Small gets smaller.
The new iPod shuffle is amazingly small and even easier to use. The controls are now conveniently located on the earbud cord. It’s so easy, you can use it with your eyes closed.

So any shuffle buyers will be stuck with Apple’s crappy $1 headphones that come with it. Or, they can choose to shell out $79 more for a pair of Apple iPhone In-Ear Stereo headphones that will work in the shuffle. Either way, a losing affair.

I have 4Gb of physical memory in my computer, and at the time, only iTunes (dead) and a web browser (alive) open. So strange that iTunes ran out of memory and started rendering garbage. Pretty picture, though!

The cost? Just $200 and 2-3 weeks of processing time, plus additional time to ship it there and back. Looking at their gallery of samples, the painting appears extremely high quality, precise, and on-color. They even off pantone matching for those colors you absolutely need to have. Behind the scenes, they use a custom UV resistant plastic coating they call “X2″ and (probably) paint robots to precisely paint your device.

They also can paint notebooks, macbooks, iPods, PC computers, the Sony PSP, your blackberry, an xBox or PS3, and a host of other commercial products.

The sound isolation is orders better than any other headphones I’ve tried, and the frequency response is excellent. My coworkers, two of whom bought similar or identical Shure earphones, also swear by them. You can be sitting on the worst part of the NYC subway line with them on, and not hear the pain of the wheels screeching on ill fitted metal tracks.

A reviewer on Amazon praises the sound quality better than I can:

These IEMs sound absolutely incredible. They sound is so clear and detailed that I notice new details in songs that I had listened to dozens if not hundreds of time. In a complex musical passage it is easy to follow every note of a single instrument which is not an easy feat with most headphones.

As for Customer Service, it’s the best. My earphones started wearing out in 6 months at the cord junction where it meets the plug, and they are sending me an advance replacement (against my CC) of the SE420s. When I get them I’ll send back the defectives to the Customer rep who took my warranty replacement and they’ll reverse the charge. Another customer had a similar, great experience:

As for Shure customer service–I had a suspected loose wire in one of the E3 earphones (used for 8 months) leading to dropouts when I would move my head. I got a return form off the Shure website–filled it out and sent it along with a copy of my receipt to Shure. Within 10 days, they had sent out a completely new pair at no charge.

Even Apple doesn’t offer this level of personalized customer service. I’m extremely impressed, and with their 2 year warranty, I’ll definitely buy again!

Dear Elliott,

A few weeks ago, you downloaded “What About Bob?” from The Dresden Files, Season 1. The item you received may have had some noticeable quality issues.

Please note that this is an older episode, but we wanted to make sure you had the correct file. I have placed a new copy of this item in your download queue at no charge. To begin downloading, click this link:

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/checkForPurchases

Or, you can open iTunes and select Check for Purchases from the Store menu.

We want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase, so we’ve issued one free video credit to your account. This credit will be used as payment for the next $1.99 TV show, music video, or short film you purchase from the iTunes Store. Your free credit amount appears next to your account name once you’re signed in. If you do not see it, sign out of your iTunes account and then sign back in to refresh. The sign out and sign in functions are found under the Store menu of iTunes.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our customer service team by replying to this email.

Sincerely,

Kevin
iTunes Store Team
www.apple.com/support/itunes/ww/

How often does a big company go way out of its way to do something like this? Not too often, I wager.