What do you do if the iPod Shuffle that your 8-year-old was given for his birthday doesn’t appear to iTunes, the iPod updater, or Windows?

You roam around the iPod support pages, trying out the suggestions: reset the iPod, reset the computer, download the latest software (almost 47Mb for the iPod updater, and another 35Mb for the iTunes update with the bundled Quicktime that you don’t actually want), try resetting the iPod service, remove the software then repair it again… etc, etc, etc.

Then you notice footnote 5 of the iPod Shuffle specifications, which says: Some computers require either the optional iPod shuffle Dock or a USB cable extender (sold separately).

Sure enough, for me, a USB cable extender did the trick.

You know, including that in the support pages wouldn’t hurt.