She doesn't want to listen to other music, she likes what she knows, so the benefit of recommendations etc aren't of interest either.
Just one data point for your question :)
The general thing of futzing around with a home screen, switching apps, having notifications?? When sometimes you just want an mp3 player.
This is my main frustration with these Sony walkmans, is that I'll still have to pay the UI friction cost from it running Android. Would love a device that really sticks to playing music... but I get that that is very hard since you lose streaming optionality.
Children. I wanted my daughter to be able to listen to music and audio books, I didn't want to buy her a smart phone. Plus you can buy a good enough one for $30-40, so it's not as big a deal if they lose or break it.
I've also considered getting a cheap one with bluetooth for kayaking, so that I can listen to music without having to worry about my phone getting water damaged.
Globally if you just have a basic pair of headphones / earphones you're better off having a USB-C <=> Jack adapter or a simple bluetooth receiver, but for cases where you want to have a really higher quality source then these will do incredibly well.
- I can control it completely without looking at a screen.
- It's easier to put my mp3s on there than it is to do that on a phone.
- The battery lasts a lot longer than a phone
- It has a headphone jack
- No crappy software needed, it's just a USB drive as far as my computer is concerned.
I understand that apple device users live in their special world. But every android phone does this.
- Very light and easy to keep in a pocket or backpack so I have it with me when I'm out, or to listen to while I cook / do hardware repairs
- No distractions
- Physical buttons means I can replay or skip tracks without looking at it
- Doesn't drain the battery of my smartphone; doesn't need recharging each week
- Has a real working FM radio in it
- Music on my SD card doesn't disappear
- Doesn't need security updates
- Bought it in 2013 and it still works
If you're legally buying music, not there. All the apps for mauic playback, streaming, etc. come from the Google Play Store, and there are very few that someone who buys one of these would need anyway.
I'd venture many of these will spend most of their existence with wi-fi turned off, as it's a battery hog.
Implying that Germany is not part of Northern Europe.
And contrary to what many seem to think, cellular data is not always available and data caps are still a thing.
If I sound pissed off, that's because I am. I've seen an ever increasing number of comments like yours that just dismiss things because they don't see the value to them. They then phrase their dismissal as an innocent question (which, honestly, comes across as very condescending).
I shouldn't complain too much, since there actually are a fair number of modern small dedicated mp3 players that can clip on to your shirt (although none of them that I know of are quite as unobtrusive and lightweight as a 2nd gen iPod shuffle).
I also like the idea of a device that does one thing but does it well, unlike a cell phone that tries to be everything for everyone. With a dedicated music player there's no distraction. No notifications, no texts, no calls, no games, no internet. A good music player does everything you need but stays out of your way. A cell phone is designed to demand your attention as often as possible and hold onto it for as long as possible.
There are dongles to address this issue, but they can drain the battery pretty fast. I don't want to drain my phone battery just because I'm listening to music.
If you have an iOS device, having offline music has plenty of limitations. It takes a ton of space that I'd rather save for pictures, videos and apps. And you have to sync your phone with a MacBook which is a hassle if you have more than one.
Makes me nostalgic for the pre-smartphone era
These devices are not it.
But $400 is more than I’d want to pay for it.