Edit: Since post, Apple has rejected claims of hardware DRM.

I already made some playful fun of the new iPod Shuffle in a comic (“iPod Shuffle. Twice as easy to steal. Three times easier to swallow.”). That was a joke, though, not a criticism. As the headphone situation has become clear, though, I have something new to say:

Do not buy the new iPod Shuffle.

I don’t hate Apple, I don’t hate iPods, and I don’t hate iTunes (particularly now that it is DRM-free), but what Apple has done with the new Shuffle is, quite frankly, ridiculous.

As you may know, to save space in the new iPod Shuffle, Apple put the controls on the headphone cord, rather than the iPod itself. This (unnecessary) change alone makes it impossible to really use any other headphones you might have lying around, without some hacking and soldering.

It has now become apparent that even if you had some other headphones with the controls in them, they still wouldn’t work, because Apple has put hardware DRM in to the new iPod Shuffle that prevents any set of headphones that lacks a special Apple chip from working with your iPod Shuffle. In other words, even if all the hardware is perfectly compatible, third-party headphones will not work properly without a special DRM chip that only Apple can provide.

Ever seen those “Works with iPod” stickers? Those indicate an Apple certification that a device will work with iPods. The way this is headed, though, anything that doesn’t have that sticker might as well say “doesn’t work with iPod (despite being completely compatible).”

Intentionally limiting the compatibility of third-party products that compete with your own products is not an acceptable practice. I see no practical reason for this “feature,” and I would urge you to look at alternatives to the iPod Shuffle that let you use your own headphones.

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