9.18.2007

iPod Touch Woes

Ok, I have had the touch for a few days now and it's 'magic' has worn off.  This is a product that was definitely rushed to market as there are some issues; such as:

  • Omission of physical volume up/down buttons; this is on-screen when playing music in portrait mode, but turning the unit on its side (to coverflow mode) eliminates the volume control- meaning I need to turn the iPod touch vertical, change the volume, and then return to horizontal position if want to listen and watch coverflow (as we all know the iPod/iTunes 'Sound Check' does NOTHING!)
  • WiFi does some strange things if left on and the unit screen is turned off- it appears to aggressively search for sites- draining the battery in about 3 hours (with screen off!)
  • Some messages (such as the failed unlock screen) still say 'Your iPhone is locked' instead of 'Your iPod is locked'- indication a rush to market and lack of end-user testing before release.
  • Image quality; the blacks are washed- like a cheap LCD TV- and this affects video and image viewing. Here are a few comparison shots:

ipod_touch_comare2 ipod_touch_comare1

(iPod Touch screen above, original JPG below)
Note: this is not to show image detail as the screen is only 640x480 (and iTunes does an image resize before loading it on the iPod) but is to show the issues with darker color contrasts on the iPod Touch; this is much more eminent in darker movies (such as the Matrix).  images from iPod Touch were taken with a DSLR camera with 1/13s exposure at f5.6; they are not perfect, but they are a good representation of what the iTouch screen looks like in real life. *Above images are copyright of DigialBlasphemy.com

Other Issues with the iPod Touch (by design of Apple- not production issues):

  • No Bluetooth (why no A2DP Apple???)
  • No eMail Program
  • Cannot add entries to the Calendar (but I can add a contact?)
  • No Camera (well- this was hoping for way too much)

I think most of the above were make the iPod Touch drastically inferior to the iPhone so sales will continue for the later device; If the unit had Bluetooth I might be able to pair to another carrier's phone and use it for Internet access- also allowing (possibly) VOIP clients (via bluetooth headset), GPS navigation (via Bluetooth paired GPS) and Bluetooth car integration (all of these will require the iPod Touch to be 'unjailed' to allow 3rd part programs to be installed, of course).

I see no reason for the omission of eMail client on the iPod Touch; it has a web browser that lets me go to GMail- why not include a POP3 client that lets me keep the message local for offline use?  (I am guessing that AT&T had this a stipulation for the release).

From the message boards, this does not look pretty for Apple; the iPod Touch sales are going to be hurting for the above reasons- many people will wait until the next version, or until this version is 'fixed'.  If the later occurs, all of the early adopters (myself included) will be demanding a replacement/repair of their unit.

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