iPod Tip #20
iPod shuffle has several limitations that iPod owners may not realize. This is not to say that the iPod shuffle is not a good iPod. But with the less expense and smaller size comes less features than its more other iPod cousins. Some of these limitations may be obvious, some may not.

iPod Shuffle Limitations
No LCD screen – so can not display calendars, contacts, notes, to-do items, album art, a clock, games, etc.

No internal clock – so it can’t keep track of the date and time it last played a track.

No support for AIFF and Apple Lossless codecs.

No support for MP3 and AAC files encoded at over 320 kbps.

iTunes can copy only MP3, AAC, and WAV files to the shuffle during an autofill operation. You can use iTunes to convert AIFF and Apple Lossless files to 128 kbps AAC files (see the iPod preferences in iTunes).

Audiobooks – the shuffle will play audiobooks, but Autofill will not put audiobooks on the iPod. You must add them manually.

No EQ support – no playback of tracks with the EQ settings. It simply lacks an EQ.

No Sound Check support – can not balance the volume of tracks if you’ve switched on Sound Check in iTunes. The shuffle lacks Sound Check feature.

No support for multiple computers – the iPod shuffle has no Manual mode. The shuffle is designed to be updated by one computer only. If you attach it to a different computer, it will ask if you would like to link to the new computer. If you select NO the shuffle will just disconnect. If you select YES, it will replace all your tracks with new ones from the new machine.

iPod Shuffle Exclusive Tricks
Autofill – this will “autofill your iPod shuffle ramdomly. You can select in the iPod preferences how much free space and if you want to use disk mode to use it like a USB flash drive to store data on it.

The iPod shuffle has outstanding battery life, is very small, and less expensive than the other iPods. So it is still a nice iPod.

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