What I Like About my iPod Touch (and things that I don't)

I got my iPod Touch last Friday and I must say that I like it! Yes, I saw the iPhone and I was able to play with it but the thought of doing a PSP on it makes me a bit iffy about buying one at this point in time. As I have mentioned in a local iPod-centric forum -- the iPod Touch is not a crippled iPhone, the iPhone is a crippled cellphone. The comparison between the iPod Touch and the iPhone is inevitable because apart from some minor differences, they share a very similar form factor.

Now back to the iPod Touch. I like its interface. Its Touch interface really works for a device like this and using it with the said interface is like being transported in the future where buttons and keyboards are rendered obsolete. It is a very good digital audio player. I'm no audiophile but I'm really happy with the sound it gives me. As a video player, it works very well too.

And the thing that makes the iPod Touch shine is its Mobile Safari. I've always wanted to buy a mobile internet device (MID) and I was tempted to get a Nokia N770. Its a good thing I waited for this. Casual surfing on the 'net is a real experience with the iPod Touch. It renders the website I often visit real well and its zooming capabilities makes reading text an easy affair. At its present version, it does not display flash websites really well but then again, if I want to play around with Flash, I'll just whip out my MacBook and surf using a full-blown browser.

Synchronizing data between my MacBook and the iPod Touch is fast and easy. Some users complain that data transfer is not fast enough but I find it just right considering that I do not transfer too much data between my MacBook and iPod Touch that frequently.

Now that I'm done praising the iPod Touch, here's what I *don't* like about it. I'm almost ready to believe an article that I've read somewhere saying that the OS of the iPod Touch (and the iPhone for that matter) was rushed. I've discovered some inconsistencies with it and although they rarely appear, they are annoying when they do. Its OS is basically a mobile version of OS X. Why wouldn't Apple release a proper SDK to the developer community so that proper applications and add-ons can be written to it? I'm sure hacks will be written for it but wouldn't it be better if real applications are released specifically for this platform? Oh and one more thing... the other iPods (Classic and Nano) have games built in to them... why are there no games for the Touch? Its interface is ideal for casual games like Bejeweled and TextTwist. Oh and one last thing. Why did Apple not include a hardware button for changing the volume? Changing the volume while listening to the iPod Touch is a but kludgy.

All in all, despite of the things I don't like about it, I still am convinced that this is one of the most revolutionary product that Apple has released to date. Yes, the iPhone was released earlier but I think between the iPhone and the iPod Touch, the iPod Touch is the better device... for now.


(Doing a PSP -- keeping the device one version below the current firmware to prevent it from being "bricked")

Blogged with Flock