with your bitchin' phones, go buy a damn Zune." But a perusal of Walmart.com reveals even fewer choices there, all more expensive than the iPod when everything is taken into account. I showed it to Sabra and even she said, "Holy shit! No wonder Apple remains the standard!" And she is, to say the least, not a fan of anything Apple, to the point she was commenting the other day about how she hates the fact that Windows 7 has a dock like Apple's.

And there's some grade-A examples of Apple Derangement Syndrome to be seen in the comments, too:

Seriously, Apple makes unique and creative products that STILL remain strangely antiquated and just WRONG…????
For instance, WHY can’t I buy an IPOD with a AM/FM Receiver/Tuner on it ?????

My question would be, why would anyone WANT an iPod with an AM/FM tuner on it? Terrestrial radio sucks. And I thought it was funny how they'd refer to the standalone iPod as "antiquated," considering the iPod Touch has wi-fi capability, which means that if you were within range of a wireless network you could stream the radio station of your choice. And even if you weren't, well, so?

And then there's this gem:

Never owned an Apple or Mac, never will. They seem so quaintly metrosexual, almost French in their ponsy (sic) appearance, and then there;s (sic) the whole issue of the frothing fanboys that try to be the firt (sic) to kiss Steve Job’s (sic) butt.
Please… real computer users have PC’s (sic), not Apple wannabe toys.

Completely free of any substantive criticism of how the machine actually works, they instead harp on just how it looks. Like I said in comments there, I'd think real computer users wouldn’t cast aspersions on other computers based solely on how they look, but I guess I’m just quaint that way…

At any rate, more perusal of Walmart.com renders this from Sony, at about the same price as the iPod shuffle. I am unsure if it is compatible with iTunes, but there *are* ways of working around that. And I don't understand why a workaround would be such a big deal. Unless, of course, one just wants to find a reason to use words like "phaggy."