Apple iPod Touch

The announcement by Steve Jobs on 5^th September has caused lot of excitement, as well as some anger. The anger comes from the fact that while 4GB iPhone has been discontinued, the 8GB one will now cause $200 less. The excitement comes from refreshing the complete range of iPod, with a new entry- iPod Touch. IPod touch has generated a lot of curiosity, and interest, and people can hardly wait to get their hands on one. However, it is important to get the facts right, as any announcement by Jobs is bound to create a lot of hype, which may later be followed by regret.

First of all, think about the pricing. Steve Jobs has devalued the phones of all the early buyers by $200 in 8 weeks, not to mention the depreciation bought by the market forces. Though $100 credit has been offered to such early customers, it has to be spent in an Apple store, so in no case are you saving any money. Will Steve Jobs slash the price of Touch during the peak of holiday season, we don’t know? Most probably not, but he will if he is forced by market conditions. Like he recently said in an open letter, the cost of the technology comes down very fast, and this is bound to reflect on the pricing of such gizmos, especially due to tough competition. So if you plan to buy the Touch right now, don’t be disappointed if the prices are slashed in a couple of months.

Now for the iPod Touch itself. Don’t blankly consider it as an iPhone without the phone function. It almost is, but not exactly. It comes in 8 GB and 16 GB models. So if you are planning to upgrade from your older iPod Classic carrying 40 gigs, you will actually be downgrading in terms of memory. It might prove to be a lot difficult for people used to carry 20, 30 or even 40 GB of music and videos with them, to fit their stuff into a meager 16 GB. The good part is that you can now surf the web wirelessly with Wi-Fi on the Safari browser and just like on the iPhone, you should know that the Touch doesn’t have a mail client. So don’t count on checking your mail while on the move, unless you don’t mind opening the browser window, and checking the web mail on the site. One more key thing missing in iPod Touch is the Blue Tooth. There is a confusion regarding the calendar on the Touch. Some Apple international sites are showing that you can make calendar entries, while others are not. According to clarification from apple, you are not able to make entries on the Touch, but only view entries created on your computer, just like the older iPods.

Posted by Gregory / Benefits and Device and Features