Apple today updated its online store with a new Shuffle, the third generation of the matchbook sized iPod.

We will of course pause to allow readers to salivate over it (or not).

Shuffle

With that out of the way, the obvious change is, no buttons. None. The Apple community has long suspected that Jobs hates buttons, but with this 3rd generation Shuffle our suspicions were validated. The thing has only a headphone jack, and the power/shuffle switch. The controls are left to the earphones, and soon Apple will release a small adapter with 3 buttons on it allowing users to connect any headphones they wish to the device.

The second most significant change, the device has 4GB storage now. There doesn’t seem to be any other model, it’s just the 4GB Shuffle and the price is $79. However in the past, Apple has eventually dropped the price of the higher Shuffle model and introduced a larger capacity model at the original price point, so perhaps the 4GB model will end up being $49 and Apple will introduce an 8GB model some time in the near future.

Apple has also added VoiceOver to the device, similar to the 4th generation iPod Nano. Apples online store page has audio examples of what the device sounds like when reading you playlist and song names.

So what do readers think? Is Apple crazy or do users really want an iPod that only comes out of your pocket to charge and sync?