Comparing Apples to iPods

OK, I still haven't been able to let this whole iPod touch $20 app thing go. I keep seeing comments on various gadget blogs and the Apple support forum basically telling non-app iPod touch owners to stop their whining, while providing analogies in an attempt to prove that the owners are just plain stupid. Like this analogy, for example:

If you bought a Mac without iWork on it, and then a couple of months later, Apple released an update to iWork and decided to bundle it with new Macs, would you also expect to get iWork for free, even though you didn't have it in the first place?

This analogy, and others that have been offered, aren't even close to the iPod touch situation. A better analogy would be this:

You bought a Mac without iWork on it. iWork exists and will run on your Mac. However, Apple has also put support in place to block you from installing and running this very useful app or anything similar to it without voiding your warranty, in an effort to drive users that really want iWork to buy a more lucrative Mac that has features you don't need, along with additional costs you don't want. A short while later, Apple realizes this isn't working, and changes its strategy. (Or maybe this was the plan all along, to make it seem like they were doing a huge favor to the Mac community, meanwhile extorting additional money from current owners.) With a grand announcement, Apple now begins shipping your exact same model of Mac with iWork installed, for no extra cost. But if you want iWork now, you have to pay for it.

I know that ultimately this is my fault for settling for a device that didn't have all of the features i wanted, but wouldn't you feel that you were deliberately duped by Apple, a victim of its marketing game-playing? I wouldn't want a friend to treat me this way, why would I want to continue to patronize a company that does?

Lesson Learned with the iPod Touch

So, I ranted here about how I wasn't going to get an iPod touch because Apple deliberately left off some key applications that are available on the iPhone. My desire for a new, cool gadget (plus a decent price at Amazon.com) got the better of me, and the day before Christmas, the UPS guy tossed a box containing my new 16GB toy at my front door. I figured I could live without the Mail application because using the "full-featured" Safari browser would allow me to get at my e-mail using AOL's web client. Or so I thought. Had I done a little bit of research, I would have learned that the AOL mail web client doesn't actually work on the touch. So even though the tiny web browser is pretty cool (I love the way it can rotate and re-size itself), this device turned out to be even less useful than I'd hoped. I have been enjoying the multimedia features, though, listening to music and podcasts, and watching video podcasts and movies that I ripped from DVDs or downloaded from Google Video. And I loaded some contact information in it (just to play around with the keyboard, really), along with pictures of some of my trips. But it's not much more than I was already able to do with the Dell Axim that I bought in 2005.

3 weeks later, I'm on Engadget.com reading up on Steve Job's keynote address at MacWorld. There's all this talk about new features for the iPhone. I start getting excited when I see the touch mentioned. "What can we do for the touch? We decided to add five apps to the touch. Mail, maps, stocks, notes, and weather!" All right!!! Finally, this thing is looking useful again. And then I read his next statements: "Starting today we're going to build it into every new iPod touch, for existing iPod touch users it's going to be just a $20 upgrade." What??? You've got to be kidding me! I just spent a small fortune on this thing in late December, and you're telling me that 3 weeks later, I have to shell out another $20 just to get the device that I really wanted, that Apple should have been selling from the start, and that new buyers will get for no extra charge? What a crock!!!

I know, I've read all the discussions about how the early adopters should stop whining because they bought the touch knowing that there were no expectations that there would ever be new features; how Apple has to charge something for the upgrade because of some silly accounting rules (there's a long discussion here on Engadget about the possible legal reasons behind why Apple may have done this); how $20 is really not a lot of money to pay for these additional apps.

While I understand all that, I still can't help but feel badly about this. I'm partly mad at myself - I got caught up in the hype, bought something that wasn't quite what I wanted, and I'm now being extorted in order to get it to where I want it to be. However, I had also hoped that Apple would do the right thing. I should have known better - after all, they are a for-profit company, so of course they are going to do what they can to make a buck. At some point I'll probably get it over with and pay for the upgrade and be done with it. But I know I won't be making the same mistake again with the purchase of future Apple products. If I ever buy from them at all, it will be a product that has all of the features I want, and I will be patient and wait until after the product has been out for a while and the dust has been allowed to settle.

I won't be touching the iPod touch!

From the first day I saw it, I thought that the iPhone was a pretty cool device. Problem is, as much as I love all it does, I really don't need the phone, nor the EDGE data transfer capability. I'd be happy to simply use it as a video iPod, and to use wifi to access the web and my e-mail. I kept saying, "Can't they just build an iPhone without the phone?"

Well, that's exactly what the recent rumors had been for the next generation iPod - music, video, and wifi without the phone. I was so looking forward to today's announcement, hoping that they'd be offering something closer to my dream gadget. You can imagine my disappointment when I started hearing the details of the new iPod touch. My biggest frustration: no e-mail application! Why the heck not? What were they thinking? They already have an e-mail application that works on the platform, it's not like they'd have to write something new.

I am so disappointed, I have even started fantasizing about picking up a 4GB iPhone from the clearance sale and using one of those hacks to activate it without signing up for the AT&T service. Seems like a waste of money, though. Plus, I'll probably outgrow the 4GB pretty quickly.

Here's hoping that Apple comes to its senses and makes the iPhone's mail application available on the iPod touch.

A New Toy

I do love electronic gadgets! It's a struggle resisting the urge to own one of each. However, my recent trip to San Diego got me too close to some of the latest GPS technology - NeverLost was in our Hertz rental car. Pretty cool stuff! I had purchased a small handheld Garmin GPS a few years back, but it contained only very basic maps, and was really more useful for hiking than driving. I knew after our first use of NeverLost that I was going to have to get an upgraded model for myself. It made driving in a strange town more fun than stressful. At times it almost seemed like there was an additional person in the car helping us along.

After a little research, I decided on a Garmin nuvi 350. Reviews seemed to be pretty favorable, and I especially liked that:

• it is TTS (Text to Speech) capable, so it can actually tell you the name of the road onto which it wants you to turn;
  
• it has a built-in MP3 player (Normally I hate when they cram too much stuff into one device (I still don't get camera phones), but since I like to listen to podcasts on long drives, I thought this would come in handy).
  

My nuvi arrived yesterday afternoon, and I just had to take it out on its maiden drive (a quick trip to my sister's house and back). Overall, it seems to work very well. The volume seems reasonable, the voice is mostly understandable. It did make a few strange route choices, but it still got me to where I wanted to go, and I learned a couple of new roads along the way. I think I'll keep it!