After what for me was an ex-ordinate amount of control I caved in today and ordered an Apple iPod Touch.
Apple introduced the original iPhone on June 29th 2007 followed by the iPod Touch on September 5th 2007, which was based on the same form factor and Multi-touch OS user interface.
I resisted the initial hype and even survived my son getting an iPod Touch for Christmas ’07 (he loves it.) This was no small feat…
“Hello, my name is Earl and I’m a gadget junky…” ;-)
Yes, I resisted the Apple handheld multi-touch gadget temptation for almost a year…somebody call Guinness.
My will broke after seeing the new features being built into version 2.0 of the iPhone/Touch OS software and spending time with my sons “Touch” yesterday.
Why the iPod Touch when the new 3G iPhone will have more usable features based upon a direct Internet connection?
For me it keeps coming down to three reasons:
- the area I live;
- the importance of our Cell phones; and
- AT&T.
I live in a small town in North Carolina between the cities of Charlotte and Greensboro. This area would have spotty if any 3G service. That removes a big advantage of the new 3G iPhone.
My wife and I use our Cell Phones as our primary phones with a family plan that makes it economical. We do not have a “landline” phone so consistent cellular coverage is of upmost importance. My wife’s phone is also used for her work taking calls or participating in phone-conferences at odd hours. Her work is the only reason that I am able to be retired. Enough said! ;-)
Through personal cellular experience with Altel, Sprint, Verizon and AT&T I’ve discovered Verizon coverage to be the most consistent in this and many surrounding areas. AT&T coverage seems to be spotty and I’ve never enjoyed my customer experiences with them.
Based upon these three conditions, I decided that I could get 90% percent of the enjoyment of the iPhone by purchasing an iPod Touch and using my home Wifi and other Wifi providers in the area without upsetting our current well balanced cellular phone services.
We’ll see if I made a wise decision.
Earl,
You have a good point. For me, I live in the Silicon Valley and would be able to enjoy the 3G network, but I can’t rationalize moving away from Sprint’s SERO plan. For $30/month I get:
500 anytime minutes
Unlimited SMS/MMS/Email
Unlimited Data
Nation-wide calling
Free Nights & Weekends (starting at 7pm)
For the same thing plus the excitement of the iPhone, I would need to shell out another $50/month.
The iPod touch would also be perfect for me because I’m around Mountain View, CA, a lot (Free Google WiFi everywhere).
I’m just waiting for the iPhone 3G to come out so that the iPod Touch’s price can drop.
Thaya,
I think you’re right about the iPod Touch.
You have a great deal with Sprints SERO plan and the iPod Touch would give you most of the features of the iPhone since you’d have easy access to free Wifi.
Best of luck.
The question is…will Apple kill the iPod Touch to leverage the iPhone sales? That would be really bad… what is next? When will Apple come out with a next version of the Touch?
@MAC,
There’s still millions of iPod customers out there that don’t want or can’t afford the monthly service fees that come with the iPhone, especially since for now it means only using AT&T.
I think this is a case were Apple can “have their cake and eat it too” with both lines being successful.