Forget The iPhone: The iPod touch Is Where It’s At

MacLife ^ | Monday, December 7, 2009 | J.R. Bookwalter

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

Second, wow, it's like $100 plus dollars a month for phone and data service!

Actually, it's $40 for phone service (nationwide plan) and $30 for data plan (your internet). That's $70....

[Pyro7480]

I bought a factory-refurbished first-generation iPod Touch with 32 GB of memory during the summer. I LOVE IT! I decided to get one after I got to play with one that my sister's boyfriend has when she was in the hospital. I haven't even used half of the memory on it yet, and I have 1,000+ music files, 2 episodes of Mythbusters, and the entire Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World movie. I hardly listen to radio music stations anymore in the car. I just use the AUX connection with my car radio and listen to my own playlists.

My favorite thing about is how I can just turn it on in under 30 seconds and check my e-mail, and not even have to leave my bed, whereas before, I would have to wait minutes for my 4-year-old laptop to start up.

[Star Traveler]

Yep, we can all see why Apple is so successful with this device... :-)

[BunnySlippers]

I have one. It’s great!

[Star Traveler]

:-)

[Swordmaker]

The iPod Touch is where it's at... PING!

Mr? I prefer my iPhone...

iPod touch v. iPhone Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[Swordmaker]

When is the next version expected? You know... there is a typical time period for each of the products and I saw a website that kept up on that, telling you when the chances were for the next product upgrade.

Apple keeps the time schedule close to their chest... I suspect software updates sometime in January... hardware update before June.

[Swordmaker]

I remember getting a top-of-the-line iPod and I was happy to get the 80 GB model. I thought I had it made. And that one was with a hard drive in it. This 64 GB that you're talking about is a chip and no moving parts, which is great. I didn't think I would see that kind of capacity for a chip, when I had an 80 GB hard drive in my iPod.

The only true answer to the question of how big is the storage device you just bought? Not big enough.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

Apple keeps the time schedule close to their chest... I suspect software updates sometime in January... hardware update before June.

True..., that they do... :-)

I think you've probably already seen this, but if not, take a look...

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

They've got guesstimates as to when Apple will be refreshing and updating for the different product lines.

[Star Traveler]

Quite true...

[Star Traveler]

I had to revisit this one... :-)

The only true answer to the question of how big is the storage device you just bought? Not big enough.

I remember when I got my first hard drive for my Mac (somewhere in the mid-80s I think - had to be after 1984 for sure... LOL...). I was so happy to get a mere 80 MB hard drive (that's not gigabyte, but megabyte...).

Now... for the price -- it was $800... hoo-boy! But, I thought it was quite cool at the time. :-)

[Swordmaker]

I remember when I got my first hard drive for my Mac (somewhere in the mid-80s I think - had to be after 1984 for sure... LOL...). I was so happy to get a mere 80 MB hard drive (that's not gigabyte, but megabyte...).

About that time frame... my best friend bought a 20 MB hard drive for his Amiga 500 for $600, a month later I bought a 49MB hard drive for mine for the $700. His comment was "why did you buy such a large hard drive. I can not imagine ever needing more than 20 MBs!"

Now, every time he buys a new, larger hard drive, I make the comment "I can't imagine ever needing more than a 20 MB hard drive!" His last purchase was a 2 TeraByte hard drive. My comment to him was "Doug, I can't imagine ever needing more than a 20 MB hard drive..."

[stripes1776]

I am literally attached to my iTouch, or I guess the other way around. It goes where I go. With it, I have my podcasts, music, games, internet, various applications for bank accounts, etc. It is awesome. I can see how it easy it would be to transition to an iPhone from here so i could use it everywhere, whereas now I am dependent on wifi.

Exactly. I depend on my iPod Touch for all of the reasons you list. I don't leave home without it.

And yes, when the contract expires with my present cell phone carrier, I will move on to an iPhone. The Touch was simply the entree. (Just now, FR flagged "entree" was misspelled. It didn't give me a good alternative. So I pull out my trusty Touch, go to the American Heritage Dictionary app, and enter "entree". Yes, that is exactly the word I want. It is spelled correctly. It means "the act of entering".)

[Revolting cat!]

The company to watch next is... Acer, already huge in smart phones outside of US. I’ve just read an article about them somewhere, Forbes, or WSJ, and they’re ready to jump into the fray. They’ve got excellent products.

[Darnright]

I love my Touch. The things it can do are astounding. I agree, it definitely needs a camera (even though I can use it as a level or a ruler, or get the latest weather, or surf the web, or email, or play Uno, or check the stock market, or translate a sentence into French, or get directions to a restaurant).

[Star Traveler]

Apple articles posted on Free Republic...

• Who Can Kill the iPhone?
• Apple's iTunes overtakes Amazon in overall music sales
• Apple iPhone expected to drive mobile phone industry toward fancier touch screens
• Apple devotees rush stores for iPhone
• Mac users 'ecstatic' about new Apple Store
• Jobs Is Back, Apple's Still Standing, Life Goes On
• Out with Treos, in with iPhones
• Letters from Microsoft: An Employee Tosses His Zune
• Apple's 99-Cent Apps Are Too Cheap, Microsoft Says
• ONE IN FOUR SONGS IN U.S. BOUGHT ON iTUNES
• "APPLE HAS CHANGED THE WAY THE GAME IS PLAYED", says MSFT Win Mob chief
• iPhones Cause People To Talk Less
• GROKLAW’S EXCELLENT TAKE ON THE RECENT PSYSTAR SHENANIGANS (Apple Computer)
• PSYSTAR HIT WITH $5K FINE FOR DISCOVERY ABUSE (Apple Computer)
• INTEGO SPOTS MALWARE BLOCKER IN SNOW LEOPARD (Apple Mac OS X)
• Parallels to make switching to the Mac easier, safe and painless
• THE IPHONE & STEVE BALLMER: IT’S TIME FOR HIM TO EAT SOME SERIOUS CROW
• An in-depth look at Psystar’s legal defeat at the hands of Apple
• Has Palm finally given up on the great cat/mouse/iTunes chase of ‘09?
• Jobs’ Personal, Terse Reply to Developer [Apple Computer]
• Android goes for iPhone weak spot: porn apps [Porn is iPhone Killer?]
• Mac sales projected to grow 26% in 2010, outpacing PC market
• Apple's iPhone On Its Way To Becoming The Microsoft Windows Of Mobile
• Is Apple the Mobile Walmart?
• Apple's Base Stations Have Three 802.11n Streams [Faster WiFi on Apple]
• Analysis: Apple Embraces The Cloud, Positions Mobile With Lala Deal [Extends iTunes]
• Forget The iPhone: The iPod touch Is Where It’s At
• >All Hail the iPod touch
• Apple Bans Another Developer, 1000+ Apps Pulled [Developer scamming reviews]

[TheBattman]

After all, the iPod touch has one big advantage over the iPhone: No wireless carrier commitment, which adds more than $2,000 to the purchase price over the 2-year contract. Otherwise, it’s functionally the same as the iPhone, sans camera (which is rumored to appear with a future hardware refresh), for a one-time price. With a virtual explosion of free or cheap Wi-Fi almost everywhere, the iPod touch begins to look like a very enticing alternative that helps boost the iPhone OS market share.

Ignoring the foundation of the product makes one look a bit less than intelligent.

The majority of iPhone buyers want a smartphone-class device. Does it make any more sense to buy an iPod touch, then go over to the Verison store and dish out $199 For a Droid? Or to Sprint for a Pre? Regardless, you are saddled with a 2 year-commitment (unless you pay full-retail) for service+data. the iPhone serves the purpose of multiple devices - smartphone and mp3/video/game-entertainment device.

Don't have a need for a mobile phone, or already have a phone that you are content with? Then sure, get you an iPod touch. I think that is exactly what Apple was thinking by making two nearly identical products - one with phone and camera - and one without.

So where is this new revelation the author seems to think he has found?

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

So where is this new revelation the author seems to think he has found?

I think it's the "rear-guard action" from competitors that Apple is doing with the iPod Touch, and along with that, a "ready-made iPhone generation" when the time comes... :-)

[Star Traveler]

More Apple articles posted on Free Republic...
these by Swordmaker

• Apple Crushes Clone Maker [Psystar] in Court
• Apple Wins Like a Champ - Psystar is Toast -- What? You're Surprised?
• AT&T, Apple Accused in suit of misleading consumers
• Tests: Windows PC "crapware" adds 2 minutes boot time Apps on Win 7 PCs still slow vs Apple
• iPhone owners demand to see Apple source code
• Apple Set to Propose Damages in Psystar Case
• Another iPhone worm, but this one is serious
• Apple Moves for Permanent Injunction in Psystar Case
• Nearly half the money spent at US retail on desktop PCs goes to Apple
• Failure to launch: Would-be ‘Mac cloner’ Psystar sold just 768 PCs with Apple’s Mac OS X installed
• The Apple Tax Revisited
• Apple moves to kill second Psystar lawsuit
• Psystar, Apple enter partial settlement to cease clone Mac sales
• Psystar agrees to pay Apple $2.7M in settlement
• The great iPhone death watch
• Apple releases Java for Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.5 updates
• Apple Told To Pay Patent Troll OPTi $21.7 Million (AAPL)
• Verizon Droid ad calls Apple iPhone "tiara-wearing digitally clueless pageant queen"
• Attention Apple legal: Kuhgar tries selling Dell Mini 10v preloaded with Mac OS X Snow Leopard
• The Causality Behind Apple's Success
• Windows 7 Family Pack Dissapears For the Holidays
• Apple sued for infringing digital camera patent with iPhone
• Apple and Google and Microsoft sued over icon issue
• Danish Police Department depending on Macs to manage the Environmental Conference
• VisiCalc creator Dan Bricklin: From killer app to iPhone app