I had planned on picking up a new mini for my kids once the imac g5 loaner goes back, but this puts me over the edge:
http://www.switched.com/2009/03/17/new-ipod-shuffle-only-usable-with-apple-authorized-headphones/
It seems that apple has begun the same downward spiral toward pissing off the customer base that nearly ruined Microsoft. I hope they can turn it around.