New iPods... thoughts?

[DaMadFiddler]

Well, it seems nobody has started this conversation yet (I'm looking at you, Darc).

So, everyone: what are your thoughts?

The new Touch is really tempting, but I'd be a lot more likely to pull the trigger if they'd either lowered the price $100 or bumped the top-end to 128GB. It is a really compelling device (it's virtually identical to the iPhone 4 in terms of features, minus the cellular component of course), especially given the lack of iPhone availability on anything but AT&T, but I think I'll stick with my first-generation Touch for one more product cycle.

If I were a more casual user, the new Nano actually seems like it would be a good choice. It takes the best basic elements of the Touch, strips out the "computer-y" stuff that more casual users wouldn't care about, and stuffs it into basically the form factor of the clip-on Shuffle. Seems like a good device particularly for travel and for running/working out, and (IMO) kind of makes the Shuffle obsolete. Of course, the Shuffle has been kind of obsolete for a while, anyway... the only reason it'd have for soldiering on is if it were dirt-cheap.

[DaMadFiddler]

For those who didn't see the announcement:

The traditional scroll-wheel-driven, hard-drive-powered iPod has finally been phased out, and the Shuffle, Nano, and Touch have all been significantly revamped.

The Shuffle is basically an even smaller version of the 2nd generation version, the Nano lost its low-res camera and turned into a hybrid of the Shuffle and the Touch, and the new iPod Touch is basically the iPhone 4 without the cellular component or the GPS. It has the high-res camera and the front-facing webcam, the bottom-mounted mic, and everything else, though it still maintains the Touch's curved backplate.

iTunes was updated to iTunes 10, which focuses on simplifying the list view and integrating social networking into everything (too complicated to explain in this brief blurb).

The AppleTV was redesigned with no internal storage to speak of, a lower price, and a complete refocus on streaming media--both iTunes Store rentals, and streaming from your computer/iPad.

[bizzle]

960x720 stills w00t w00t. What is this, 1998? They always fuck it up one way or another.

Also, Apple needs to quit it with the inconsistent interface. Not only is iTunes 10 hideous, it's nothing like the rest of the OS.

[DaMadFiddler]

960x720 stills w00t w00t. What is this, 1998? They always fuck it up one way or another.

Wait, really? I must have missed that part. I thought that was just the video resolution; I thought stills were the same as the iPhone 4.

[Eviltaco64X]

The new Nano and Touch are pretty sexy, I must admit. I'm guessing the Nano runs a limited version of iphone os?

[DaMadFiddler]

The new Nano and Touch are pretty sexy, I must admit. I'm guessing the Nano runs a limited version of iphone os?

It doesn't appear to have any way to add applications, and it doesn't have a lot of the Touch's features (speaker, camera, mic, tilt sensor--you use a two-finger gesture to rotate the screen orientation, Internet functionality, etc.) It does use the same basic interface, though.

EDIT: According to Apple, the Nano is "not running iOS," though they don't clarify what the difference is. So it may be a fork, or it may be an entirely different codebase with a similar interface (which seems kind of like a waste of effort).

Also, a couple disappointing things about the new Nano: it's pretty clearly being lined up to eventually replace the Shuffle as the "easy sports model." It obviously doesn't have a video camera any more (not that the one in the old Nano was very good), but it also doesn't have video playback any more. At all.

[bizzle]

960x720 stills w00t w00t. What is this, 1998? They always fuck it up one way or another.

Wait, really? I must have missed that part. I thought that was just the video resolution; I thought stills were the same as the iPhone 4.

http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/specs.html

"Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; still photos (960 x 720) with back camera"

[DanteJay]

The new Touch is really tempting, but I'd be a lot more likely to pull the trigger if they'd either lowered the price $100 or bumped the top-end to 128GB.

What is the largest memory size that will be available?

[emptythought]

Why don't the idiots support Ogg Vorbis?

[Jeeba Jabba]

I have an iPhone 3G and a 120 GB iPod Classic.

See no point in buying anything like this. Especially since I'll never have 120GB of music (I've been at about 40 GB for the past couple years)

[DaMadFiddler]

960x720 stills w00t w00t. What is this, 1998? They always fuck it up one way or another.

Wait, really? I must have missed that part. I thought that was just the video resolution; I thought stills were the same as the iPhone 4.

http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/specs.html

"Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; still photos (960 x 720) with back camera"

Yeah, I looked that up after I saw the above. Bugger. I suppose that also means it probably doesn't have the fancy auto-focus feature of the the 3GS and 4G.

The new Touch is really tempting, but I'd be a lot more likely to pull the trigger if they'd either lowered the price $100 or bumped the top-end to 128GB.

What is the largest memory size that will be available?

Still 8GB at $229, 32GB at $299, and the somewhat ridiculous 64GB at $399. Which would be okay storage-wise if it were just music, but you start throwing videos and apps in there, and it disappears pretty quickly. And $400 for 64 gigs isn't exactly a bargain.

[DanteJay]

and the somewhat ridiculous 64GB at $399.

[pixel]

I wish I still had my old iPod Video, but I love my iPod Touch. If I could, I would get the new Touch, but I can't justify it. I am a little sentimental about the discontinuation of the beloved iPod Classic. I miss the days of having 80 gb of music domination in my pocket.

[bizzle]

Was the Classic really discontinued or just not updated? I didn't watch the announcements but I haven't read anything supporting that claim. The only thing I've heard was whining that it wasn't updated with X feature. It wouldn't be the Classic if it were any different.

[DaMadFiddler]

Was the Classic really discontinued or just not updated? I didn't watch the announcements but I haven't read anything supporting that claim. The only thing I've heard was whining that it wasn't updated with X feature. It wouldn't be the Classic if it were any different.

Well, it wasn't mentioned at all, despite Jobs' repeated references to the new unveilings as "the complete iPod line." It still appears to be available at the online store (the same model that's been available for the last year or so), but I wouldn't be surprised if it randomly disappeared from there sometime in the near future.

On an unrelated note: am I the only person who saw the new Nano and thought "it's too bad there's nowhere to attach a wristband, because that would make a good watch"?

[Lartrak]

The Nano looks like it'd be a good watch, but it's actually too big for that in my opinion.

On that note... I find it interesting that the older generation iPods have higher storage since they phased out the HDDs.

I've seen the iTouch and iPhones and what not. They're pretty spiffy. But, eh.

[|darc|]

960x720 stills w00t w00t. What is this, 1998? They always fuck it up one way or another.

Wait, really? I must have missed that part. I thought that was just the video resolution; I thought stills were the same as the iPhone 4.

The camera in the iPhone 4 is too big to fit into the iPod touch's case, so it got left out.

On that note... I find it interesting that the older generation iPods have higher storage since they phased out the HDDs.

They haven't phased out HDDs... the iPod classic line still has them.

[pixel]

On an unrelated note: am I the only person who saw the new Nano and thought "it's too bad there's nowhere to attach a wristband, because that would make a good watch"?

Link.

[DaMadFiddler]

I use my first-generation Touch on a daily basis, and I love it... though recent firmware updates have started making it feel a bit sluggish at times, and it's going to get left out in the cold once the majority of developers start making their software iOS4 native. I've also noticed that ever since 3.x, it sometimes doesn't index my music library correctly.

This past summer, as chronicled in an earlier thread, I moved carriers from my (now-defunct) MVNO to Verizon, and thus got a new smartphone. I initially tried to get the then-new Droid Incredible, since I no longer have a dedicated digital camera. However, due to scheduling needs (I was going on a road trip, for which the camera, GPS, and mobile web abilities would all be essential) and extreme shipping delays on Verizon's part, I ended up switching my order to a Pre Plus, because it (A) cost me a net of -$50 and (B) would get to me in time for the road trip, whereas the Droid would not.

However, the camera is mediocre at best (further hindered by the barebones camera software), and I still find myself using the iPod rather than the phone for all my PDA and media functions. Since there is no iPhone on my carrier, and since it (at least, at first) appeared that the new Touch really did have everything that's in the iPhone except for the phone itself, the next best alternative seemed to be to use my phone just as a straight phone, and maintain a Touch as my pocket data device. My phone does have free wifi tethering, after all.

To that end, I was very, very tempted by the new Touch... until I learned two things:

1. as pointed out above, the Touch's camera is only 960x720, even for stills, with a fixed focus (rather than auto-focus) lens. I'd gladly have the device be slightly thicker in exchange for containing something more akin to the iPhone 4 or Droid Incredible camera. I haven't had a dedicated digital camera for some time (partly in anticipation of the Incredible, which--as stated--I didn't end up getting), and I miss having photos that actually look decent as 8x10 prints. From what I hear the (720p) video capture is pretty decent, but I'd take stills far more often than video.

2. It's not an iPhone 4; it's a gimped iPhone 4. As revealed in an iFixit teardown, the new Touch still only has 256MB RAM, as opposed to the iPhone 4's 512MB. Considering the "luxury" pricing of the Touch already (seriously, $400 for 64GB?), it's annoying that they'd gimp it and leave the iPhone their only uninhibited device when it's carrier-exclusive. Also, according to contrast and viewing-angle tests, it has an inferior screen to the iPhone 4.

If they'd just taken the iPhone 4 and stripped out the cellular unit, they'd have had me. But since the camera is worse than what's in the phone I already have, and it's not up to the iPhone 4's full tech specs, the upgrade just isn't as much of a draw. Especially considering the fact that it would've been a compromise already--I was really hoping they were going to push out a 128GB model.

If I didn't already have my Touch, I'd probably be all over it. But absent a decent camera, none of the added features are compelling enough to justify shelling out that kind of money. What I have is plenty good enough; it'll do fine until either the iPhone comes to Verizon or a hardware revision addresses these issues. I'm still bummed about not having a decent camera (the Pre Plus only has a 3MP fixed-focus camera with practically no user-adjustable parameters), but that's not the end of the world.

I had decided some time ago that my previous digicam was going to be my last dedicated (i.e. standalone) digital camera, since cell cameras are getting decent enough, and the setback to a "real" camera is that it doesn't do you any good if you don't have it with you, and I already have too much "pocket junk." That's why I'd originally tried to choose my phone based in part on the quality of its camera... but bad timing got in my way. What I already have will just have to do for now.

[|darc|]

Is all this fucking around really worth staying away from AT&T?

It really seems like you would be saving money and so much effort if you just gave up your AT&T vendetta and got a damn iPhone 4.