Call it the Am I the only one that feels the iPod Touch is a slap-in-face insult to countries that don’t yet have the iPhone?
As far as I can tell, yes. Yes, you are.I just don’t get the iPod Touch. It’s the iPhone you get when you can’t have an iPhone. Really, why would I want an iPod shaped like a phone that isn’t actually a phone? Why wouldn’t I just wait for Apple to pull its finger out and offer the iPhone in Australia?
Or, alternatively, it’s the iPod you get when you don’t want an iPhone. And what with this “shaped like a phone” idea? I mean, it’s not like the iPod touch has an old-style telephone handset. Sure, the iPod touch is shaped like the iPhone, but you might recall that the iPhone is shaped like an iPod. Everything’s oblong bricks nowadays.
Of course Apple fanboys will rush out to buy an iPod Touch, to sit alongside their four iPods and various Macs, and then rush out again and buy the iPhone when it hits our shores next year. It must be nice to have a huge fanatical customer base that laps up whatever you dish out to it, even when you treat certain countries as second-class (I still haven’t seen movies for sale on the Australian iTunes store yet, even though you can buy the Apple TV here).It must be nice to be able to fall back on the trope of painting an entire customer base as fanatics and idiots without having to make a plausible argument. I’m sorry you don’t have movies on the Australian iTunes Store. I agree that it makes the Apple TV less useful, but I’m also convinced that the fault lies as much with reticent content providers as with Apple.
Apart from the big screen and amazing interface that everyone keeps raving about, apparently the appeal of the iPod Touch is the fact you can use it as a PDA - sort of. You can copy your calendar to the iPod Touch, but you can’t edit it on the device, just read it. Apple has also left out the email client you get on the iPhone. Beautiful but useless, like so many Apple products (did I mention the Apple TV?)Yes, besides the fact that it can play music, watch videos, show photos, surf the web, view your calendar info, contacts, buy music from the iTunes Store and browse YouTube, what can the iPod touch do really? Okay, I’ll admit the inability to enter Calendar data is lame, but it’s an iPod, not a PDA—the clue? That word iPod in the name.
Oh yeah, and it has wifi for internet access - just like the iPhone - which might make it good for reading the paper on the train. Unlike the iPhone, there’s no Bluetooth - just in case someone dare try to use the Touch as wifi VoIP phone.No Bluetooth? Noooooo. I can’t make phone calls on my iPod? What ever will I do? Perhaps, if I need to make phone calls, I will wait for the iPhone, which has a phone.
Unless you’re a fanatic, $AU419 seems a lot to spend on what is clearly an interim device. Almost everything Apple touches seems to turn to gold but occasionally something bombs. Even Jobs Almighty has an off day and I reckon this is one. With the iPhone on the horizon, I just don’t see much demand for the iPod Touch. Am I wrong?Got that? Only fanatics buy expensive, cool high-tech devices. I mean, going out and spending $600 on a PlayStation 3 is normal, but an iPod? Nuts.
More than anything else, what the writer is missing here is that the iPod touch isn’t just an interim device to tide people over until they get an iPhone. First of all, they’re selling it everywhere, not just in countries that don’t have the iPhone yet. And there are plenty of reasons one would get an iPod touch instead of an iPhone. Many people don’t want a cell phone in their iPod, or don’t want to have to deal with switching service providers or the like. For them, the iPod touch is appealing because it has a lot of the functionality of the iPhone, but without tying them down. They’re two different products for two different needs: you wouldn’t advocate somebody in search of the perfect chef’s knife buy a spork, would you?
And when the third-party applications for the iPod touch start rolling out next year, I think we’ll see a lot of people who find this a very attractive purchase. It raises questions, to be certain, of what, if anything, Apple will do to lock down the development: what if someone writes a Mail app for the iPod touch, for example? I’d hope not, but I can see why they’d be tempted to do so.
Anyway, I don’t know how the iPod touch is selling in Australia or anywhere else, but I’d suspect that even if Adam Turner doesn’t buy one, Apple won’t have a bunch just sitting around collecting dust.
It's not an iphone!
Everyone needs to stop pretending that it's an iphone alternative, because it's not. It's an iPod with the coolest interface ever.
OK?
I'm an old-guy and find that the iTouch is a wonderful device that invites use. Everyone I show it to has positive reactions. I wanted an iPhone, but not the AT&T contract. I got what I wanted with the iTouch. I look forward to the added options that are coming
If it looks like an iPod, smells like an iPod, sounds like and iPod, feels like an iPod, tastes (presumably) like an iPod, it must be an iPod. Even Steve Jobs said that the iPhone Apple's "best iPod ever."
The iPhone IS an iPod...that's also a phone...not a phone that's also an iPod.
There are tons of music-playing cellular phones out there, but NONE of them are like the iPhone. Similarly, there are tons of digital media players out there and none of them are like the iPod touch...EXCEPT the iPhone.
I purchased an iPod Touch a week ago Friday for a very good reason: the screen.
When I had to replace my old Nano with a messed-up bottom half of the screen (ear buds apparently put pressure on the screen in a self-made carrying case made from an Altoids container), but with what? The shuffle doesn't have the capacity, and all other iPods have video now. The new Nano's screen is so tiny that it would make watching with my 40+ year old eyes a real chore! The choice, then, was the iPod Classic or the iPod Touch.
The Classic had hard drives: moving parts that are more prone to failure than the solid state memory of the Touch. But the big reason for choosing the Touch: if I'm going to watch video on this thing, I want to be able to see the damned video! That means that screen size means a lot. In addition, you will need memory for the videos... about 400-600 MB per DVD that I ripped, it seems.
Say what you want about the iPod Touch, but this is the best iPod, other than the iPhone, for watching video. 16 Gb fits a half dozen or more DVDs plus all the music I care to carry around.
The Wifi is an added bonus, but it doesn't work everywhere (my company uses LEAP authentication which isn't supported). I simply turn it off unless I am actively trying to connect to a public AP.
Photos are also nice and once again the iPod Touch's screen is much better for previewing them than the tiny screens on cameras (too bad the Touch doesn't have an SD reader built in to read those photos easier).
All in all, I got what I paid for. 16 GB and a wide screen. Who could ask for anything more? Oh... you want a phone? Well, there's the iPhone, whenever it becomes available in your area.
I agree, everyone keeps calling the ipod touch a crippled iphone, why can't they see it as an advanced ipod?
Yeah, almost every Ipod Touch reveiw is comparing the iPod to iPhone.
If they feel it's a slap in the face for people who doesn't officially iPhone release. Just buy unlocked iPhone.. it cost more than the official.
I like the idea of the iPod Touch, but I can't figure out why it drops so many iPhone features. I see no reason to drop email, stocks, maps, notes or weather. None of these require the "phone" functionality and all work just fine over Wi-Fi. If the iPod Touch had these features I would find it a lot more compelling.
The announcement of the iPod Touch (and the price drop) made me finally take a leap at an iPhone. I realized that the iPod Touch was going to be crippled so I might as well get the real thing.
Heh. 'Perfect chef's knife' and spork.
iPhone and iPod Touch.
Which is the chef's knife, and which is the spork?
:)
"Am I the only one that feels the iPod Touch is a slap-in-face insult to countries that don't yet have the iPhone?
As far as I can tell, yes. Yes, you are."
No, he's not. Just ask someone who's not from the US, UK, Germany or France. I felt the same way, with the same amount of rage and anger, when the iPod Touch was announced. I've calmed down since, though.
Still, why not just release an unlocked iPhone in Europe, and other parts of the world? Or at least tell us when it's going to happen?
Of course the iPod Touch is a crippled iPhone. It is virtually the same device (except for the phone, mic, etc. components), running the same operating system, with some software functionality intentionally disabled. You need to be blind if you don't see that.
That said, I think it is ridiculous to get personally offended about it. Apple makes significantly more money on an iPhone sale (primarily because of the kick backs from AT&T) than on an iPod Touch sale. Therefore, they have decided to reduce the functionality of the Touch considerably to minimize cannibalization of iPhone sales. Not exactly in the best interest of those consumers who want a kick ass iPod with PDA functionality without having to deal with AT&T (or those living in a country where the iPhone is not offered yet), but a perfectly reasonable business decision.