iPod Touch: Gorgeous and Talented, but is it Overqualified?
It's hard to argue with the grace and power of the iPod Touch. It displays photos and videos flawlessly, it gives you lots of innovative ways to navigate your music collection and its use of Wi-Fi is a quantum leap past that of any other dedicated music player. But after playing with it for a couple of hours, I can't help but wonder whether a music player really needs to be this much.
I don't mean this much money, though certainly $399 for 16GB of storage is a lot (the 8GB model is $299). What I mean is whether a player really needs to be this complicated, this powerful, this pretty. I think of music players as rugged, simple companions you can take anywhere, on a run or out camping. The Touch feels a bit precious. It's a player to gaze lovingly at and show off to friends, but it would feel almost sacrilegious to toss it into your backpack and run for the bus.
Perhaps that's just the Puritan in me, though. Certainly, if you want a music player that does it all -- and with panache -- this is the one to buy.
SLIM AND TRIM
The Touch is based on the iPhone, of course, but it's an iPhone on a diet. At less than a third of an inch thick, it seems considerably slimmer than the iPhone, which is about half an inch. That thin profile makes the Touch feel a bit fragile, though we haven't yet given it any torture tests as we have with the iPhone and new Nano. Most significantly, though, the Touch has dropped the anchor that's dragged down the iPhone -- expensive AT&T contracts and that service's slow data network.
If you're familiar with an iPhone, getting around a Touch will be cinch. It's got the same welcome screen with icons for Safari, YouTube, Calendar, Contacts, Clock, Calculator, Music, Videos, Photos and Settings. The new addition is an icon that takes you directly to the iTunes music store.
MUSIC OPTIONS
Touch the music icon and you'll find so many ways to look through your music you'll lose count. Icons at the bottom switch from viewing your music by playlist, artist, song, album and more. But that's not all. You can scroll through a list of music by flicking it with your finger. You can use an alphabet list at the side to get more quickly to an album beginning with N, for instance.
Or you can turn the Touch sideways and navigate using Cover Flow, the virtual rolodex of cover art.
It's interesting, though, that there's no way to use the multitouch capability when you're looking through music. It's one finger only throughout.
Like the iPhone, the Touch has only two hardware buttons -- the on/off switch and the one button that takes you to the home page. So what do you do if you're looking at pictures and song comes on that's way too loud? Double-click the home page button and basic music controls (volume, track forward and back and pause) float above the screen you're looking at. Once you've turned the music down, you can dismiss the controls and go back to what you were doing. Oddly, though, the controls don't come up if you're in the Cover Flow view, meaning there's no way to change the volume in that mode.
You can plug any standard headphones into the Touch without having to use the ugly adapters the iPhone requires. The audio quality seems about equivalent to other iPods I've used.
LOVELY VIDEO
Video looks fabulous on the Touch. In fact, videos from iTunes seem to be made for this size screen. On my notebook, they looked pixelated, but on the Touch, they looked like high-def.
Getting onto Wi-Fi was simple, especially because I violate all the rules and run my network without any encryption. The Touch detected my network, asked if I wanted to get on and worked flawlessly from then on.
The Touch's integration with the iTunes Music Store is well thought-out. When you first synch with iTunes on your computer, it grabs your account information, meaning that downloading a song doesn't require you to enter any of your billing data again. Touch a song, click "Buy Now" and all you have to do is type in your password with the iPhone-like on-screen keyboard. Within a minute or two, you can be playing your new tune. And when you next synch, the song will get copied to your PC.
You can get around the music store in a few ways -- look at the latest featured albums, browse top ten lists for various genres or search for the name of the artist you're looking for. As you type, iTunes will suggest artists based on the letters you've entered so far.
Web surfing on the Touch seems identical to the experience on the iPhone, with the same full Safari browser. You can only surf if you've got a Wi-Fi connection, obviously, but that saves you the frustration of waiting for AT&T's Edge network to respond.
BUT SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
Despite all that praise, I don't think I'd recommend a Touch to someone who's primarily interested in a music player. It's too expensive, feels too fragile and just does too many extraneous things. But if you want to watch a lot of video on your handheld, could use a mini-browser on occasion and are willing to pay a premium for gorgous design, you'll love the Touch.
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But thats the idea of innovation! You create something that is necessarily beyond the current state of the market. See Clayton Christensens The Innovators Dilemma....
The only "innovation" was the touch screen, something which seems quite superfluous. The article writer was correct; when I'm using my mp3 player (a Creative Zen Vision:M 30 GB, still with the protective film on the screen) I'll turn it on and then toss it in my bag. I see no need to spend $400 for a pretty-looking, fragile player. If you want innovation, how about a compact mp3 player with a super-protective shell right out of the box? I want something that can be stepped on or tossed against the wall without suffering damage...
Very agreeable Harvey. Why spend $400 on something that has a flashy look but can break when it "falls" out of your hands. It may be just a way to show you have money... or debt in that matter.
$400, and possibly $300 is way too much to spend on a mp3 player, especially having the risk of being lost, stolen, or broken.
You, sir, are a fool for writing this piece. You're obviously not the type of person they are targeting with the iPod touch. Do you know how many people have wanted a device that can do all this, minus the 2-year contract with AT&T?
And by the way, it's not too fragile and easy to damage. I challenge you to scratch that screen, nevermind break it in pieces. One site (either here or CNet, I think) took the iPhone and tried to trash it with keys and drops to cement. It was in perfect condition and the iPod touch is made of the same thing.
Not the type of person they're targeting? Are you talking about those with too much money and inferiority complexes? As far as I'm concerned, the article was written by a "regular" person to other "regular" people, who would quite clearly prefer something less flashy.
By they way, keys aren't going to do that much damage just running them along the screen. They're too dull for that. try dropping it onto a brick patio in the winter when salt and ice are on the ground, and see how well the player fares.
In the end you either buy or don't.
The only person most people are concerned with when buying something is themselves.
If you have money overflowing your pockets then fine if you don't then fine but worry about what someone thinks about me buying one if that is what I want...laughable
Fortunately, here in Florida we don't have to worry about repeatedly throwing our music players onto snow and ice to see if they still work...just repeatedly throwing them in water to see if they still work.
In the end you either buy or don't.
The only person most people are concerned with when buying something is themselves.
If you have money overflowing your pockets then fine if you don't then fine but worry about what someone thinks about me buying one if that is what I want...laughable
Fortunately, here in Florida we don't have to worry about repeatedly throwing our music players onto snow and ice to see if they still work...just repeatedly throwing them in water to see if they still work.
The ipod touch is a new, innovative piece of technology with amazing features. The price for the 16gb may be a little on the higher side, but it's not just a music player with the wi-fi web browser and undeniably great resolution. If people who are not clumsy and actually know how to take care of their personal items by not dropping them into bricks on snowy salted roads want one, they should get one. And you do not need money to be flowing out of your pockets in order to purchase a product that will last for years, you only need a job and some ability to care of new technology above a first grade level.
I admid I like the trick navigation features sporting Iphone and IPod Touch. But...I'm most concerned with sound quality, battery life, and reliability. My Creative Vision M sounds great, looks great, and I never have to visit ITunes....ever. Plus I can pick from a wide range of formats for my music. And 16 gigs? I wonder how they came up with that!
P.S. My son HAD to have an ipod so I got him a Nano last year. Figured with the flash drive it would hold up for him, and 2 gigs was enough memory. He dropped it on the ground three months after receiving it. Game over. And there was a minor ding on the case so I was told the warranty was no good. I don't know if I believe the post earlier about how rugged the Ipod is.
Harvey, you seem to have a beef against anyone who defends an Apple product since you are so quick to insult and say they feel they are superior and have extra cash. I was saying the writer of this article is not the type of person Apple made this device for, so obviously he would think its too much for him. The target market are those who want an all-in-one gadget with a great new internet experience, while the writer seems to be the type that can survive on a nano or classic.
And the nano is not as durable as the new touch and iPhone. These are made out of more heavy duty elements such as a scratch resistant glass screen, so your son's unfortunate experience can't really be compared in this case.
What to blind people do? Virtual keyboards and keypads are of no use to blind folks. Same for the iPhone. Thanks Steve Jobs for screwing the blind folks just to market over priced techno-geek crap.
Dropping electronic equipment is not recommended. Digital cameras, so I've found, don't fare so well in that department either. :)
To Joep42 there are only 1.3 million legally blind people in the U.S. so I doubt that concern about the minor loss in revenue would be a major concern for Steve Jobs. I'm also pretty sure blind persons need help with the process of uploading songs to any previous model I-pod as well as operating it. (try operating your older I-pod with your eyes closed) To Harvey I am sure that there are expensive products that you still buy regardless of the price... In the end its weighing the price of the product with the amount of pleasure you receive in return. So to each is own, lets not judge anyone for buying something expensive because we are all guilty of it.