Why you shouldn't buy the new iPod shuffle

I always though the iPod shuffle was neat because of its tiny size.  However, I never really found the need for it in my life.  I could imagine if it would be great for running or cycling.  As for me, I'm a swimmer, and I'm still waiting on the solution for listening to music while swimming.  

The latest version got even smaller and comes with some gadgety features.  Here are some of my thoughts.

Tiny size - By moving the controls to the earphones, they managed to make the shuffle even smaller.  However, the major problem is that you cannot use a earphone of your choice, and you're stuck with Apple's earphones.  If you want to use a earphone of your choice, you might have to spend more money on a separate adapter.  

It talks to you - The new shuffle announces the name of the song you're listening, and announces the playlists so that you can navigate your playlists.  Frankly, I think this kind of navigation is a step backward.  Isn't that why Apple invented the visual voicemail so you don't have to listen to each item one by one?  

I'd assume it works if you have a few playlists, but it would probably not be very usable with a lot of playlists.  

However, navigation by voice would come very handy in situations where you can't divert your eyes to a visual interface like running.  Which brings me up to the next point -

The lack of sports features - Considering shuffle is the best line for athletes and sports, any kind of sporty features isn't there.  You see Nike+ features for iPod touches and Nanos, but the shuffle is really the product that needs it because it's so suitable for sports.  

At $79, the shuffle is a tempting buy.  Although it now supports playlists, I question the usability of using voice feature as navigation.  For someone that wants to buy it for sports like running, I'd hold off a bit because, first, you can't use other sports-oriented earphones, and second, there are no running features like Nike+.  I'm sure Apple knows the shuffle is perfect for sports, and knowing that other iPods have the Nike+ treatment, I think we'll see a shuffle more suitable for sports in the future.