Digital Home Thoughts: Shuffle's Popularity Just a Stone's Throw Away for Creative

"Creative is taking the fight directly to the iPod Shuffle with its new $39.99 USD ZEN Stone. The tiny 1GB player can hold up to 250 songs and can operate for 10 hours on a single charge (12 hours for the iPod Shuffle). A wide palette of colors is also available: black, blue, green, pink, red and white. "The Creative ZEN Stone, at just $39.99, opens up a huge new market for MP3 players," said Creative chairman and CEO Sim Wong Hoo. "This is an incredible price for everyone to get a superior quality MP3 player capable of holding up to 250 songs. Whether it's your only player or a second player to take with you anywhere, the low price lets you think of MP3 players in a whole new way. You can loan it to a friend just like you would a CD or a mix tape and not have to worry about it, but you'll like it so much that you'll want another, so you always have one with you."



With the Shuffle retailing at $79, Creative's new ZEN Stone, at almost half the price, seems like a no-brainer decision to me. Shoot, I'm happy with my current player, but I'm still very tempted by this. Tiny, shiny and black? How can you go wrong? :wink: The ZEN Stone will hit retailer's shelves on May 14th. Anyone here gonna get one? PC Magazine's got a review of the ZEN Stone here.