So we keep going back and forth on the potential success of this whole "iPod shuffle" thing. On the one hand, it's cheap, slick-looking, tiny, stores more songs than the competition, and packs a bite-size portion of that inimitable iPod cachet. Good stuff. On the other hand, though, it lacks a screen, so you can't see any stats about what song you're listening to (you know, like its name-- insignificant stuff like that), and there's no reasonable way to jump to a particular song unless a) you happen to remember that it's the 229th song in your playlist, and b) you think you can click the "Next Song" button 228 times without your thumb turning blue and falling off. It does what it's designed to do-- play randomly-chosen music from your iTunes Library-- very well... but is the public willing to give up so much control of their listening experience to the iPod shuffle?

At least one early report hints that, yes, they are; you may recall that one Apple retail store cranked through its entire inventory by selling all 2,000 of the lil' goobers in a mere four hours, which certainly bodes well for the future of the product. The only problem, though, is that the store in question just happens to be in San Francisco, which was overrun at the time by Macworld-attending Apple fanatics eager to blow as much cash as possible on the Next Big (or, uh, Little) Thing™. We're guessing that Apple could have slapped a logo on each of 2,000 bottles of clam juice and the fans would have chugged 'em like Cherry Coke and paid dearly for the privilege. (Note to Apple: consider that a quick moneymaker tip for next year!)

But here's some good news: faithful viewer Bradley Bishop forwarded us a Jiji Press Service article which reveals that the iPod shuffle is going great guns in Japan, too. According to one Apple Japan veep, preorders for the shuffle have officially overtaken the preorders that Apple took for the iPod mini. Of course, the shufflePod costs half as much, so you'd expect more orders-- especially since demand for All Things iPod has skyrocketed since a year ago, as the iPod's 500 percent year-over-year sales growth indicates. But still, at the very least, that many preorders proves that the product won't completely fall flat on its screenless, wheelless face.

Indeed, the iPod shuffle has started out so strong that the Apple veep has officially announced that Apple now aims to increase its share of the Japanese portable digital music player market from its current 50 percent to a whopping and near-Microsoftian 80 percent. What's even more remarkable is that Apple has managed to capture such a huge chunk of the market despite the continuing complete and utter lack of a Japanese iTunes Music Store; 'Podders in the Land of the Rising Sun are still ripping their own tracks. But not for long, Godzilla willing, since Apple now says that it's "steadily continuing its preparations" and "it would not take 12 months before the Apple group starts the service in Japan."

Twelve more months? That sounds like forever to us, but the Japanese have gone this long without it-- and they're still buying 'Pods, to boot, so we figure they'll manage. Meanwhile, the iPod shuffle seems poised and ready to snatch the rest of the market from those non-Apple music pushers. Today Japan; tomorrow the world!