Edit text files on iPod Touch

I'd like an iPod Touch but I'd also like to be able to write text files (.rtf ideally but .txt would be okay). I spoke to my local Apple reseller who said there's no such application with it; are there any third party applications that would work? I read iPhone apps work on the Touch - is that right?

Not yet, no.

The iPod touch has not yet been enabled for 'jailbreak', so you can't run any 3rd party applications on it.

You could of course use one of the many web-based text editors out there if you have a local wifi connection.

Or as a workaround add text to your address book in the form of new bogus contacts.

Thanks for your reply. Once jailbreak is enabled are there any plans for such an application (I would need it standalone rather than web-based).

With regards to the suggestion you made to workaround . . . do you know the character limit for a contact? Is there a 'notes' section anywhere?

Well that was quick:
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/08/breaking-ipod-touch-root-read-access-achieved/

But it'll take a while for it to be useful.

I know this isn't exactly on topic.
However I'd like to pass on this online app to you iPhone owners. for editing of spreadsheets. It got a lot of praise on a podcast I heard a few days ago

http://www.editgrid.com/

Sorry for being stupid but is it a definite thing that the touch will be 'unlocked' for third party applications? Why have they done this in the first place? Did Apple never intend iPod Touch / iPhone to run third party apps or is the jailbreak there for people who wants to do these things *before* Apple let them?

By the way, I found this 'hack'.

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2007092413051689

Can anyone with a Touch tell me what the limit is for the notes field? If it's over a thousand or so that hack will work fine for me.