Topic: Touch (my Ipod)

Got myself an Ipod touch today. While I don't believe the Iphone is up to it's full potential yet (few details and worldwide release dates that suck),
I just wanted to let anyone interested know that this thing is awesome. AWESOME. It's sexy, tiny, robust, powerful, the sound is crystal clear, the interface is apple-ish,
I never could dream such an "mp3" (~cough) device. And yes it has the giroscope, web browser, and wi-fi magic in it.

I was already fascinated by the psp, quite a miniature gem as well, but Ipod touch? Get one. It's actually worth MORE than the price.

I am not easilly impressed, but right now, I am in shock.

I got myself an iphone recently, and I have to say I'm damn impressed. It's a lovely piece of hardware, and a fantastic example of convergence. Still don't have an unlimited data contract yet (coming soon...) but even without it I have a few wifi hotspots around (uni ftw!), and it's been absolutely amazing. It's very useful to pick up SMS, e-mail, MSN, anything anywhere, go on IRC, phone, whatever...and have all the extra functions:
VNC Viewer
NES Emulator
GPS
DDR
Terminal
Vibr...I mean, nothing...

I think Apple have really been shooting themselves in the foot by not opening it up, so yay for hackers! Mine is currently on Orange

This is of course, all not mentioning the fact that it's a great MP3 player, a good video player, and honestly actually a pleasure to use (Yay, the N95 has GPS and 3G...it's just far more cumbersome IMO)! I do like the look of the iPod Touch (though of course I have no reason for owning one since I have an iPhone :P), but certain things struck me:

1) The beauty of my iphone is I now no longer need both a phone and an iPod - no such benfit with the touch
2) They decided to arbitrarily take out certain functionality (why can you not edit calendar appointments on it?!)
3) Why dear God why did they switch back to shiny rather than brushed aluminium? My old iPod was just a scratch magnet for exactly that reason...
4) Why no hardware volume buttons? So useful! Although, mitigated somewhat by the double-tap for iPod control system

Overall...I am a big fan of the iPhone. Other than opening it up (RE software) I think Apple did as good a job as they did, and even controversial decisions (like the option to not include 3g for space & battery reasons) I think they made the right call on.

Anyone else picked up an iphone/iPod Touch?

Gotta agree with that :
>> honestly actually a pleasure to use

I am stunned by the actual THINKING in it : for example, to zoom a web page on mine, I place two fingers on the display, and "open up the angle"
to the desired zoom level. In all possible user interface concepts, this thing is the ULTIMATE masterpiece, a 4 years old kid can be comfortable using it within minutes.

This thing screams and perspires - pure genius -

Gotta disagree with you on a couple of points, therefore.

1) Iphone needs some gps and decent licensing before I consider buying. Touch makes up thanks to the youtube, safari, and other wi-fi feats : it's a powerful internet device in a nutshell,
in addition of the best ipod so far.

2 & 3, yep, same concerns here - thank God the screen is robust and splendid. Anybody said "contrast"? Sony's psp is now history.

4) Cause all those devices (mobile phones) that come with 10'000 buttons suck, BIG time. 2 Buttons : power, and main. The rest is on the screen and
it just FLOWS so naturally that I have yet to recover from the shock. Screw volume buttons, all I need is "power, main, touch", it impresses the old fart in me a lot less :
I feel I CAN learn easilly (I am, of course, extremely comfortable with computers, the example here is given as a "lambda user" perspective).

Now, one last praise, because the flaws I see are nothing more than what has already been said :
the battery time.

I have to find a way to empty the battery. 2 hours of full volume music yesterday, toying around like a kid, and it still was... at 90%!
So, my guess is it does have the potential to live 20 hours while fully used, and without charging. Comparing that to the 5 hours of the psp, which already was decent,

I am impressed, like I had not been in years.

Yeah, the lack of GPS disappointed me, it's true. But, it is a trade off as always - surely it would have been bigger with GPS included? And the licensing is pretty awful, but hey, that's the beauty of hackery: http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page - I want to see how they're going to get away with refusing point blank to ever give out unlock codes, seeing as they are obliged to at some point in many countries (including america).

I do know that devices with loads of buttons suck too! But, there's minimalism...and there's functionality. It's nice to slip my hand into my pocket and fiddle the volume that easily, but you do have to draw the line somewhere.

The battery...I disagree slightly. I know it's different for the iTouch, but I'm a bit of a heavy user. I pull out my phone all the time, to check e-mails etc, and if I'm away from my room for a night, it'd be nice to know that I was still going to be able to be in contact for the whole of the next day. I know it's a minor gripe, and my last couple of phones have been even worse, but it was nice when using an interim old nokia to know that I'd still be on 1/2 battery 5 days later...

BTW, you're right, the screen is a thing of beauty. I have seen higher res ones to be fair - my bro's Jasjar has a 640x480 screen...but it's single touch with only a stylus rather than multi-touch, and being allowed to use your fingers!