iPod Touch... the New Newton! Only this time its Gonna be GREAT!

bryans83 · Sep 5, 2007

Apple struggled with PDA Like devices when they released the Newton years ago, why? because it was a head of it's time, not because of bad software or anything. Now, today Steve Jobs introduced the iPod Touch, basically the iPhone without the phone part. in esence a Palm Pilot a.k.a PDA with MP3 and video capabilities.... It includes Safari internet browser and completely wi-fi, this is astonishingly awesome. I can't wait to get my hands on one of these things... what do you guys think?

see photos at http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/09/04/livecoverage/index.php

tacsniper · Sep 5, 2007

I just want to know how strong is the wifi... and if I encounter a locked/secure signal, will I still be able to use it...

Kash · Sep 5, 2007

If it's locked and you don't have the password, obviously you won't be able to use it. That's just a stupid question

jotdess · Sep 5, 2007

Sweet. I was expecting a price cut on the iPhone too, but that's a pretty big one. Can't wait to see all the new products in person.

bombat67 · Sep 5, 2007

love the iPod Touch

I'd been debating whether or not my next computer should be a desktop or a portable. But I figured the only things I need a portable for are web browsing and watching and listening to movies and music. So it didn't make sense for me to buy an expensive laptop that has less power than a desktop.

I nearly jumped at the iPhone, but didn't want to pay an extra $200 to get out of my current cell phone plan.

Now you've got essentially an iPhone, without the phone and camera. Which is fine because I've already got a phone with a camera.

So my next computer will be a desktop and my next iPod will be an iPod Touch.

JeffBookPro · Sep 5, 2007

Meh.... I would totally buy it if there was more space on it. My current ipod already has over 20gb of songs on it. The iPod touch is cool.... but I just wish it could hold more.

baggss · Sep 5, 2007

JeffBookPro said:
Meh.... I would totally buy it if there was more space on it. My current ipod already has over 20gb of songs on it. The iPod touch is cool.... but I just wish it could hold more.

I agree. If this thing came in an 80Gb model, I'd be there. 8 & 16Gb? Come on!

bombat67 · Sep 5, 2007

Right now I've got a 1gb 1st generation Nano. And it holds all the music i need to carry with me. So going to 8 or 16 gigs is a big improvement. However, I don't blame folks who're already carrying around 60 gigs worth of music to say no thanks.

Dimitri · Sep 5, 2007

I'm carrying around 60gb of music but still want a touch. It's nice having all the music there but typically I never listen to more than a few gigs of music over a month interval anyway.

I've been waiting for the iPod to offer true PDA capabilities, too.

RiDE · Sep 5, 2007

baggss said:
I agree. If this thing came in an 80Gb model, I'd be there. 8 & 16Gb? Come on!

Agreed... I was hoping for at least 60GB on the iPod touch...

A bigger concern of mine is that I don't see a "Mail" icon ( am I missing Something here???) Why no "Stocks" or "Weather" or "Maps" or "Notes"????

And will it "Sync" over the web??? Will it remotely control my iTunes if on the same network???

JonEthan · Sep 5, 2007

I'm with dimitri, although I have about 1/10th the music he has, so I'd be able to keep my entire library with me. I wanted A. video capabilities and B. reliability. The touch has both (by reliability I'm talking about flash-based. I've had half my previous iPods die from HDD failure) plus a lot of extras. My choices would be a new nano or a touch, since they now meet both my criteria. As it stands, the touch has those PDA abilities that seal the deal, while the nano looks like a diet is in order.

Dimitri · Sep 5, 2007

RIDE said:
A bigger concern of mine is that I don't see a "Mail" icon ( am I missing Something here???) Why no "Stocks" or "Weather" or "Maps" or "Notes"????

And will it "Sync" over the web??? Will it remotely control my iTunes if on the same network???

I doubt it would sync over wifi if the iphone doesn't. And by sync I'm talking about music, videos, photos, contacts, calendar, etc. from iTunes.

As for email and those other "widgets", I would bet those will be available later on.

nl74 · Sep 6, 2007

I am so disappointed. This is everything I was hoping for except that it does not have enough capacity to replace my 80gb pod.

I don't have 60gigs of music or anything but for me one of the benefits of my current pod is that I can fit everything on it, all my music and pretty much as many films or TV shows as I would ever want. If I bought the touch I'd have to trim my music down to just my favourite tracks from each album, maybe reduce the bit rate and even then that would leave under 10gb for video which is not going to be enough for me.

This is a real shame and I think Apple have lost the plot here and left an opening for Sony or MS to exploit. Mind you Sony seem obsessed with flash memory too so they probably won't. I'm guessing this has more to do with battery life than the reliability of flash over hard drives.

Dimitri · Sep 6, 2007

nl74 said:
This is a real shame and I think Apple have lost the plot here and left an opening for Sony or MS to exploit. Mind you Sony seem obsessed with flash memory too so they probably won't. I'm guessing this has more to do with battery life than the reliability of flash over hard drives.

Flash based players have not yet reached a capacity to satisfy the desires of people like you. Stick with HDD players if you want your entire library on the device.

And don't count on Sony idiots to exploit anything. MS, maybe.

But why is it the battery life on the HDD iPods is considerably more than the flash iPods? Smaller size, smaller batteries. It really has more to do with size and reliability than battery life.

nl74 · Sep 6, 2007

I know I misread the battery specs I missed the paltry 5hours and only saw the higher music based figure.

I still can't get away from the thinking that - Ipod classic with emphasis on music 160gb .....ipod touch with emphasis on video 16gb... What were they thinking?

Dimitri · Sep 6, 2007

nl74 said:
I know I misread the battery specs I missed the paltry 5hours and only saw the higher music based figure.

I still can't get away from the thinking that - Ipod classic with emphasis on music 160gb .....ipod touch with emphasis on video 16gb... What were they thinking?

Is that an actual marketing line? I still think ipod touch is more for on-the-go-media+PDA+wifi-device than emphasis on video.

Even so, who actually needs their whole video library on a portable media player? I would wager a LOT less people than how many need their entire MUSIC library on a media player.

IAmBen · Sep 6, 2007

I was really hoping that the new iPod would be a PDA/music/video type of device, like the iPhone without cell phone capabilites.

Suffice it to say, I'm very excited and will be there the day it's released to get one. Finally a PDA streamlined for OSX!

nl74 · Sep 6, 2007

Dimitri said:
Is that an actual marketing line? QUOTE]

No, maybe I should apply for a job at Sony! They are clearly clueless and could use the help.

It looks like they have not pitched it as an all in one solution, just not what I was hoping for. Most of the people I know had the same reaction as me which was "wow!.....hold on only 8 or 16gb that's not enough"

Despite flash memory prices dropping it is not at the stage yet where it is a viable alternative to a HDD. They could easily have put that 160gb in the touch and moved to flash based either next year or the year after when the prices have dropped further still.

Assuming that you do have some music on there I think you would struggle to fit a complete TV series on the touch and you woould not have much change left if you put the Lord of ther rings trilogy (full versions) on there. A micro sd (or similar) slot would have helped.

Dimitri · Sep 6, 2007

That's because people are stuck on this idea that flagship model = highest specs on everything. Naturally, making the flagship flash-based will initiate many reactions like that (Der, only 8gb? but the picture to the left with cheaper price is 160gb? Doesn't left to right go smaller to bigger? No comprendo).

Why didn't they put a HDD in the iPhone? Well the iPod touch getting a HDD would increase its size and weight, and Mr. Jobs' obsession with thinness would've gone unfulfilled. Perhaps they are developing a drive-based one as we speak since it was easier to build off the iphone design to get this touch ipod out 2 months later.

Clausen77 · Sep 6, 2007

I think ipod touch is a big step forward from apple, but there's still some features missing that would make sense and that would let it seriosly compete with today PDA's... that would be a GPS for example, to be able to use it as a navigation system when driving.
Also, more capacity would be great if you seriously plan it for watching movies (apart that the movie functionality of itunes isn't the best).
I think this features will eventually come in the future, so until then I guess I'm fine with my 5G 30GB white ipod

P.S.: why did apple completely drop the white at ipods? I think this new grey-ish one is just not as pretty. Surprises me, cause the complete ipod story started in white... well, I guess this is called evolution :Smirk: