Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, iTunes, Reviews, Apple
PC Mag gives iPod Touch an Editor's Choice
PC Magazine has given the iPod Touch a 5/5 score and their Editor's Choice award. High praise even from a definitely non-Apple source. Tom Gideon calls it "a thing of beauty," and says it's the best iPod ever. Well, no duh.He does say a major drawback is that the WiFi store doesn't contain movies, but that's just a matter of time, isn't it? Otherwise, he says the store works great, and will allow for plenty of spur-of-the-moment music purchasing (which surely Apple will love). Gideon even spends quite a bit of time on what I really think is one of the most important features of the iPod Touch-- the Starbucks integration. Every time you pass a Starbucks, an icon shows up in the dock of the iPod Touch's iTunes WiFi screen, and that is huge. Advertisers with even a little bit of forward-looking ability are probably fainting at the thought of what they can do with what.
Strangely enough, Gideon doesn't mention the one problem I have with an iPod Touch, and the reason I'm sticking with my video iPod: the memory. 8 and 16gb are just embarrassing for a serious music player, whether the interface is amazing or not. For Gideon and other folks with only 16gb of music, obviously it's not a problem. But for us music lovers, who want to carry around our entire collection in our pockets, the current Touch doesn't cut it. Better to stick with a classic and leave the awesome interface for the iPhone.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jon said 8:12PM on 9-13-2007
32 GB flash memory cards are available but I don't think they've been out for long.
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BdeRWest said 8:25PM on 9-13-2007
Umm, doesn't the Starbucks integration not work yet?
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punkassjim said 8:32PM on 9-13-2007
On the subject of memory (or lack thereof), I really feel it's an issue of "are you aware that the grass may be greener on the other side?" I mean, I know it's great to be able to play anything at any time...but from another point of view, it's just...different.
Like, I've got a subset of my music on my iPhone (and my iPod Mini before it) that's kinda my "comfy old friends" from my library. The stuff that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, the stuff I would feel bad about leaving in cold storage. Maybe I'm weird, but I'd say about 70% of my iTunes library is stuff I rarely ever feel like listening to.
On the other hand, if I did have every last song with me on any given day, it would make browsing through my library an exercise in frustration, because the list from A-Z would simply get too big to navigate. I already lose my patience when searching my library for "something that strikes my fancy." Maybe my attention span is just plain short...but changing playlists every few months doesn't bother me.
But having a small device with no moving internal parts is extremely important to me. I was glad to get rid of my iPod Mini for that exact reason.
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Zach said 8:56PM on 9-13-2007
What is that black piece on the top left of the back of the ipod touch?
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Leonard Nimrod said 4:40AM on 9-17-2007
• Movies over an ideal 802.11g network would just take way too long. Even TV shows would a battery and network drain. Don't expect this until internet speeds improve and 802.11n is standard on these devices.
• The Starbuck integration 'can' allow for Apple to offer simple HW/SW rental solution that will draw customers to retail outlets while providing a means of recouping revenue from song purchases. Apple benefits from both ends
• Why would he have problem with the capacity? Anything greater is wildly expensive and OS X can't run on a HDD based system without severely draining the battery in mere minutes instead of hours.
• He should have had a problem with the Apple offering less apps than in the iPhone. This device is meant to go international so I can see why the stick widget was not included, but the weather widget is worldwide,
• I can also see why there is no Google Maps despite increasing Wi-Fi coverage, but the omission of Notes in inexcusable.
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Brandon Martinez said 1:18PM on 9-18-2007
Space seems to always be a major complaint, but I can see a few reasons why Apple chose the route they did (and why I will buy one in a few months). The iPod touch is supposed to be synched constantly. A key nod of that point is the iTMS: "sync your purchases". You're not going to want that $40 of music you bought just sitting on your iPod, you're going to want it on your computer. Apple probably assumes your iPod Touch will be connected to a computer daily, and thus not a big deal with the space.
Also, here's a fantasy:
Leopard is coming out next month, right? Big new feature: Back to my Mac. Synchronization right? Hmmm... iPod Touch, big new feature? WiFi (among other, of course!). What if you put the two together.... Ha! I'm not sure that would happen, it would be kind of confusing. Well, unless they added a "My iTunes" button, that worked identically to the iTMS, except it browsed your mac instead, and you could download that on the fly. OR! even better, iTMS keeps track of the tracks you've bought, and just lets you download those on the fly for free. Oh the possibilities. At least Apple is taking advantage of the WiFi, unlike that other device (can we say Zune?)!
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yesno said 9:03PM on 9-13-2007
If you can fit your music collection on an iPod, you're not a serious collector. I mean, come on. 160 gigs is *not* a large music collection. I and every other serious music fan I know has much more music than that.
Having a nano/iPhone/etc that you load up with intelligent playlists and "rotation" albums is a much better way to operate.
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Andrew Harrison said 9:06PM on 9-13-2007
@Zach: it's a rubber piece for the Wifi antenna. Apparently wifi doesn't work too well through chromed metal.
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Reg said 9:16PM on 9-13-2007
I used be part of the "more is better" storage crowd, and up until about 6 months ago would have agreed that any iPod with less than 160GB storage wasn't worth havng.
However, after realizing the following:
1. The great bulk of a collection goes unplayed for long periods: it's "dark matter" on an iPod
2. I sync everyday
3. Smart Playlists carry enormous power...
I changed my MO, to arrange for media to be far more regularly cycled between computer (with a 300GB iTunes Library) and device.
For specific instructions, Andy Ihnatko's books and website have extensive tips on creating smart playlists that arrange for music that hasn't been listen to for a period to be cycled to the front, so that it gets transferred during the next sync.
Now, having eBayed my 80GB iPod video some time ago, I have an 8GB iPhone, and an 8GB nano, and am rarely in the situation where I don't have exactly what I want on either device. The same principles would apply to a touch.
The key is management and avoiding "dark matter."
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Flyboybob said 12:40PM on 9-15-2007
Unless you are going to be away from your computer for an extended period of time, why would you need more than 16 gig of music at one time. Many people now have laptops instead of desktop computers and can carry their entire iTunes library with them when they travel. Leopard is supposed to allow you to access your hard drive over the internet, which will allow you to manage your music when you are away from your home computer.
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Brandon said 9:34PM on 9-13-2007
I think the most important thing to realize when complaining about the amount of flash that the iPod Touch has is that the iPod Nano is the best selling mp3 player...ever. While the touch's capacity may be a problem for some, it seems that many, many, many people are more than satisfied with their 1, 2, 4, or 8gb nano.
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Jeff said 9:47PM on 9-13-2007
You will never be able to put your entire music/movie collection on your iPod, nor would you want to, so people need to get over it. The 16GB storage concerns are a non issue.
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umijin said 10:10PM on 9-13-2007
Uh - I read the review. He does mention hard disk limitation at least.
Although I agree 16gb is not ideal, watching movies on that tiny screen in the iPod Classic is a pointless exercise. Calling it a 'video ipod' is really stretching it.
And if you have tried to hold the new iPod classics for any length of time, you'll find that the sharp edge is uncomfortable for most people's hands.
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Jan Goh said 10:00PM on 9-13-2007
@Reg: Hear hear. I've got a mere 30GB music collection, but honestly, I don't even listen to half of it. After I reworked my ratings system, certain songs became superfluous.
5 stars: I can listen to any one of these in a loop, all day, and not get sick of it.
4 stars: I'll listen to each of these songs once a day, no problem.
3 stars: I'll listen to any of these songs once a week or so. No more than that.
2 stars: I only listen to these when the mood strikes me.
1 star: Only there for the sake of completeness.
After that, my playlist system is a simple matter of making smart subplaylists that take into account the rating and my timeframe. My final playlist is an aggregate of many subplaylists, and provides me with a rotation of music that'll last me literally days straight without me hearing a song that I don't want to hear. I got a 4GB nano (which was a step smaller than my 10GB 3G iPod) and I still sync it more often than I finish the tunes on it. I go from computer at home to computer at work, so having my main music library at hand is almost never a problem.
One feature I'd like to see added to the touch (besides native email support -- seriously, WTF) is the ability to modify your smart playlists on the fly. Is that already possible and nobody's reported on it?
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Matt Gagle said 10:10PM on 9-13-2007
I really want the iPod touch. I don't have a large music collection–it will fit easily on the 8gig–but i love the iphone's touch capability, and to have that on an ipod, well, thats awesome. also, being able to download songs wirelessly is awesome, because i often hear a song i love and then forget to but it later. so i am gonna pick one up really soon!
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tim said 10:23PM on 9-13-2007
@reg -
just as jan says, youre right. im at about 50gigs now, and i have been for the last 2 years or so (nothing worth having has come out recently...). i had a 30gb 3rd gen way back when and i filled it to the brim at the time and thought i was the sh!t. i recently got a 1gb shuffle and with the power that is smart playlists, i never feel out of luck. im looking to replace it all with an 8gb iphone though, but until then, 14 hours or so of music is enough between the times im at my itunes to refuel.
also, to the guy with the itunes library pissing contest, i guess im not a mac fan after all, since i couldnt even fill an 80gig ipod... but i just dont feel like downloading every techno song and every anime theme song that comes my way.
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Paul said 10:34PM on 9-13-2007
Does anyone have a good itunes script for creating completely random playlists of a certain size (e.g. 4 gig, 6 gig).... I found something that isn't bad on dougs itunes scripts (Rando Library) - but I was really hoping for a different script.
I have my favorites playlist but I'd like to randomly 'grab' 4 gig of music from my 30 gig list to sync up to my (as yet unpurchased) ipod touch. I was going to use 4 gig of favorites, 4 gig of movies an the rest completely random. (I love the shuffle feature on ipods).
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Skoalbandit said 10:40PM on 9-13-2007
I agree with the other poster about the lack of space concerns for music is getting old. I have done the everything on my ipod route and it is just lots of music that you don't listen too. Been using the 2gig ipod route and it is fine. 500 songs is more than enough.
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Ben the Dog said 11:40PM on 9-13-2007
I couldn't put it better than punkassjim - I have a nano for day to day use and an old 3G ipod which houses absolutely everything (it lives at work).
I am one of these people who doesn't feel the need to carry around all of my music, and there is a lot in my iTunes library that is largely unlistened to (mostly from CDs where I only like a few songs and the rest are there for completeness).
The 16Gig option is perfect for me - I can throw on my favourite songs and then a few tv progammes and movies to boot - although I would have liked to see more PDA functionality in there - calendar entries, notes, to-do lists etc.
Before anyone says "get an iPhone" - I live in Hong Kong, and that's not an option.
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Michel said 3:14AM on 9-14-2007
I AM a very serious music lover and I have hundreds of my cd ripped in aac
but 16go is great (and FAST in flash) : I carry in it my favorite or news artists I want. I can switch easily with itunes. no big deal.
(and I prefer a flash based then hard drive based player in fact , flash is faster to react)
of course, after 16go, there will be 32go, and 64 and 128... technology progress, future, blablablabla...
same old story. I don't care.
--
>Anything greater is wildly expensive and OS X can't
>run on a HDD based system without severely
>draining the battery in mere minutes instead of
>hours.
RI-DI-CU-LOUS. and totally false and proved false by macbooks.
(and what it is the stupid nonsense about os x not able to run on a hard drive based device for hours... I'm sure you're thinking about memory swapping on hdd and others uses of the hdd. you can remove that. there are nothing in os X forcing apple to use the hard drive every second. you know, you can adapt the os x operating system to be used on a tiny device)
Apple choose flash because it's thinner and faster and the nano is the most popular player. but Flash can not be "huge" because it's so expensive, very very expensive. big big big expensive. a lot more expensive than hard drive.
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