Advantage of Pumps for Aerating

Just wondering,

Is there any real advantage to using a pump or any other system for aerating your wort over just shaking it up for about 3 minutes in the fermenter??

I have always used the shaking method and found it to be perfectly fine, but since so many people use other methods, I was wondering if I was missing anything.

We're not all as strong as you -

shaking is fine! good for you! I'm glad you understand about yeast needing air (oxygen) for their reproductive cycle.

Just saw this:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/dbr51/wyeast_article_about_oxygenation_including/

That's kind of what I thought, just wasn't completely sure.

Also, on a related note, usually when my wort is still in the brew kettle after I have the temperature down close to pitching temperature, I rapidly plunge and then pull out my chiller for a couple minutes and that seems to add a bunch of air to the wort before I put it into the fermenter.

It's a lot easier than trying to manhandle a full carboy.

I just got an aeration kit from williamsbrewing with an airstone connected to a SS tube...i run pure O2 through it, and the fermentation on my Pliny clone has taken off like no other batch I've ever had...and I used to shake and splash the heck out of my fermenter. the kit wasn't cheap, but I'm really happy with the results.