Apple and the iPod Touch


There is no competition
So now that the fuss has died down a bit, let's talk about Apple.

I'll be buying a new iPod Touch to replace my Palm TX, long since discontinued and mostly abandoned by Palm. I'm not fond of smartphones. I think the cell phone carriers overcharge for the data plans. I don't like that you can't turn off the "phone" part. In my area and at least for a hundred miles in any direction, cell phone coverage is "lousy" to "occasionally good." Not great, but good, barely over acceptable..

In short, I think there is a market for the PDA niche, and Apple is the only major manufacturer providing a product.

I want something I can take notes with at meetings.

I want voice recordings.

I want video recordings.

And of course I want a calendar, address book, and tasks.

I want something that links to my Macintosh computers, cloud or no.

Right now the iOS does not support a calendar with integrated tasks (bad Apple! Bad!). The address book is very limited with almost no search outside the name, nickname, and company name. The address book doesn't show a contact's family/associates or the maiden name. Those are flaws, no doubt about it.

The camera is not equal to the iPhone camera and certainly can't match the features of a high end digital camera.

But for the money, it's a great piece of work.

And here is the thing.

No other company offers anything remotely close.

No it doesn't have everything I want. Engineering is a matter of tradeoffs after all.

I would love to see something with those liquid lens camera chips. but they haven't hit the market yet.

I would love to see an integrated projector, but those are still in the early stages too.

I would love to have one of those chips that scanned for common pollutants and chemicals, those haven't hit the market yet either.

What Apple does have is a product that is shipping.

Anything else at this point would have added to the size, weight, and most importantly the price,

While we're at it, I want the camera to scan in infrared. I want to scan for changing barometric pressure and humidity. I'd even like something that scanned for magnetic fields.

As it is, I have to settle for things like augmented reality, FaceTime, and top notch dictation software. These things are available now.

I'm willing to take the tradeoffs that Apple made. I know that it's going to get better and better. Maybe in a couple of years, the competition will offer something else. Then I'll look again.

The cell carriers don't like something that doesn't use their networks, that's why they've discouraged other smartphone manufacturers from developing something like the iPod Touch. And while no one is talking about it much, an iPod Touch may be Apple's attempt to do an end run around the carriers.

Do you know what's keeping me from ordering one right now?

I haven't seen a case that I like.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Sun - September 5, 2010 at 01:45 PM  Tag


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