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iPod touch: what's missing!
09/06/07
iPod touch: what's missing!
So that new iPod touch that Apple presented today is pretty nifty, isn't it? And Steve's keynote was pretty entertaining too.
Yeah well... there's quite a few missing features (no it's not the Beatles) that itch me... even before I lay down the $399 I will no doubt end up spending on this (nonetheless) beautiful peace of art. And Especially:
Podcasts: yes, so it has WiFi and a browser and an online music store... but what about podcasts? You subscribe to podcast in order to get new episodes when they become available. The least I'd expect from a WiFi enabled portable podcast player is to actually get the episodes of the podcasts I'm subscribed too. Not a single word about that...
...well maybe it is actually there. Maybe Steve just didn't mention it because they haven't found a way to gently rip you off with it, as they're getting ready to do with their iPhone ringtone business! Think about it: you already bought a full length song (at a fairly high price). Now Apple lets you clip out 10 seconds of that song to use as a ring tone. All you have to do is pay another $.99 for those 10 seconds you already have on your iPone! Why exactly did people applause to that?
Email: can you name one single good reason why this thing doesn't include a POP3/IMAP mail client? Does Apple's partnership with Google go so far they're going to encourage us to use Gmail instead?
And by the way, if Google rules, where's the Google maps application?
Edit: The new $20 iPod Touch upgrade finally addresses that!
Games: Steve proudly showed off the games on the new iPod nano. What about the iPod touch? Can I play all the games I purchased for my iPod "classic" on my soon to be iPod touch? Odds look pretty bad...
PDA features: This device now clearly has the capabilities of a top of the line PDA. It just lacks some software to do it right. Todo lists, anyone? Can you at least edit your calendar and contacts on the go? You couldn't do it with the previous iPods and Steve didn't mention it. It would be odd not to be able to do it, but then again, the software on this one is so trimmed down compared to the iPhone that I'm a little scared...
Edit: you can now edit calendar and contents in version 1.1.2.
Now of course, what I should really do is get an iPhone... Especially at the new $399 price! Yeah... if only they were available in Europe... (fingers crossed for Apple Expo Paris this September).
Camera: Actually, now the iPhone is just $100 more than the iPod, does it really make sense not to have a camera built into the high-end iPod? ... well, that would make it a killer blogger tool for sure. And again, the iPhone is *not* available everywhere, not even in certain regions of the US where there is no AT&T coverage...
32 comments
THANK YOU FOR POINTING THOSE FEATURE OUT!! I was REALLY looking foward to the camera on the iPod.. I mean, come on?? You got a Wi-Fi iPod here, that is a mock up with its brother, the iPhone, the least you can do is ATLEAST try to make it look like the iPhone.. Its got Wi-Fi.. Why no email feature?? Why no Google Maps?? Well geez.. I dont know either.. As for games.. I dont really think the new iPod is really fit to be a game player.. Dont get me wrong, having games is gonna be pretty fun, just the lack of controllers and how your gonna play is gonna be weird.. Podcasts... Very neat feature indeed.. Why no implentation in the new iPod?? Apple really needs to fix up the flaws on the iPod, if they do, they'll for sure will get some customer.. =] (ME! =D) 
I'll just surf to my ISP and use the online email server. No biggie. 
What would be the interest for Apple in short term to have 2 exact similar products (except the phone function) ?I understand the interest for the consumer, but for now there in no interest for Apple.
That's simply why some functions are missing,
The phone function alone is enough to justify the $100 price difference. $100 is less than you would pay for a separate phone with synchronized address book, efficient messaging, the cool visual voicemail and EDGE webbrowsing on a large screen.There is no good reason to me for not putting all the non GSM/EDGE related features into the iPod touch, which again, only costs a little less.
Besides that, the iPhone is not available everywhere, so it makes sense to have a device with everything but the cellular capabilities.
Finally, I do believe Apple is in the business of *not* pissing off their customers :>
yeah, but an iPhone is not a phone. when i use a phone, i want a phone. not some flat bar iPod/PDA thingie Kevin, "you want a phone". You mean something with a rotating dial? :>> 
Francois, you say there is only a $100 difference in price between the iPhone and the iPod touch.I assume you know something about how mobile phones and their costings work.
Do try to remember that the price you are quoting for the iphone includes a 24 month contract, where as the iPod touch doesn't
I'm typing this on a ipod
LOL! This is a nice article. But, at one point you ask why people applaud. Because they are stock holders. More money for them is a win win situation. 
Ye im typing this onAN
iPod
TOUCH!!!!!
be jealous they rule
They'd getting widgets soon fee the pods that u can just download to it YEEEREEeEE
does the wi-fi on the ipod touch cost anything ? 
nope !!!!!!! Tht Wi fi is Freeeee hahahahahahh i hope your jelious cause the ipod touch is amazing and you all prob dont have one !!!! hahahahahah
yeah I'm on a IPOd touch 2 but I can't figure out how to watch youtube bids as a mater of fact any vids. Any 1have Any advice because I'm confused 
Oh yeah, the iPod Touch rocks! ;) Loving mine. Pity about the missing features, but that's relatively simple to fix......You can download most of the popular iphone apps straight to your ipod touch:
* notes
* weather
* google maps
* stocks
Simply jailbreak your ipod touch (surf to www.jailbreakme.com from within safari).
Then open installer and add "http://repo.us.to" to the sources.
Then you can download all these apps right from your ipod touch (assuming you're in a wifi hotspot). Really easy to do - I did mine yesterday.
you can jailbreak your ipod touch, except it will void your warranty. i want to do it so i can get the extra apps but i'll be highly pissed off if i turn around and it breaks 2 months later with no warranty.apple needs to get up on those missing apps though.
How does apple konw if u've 'jail breaked''ur pod? y do they care any way?
Tiani, that's my question, too. Why would they care if you've jailbroken your iPod touch? 
they only care about third party apps because as soon as people learn to use them, theyll startlosing control. Its they same story with the pap, homebrew became big and Sony spent moreoney trying to stop the homebrew instead of developing new features. I'll just say hold off on jailbreaking for a while and give apple a chance before over riding their efforts to create an even more awesome pocket electronic. I'm also typing this on an iPod touch, and it was worth every penny and a huge upgrade from my last pocket gadget, the somy psp. Great job apple!
Hi - You don't need to Jailbreak your iPod Touch. Just download version 1.1.2 from Apple, and it allows you to edit your addresses and calendar on the iPod - not many people seem to know that yet. 
yeah I'm typing this on an iPod touch. ( got it for hanukah)
I love it
hut I do think that apple should have put more applications on the Ipod touch
Are you able to download webaps from the apple website?
also where did you get the upgrades ( mine came with the version 1.1.2 but I'd like to know for future refrences )
I hope that apple does not do what Sony did by making it were you have to by a camera separate that only works that system. I just hope that apple works It all out-................•••••••
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