Apple Updates iPhone and iPod Touch

u-bend writes "With little publicity Apple has released new, higher-capacity models of the iPhone and iPod Touch. The new iPhone boasts 16 GB of storage and is priced at $499 (the 8 GB model remains at $399), and the new iPod Touch has 32 GB, also priced at $499. Although the price is still pretty hefty, it indicates that the capacity/price ratio on these wireless flash-based players is starting to move in the right direction."

Dammit, now I need another excuse

Dammit, I had said that I didn't want an iPhone, but would like a device that was like the iPhone without the phone part.

Then Apple released the iPod Touch.

So I updated my excuse to be that it didn't have enough storage space, that I wanted at least 30GB of space before I'd make the leap.

And now they've released a 32GB version.

Now I need a new excuse explaining why I'm not going to get one...

(Seriously, though, I do intend to grab one eventually - it sounds like exactly something I'd want - but not quite yet.)

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

Just justify not having one because they cost too much and you do not have the money allocated for it. :)

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

It's odd that most people are willing to pay $20,000 for a car they drive 30 minutes a day but they aren't willing to spend $400 on a phone that they use all the time. Most people benefit more from having a good cell phone than a good car, and the difference between a good phone and a crappy phone is much more pronounced than the difference between a good car and crappy car.

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

It's odd that most people are willing to pay $20,000 for a car they drive 30 minutes a day

The problem with that comparison is that spending $20,000 on a car is one of the stupidest things that young people do. It's already an absurd amount of money, and if they figured out how much it actually cost them in future, if they would instead invest some of that money, then the decision to buy that car is completely brain-damaged.

So then what your argument is saying is essentially "If you're so stupid that you would do X, then how can you not do Y, which is not nearly as stupid."

whats odd...

except that many people spend a lot more than 30 minutes a day in the car. and even if you dont on average; chances are you will take a road trip in it and spend 5+hours in a single sitting. also, if you buy a piece of crap you can easily spend more on fixing it, or buying another piece of crap in the near future. its not an absurd amount of money either.

there is a major difference though. if you dont also pay another seperate subscription fee for the internet and all that crap the iphone is useless. so its not just 400 anymore...

also how often do you really use your cell phone everyday? I use mine in place of a land line, and not counting calls to my girlfriend i doubt i spend 30 minutes on the thing per day. I'm not going to spend 400 on a phone that does crap I don't need it to
do because I have other things that do those things for me. Also the iphone isn't significantly better than many other phones out there now. You are trying to say that the iphone is a bentley to the blackberry curve being an acura and a razr (v3m) being a hyundai. the reality couldnt be further from the truth.

what do you spend so much time on your phone doing anyhow? 'browing the internet?' oh see I have this thing called a computer in the form of a laptop that I use when I'm at work or at home. So i cant check my email while i walk from my office to my car and while i drive home? this is a problem how? "i listen to music" oh see i just listen via my laptop/mp3 player at work and my car stereo when i drive and my home stereo when im at home.

most people Benefit from having a good cell phone more so than a good car? That part is interesting and I might agree; the problem is that you dont define what a good car or a good cell phone is. If you ask me a good cell phone is one that has reasonably good battery life, gets good reception, has plan condusive to my usage patterns, and allows me to use a headset (wired or bluetooth) with it. I don't care if it is color, plays music, makes toast, goes on the internet, plays games, etc. I care that it has good audio quality for phone calls. I would also argue that pretty much every phone out there meets this already. If I didn't have a digital camera, didnt have an mp3 player, and felt like I really needed to engage endlessly in text messages and browsing the net from my phone, sure its a good option. Other than that its just luxury crap. A better analogy would have been comparing someone spending 40K or more on a car. That's the person who should shutup.

Buying a 20K honda accord that will likely last 10+ years wihtout needing a major repair can be a decent investment for someone coming out of college (not that your car is or should be considered as such, its an asset by definition but more often its a liability).
and the difference between a 20K car and a 40k one can be a bit more pronounced. even a 14K car and a 20K car can be significant. you seem to toss those out as trivial and undetectable... i'm pretty sure you will notice the difference between a ford focus and toyota camry/honda accord, and if not today then when the ford dies in 4 years you'll notice the difference.

The other difference is lifetime, the 20K car is expected to live > 6 years, I'd expect it to live more than 8 maybe 10+
the iphone is definately not expected to live that long because a. there is no market for it when you are done with it in 2-4 years and b. because something else will come along and replace it.

I would instead redirect your argument at headphones. You'll pay 400 for iphone, who knows what for your ipod and your music and your stereo, but you wont pay even 50 bucks for a remotely non garbage pair of headphones? (realistically i would say 100$ but I'll start at 50, plus most people are going to want that same pair to be 'bad enough' to be able to use at the gym or running. Or mattresses, you only spend 8 hours a day or more lying on it. But your concern is over a cell phone.

my biggest gripe is "the difference

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

Protip: You don't need to load every single song in your collection on your iPod. Smart playlists are your friend.

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

My god are you a fucking loser.

Will you cradle your iPhone in your arms at night?

Mine is named Sammy.

Will you finally feel 'special' when you have one?

It is my bestest friend, and I know he will not stab me in my back. Sammy talks to me, though I sometimes disregard his advice.

Will you sit around coffee houses desperately using it as visibly as possible hoping someone cute will strike up a conversation with you?

My sister is cute, and she always interrupts my conversations with Sammy...

Apple really needs to include a 'L' tatoo, with a perfectly chosen font of course, for the pathetic fucks who buy iPhones to stick on their foreheads.

I will tattoo Sammy's name over my heart soon. That's what friends do, right?

If love could be sent using SMS, I'd send you some.

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

Mine is named Sammy.

I make it a personal rule never to trust anyone named Sammy.

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

Apple really needs to include a 'L' tatoo, with a perfectly chosen font of course, for the pathetic fucks who buy iPhones to stick on their foreheads.

Hmmm. I bought my iPhone to use as a phone, surf the web, and watch vids. I never once considered sticking it to my forehead. Does the new 16gb version come with some kind of adhesive to make this possible?

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

1) Works with libgpod based programs (e.g. gtkpod or Amarok)
2) Which is developed primarily on Linux
3) Which you don't have to employ, but allows you to use the online shop with the most extensive range of products
4) Ogg isn't a popular codec. At best, it is popular container format, which it isn't neither.
5) Works with every store, which provides MP3s or AAC, which contary to Ogg Vorbis ARE popular formats.
6) See 1)
7) For which, for some unknown reasons, exist a very active developer community, and a shitload open source software. Maybe even more than for any other portable player, thankyouverymuch.
8), 9), 10) Point taken, but mainly a matter of taste.

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

1) Requires iTunes.

Not quite. For upgrades, probably. That's a lot like complaining that your car requires tires, though. iTunes and the iPod are a single package, not two different systems tied together.

Doesn't work with Linux.

Only if you don't want it to.

Is laden with DRM.

Only if you want it to be.

Doesn't support popular codecs like OGG.

I object to the use of "popular codecs" and OGG in the same sentence.

ONLY supports iTunes Music Store and not other, cheaper services.

wrong. [amazon.com]

6) Doesn't allow simple drag-and-drop access to copy music.

I believe manual music management was implemented for the Touch and the iPhone in 7.6, but I don't recall exactly. You've always been able to drag and drop into a play list (say, a master playlist that only syncs to your ipod...).

7) Software is locked down on the device.

oh? [tuaw.com] A velvet rope is not lock down.

8) Non-removable storage.
9) Non-removable battery.

The last 5 years tells us that no one cares. Over time more and more electronics manufactures are going to start doing this. There's really no need anymore to change the battery. The designed lifespan on the current generation of batteries is 3-5 years, which is just about the same as the designed lifespan for the devices themselves. Letting you add more storage to something that's basically a storage device makes little business sense.

10) Costs $500, much more than cheaper, more open-devices do.

for example?

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

> 1) Requires iTunes.

There are 3rd party apps capable of loading music on iPods.

> 2) Doesn't work with Linux.

There are Linux apps capable of loading music on iPods.

> 3) Is laden with DRM.

Only if you purchase music from the iTunes Store, and then only if you purchase the DRMed tracks as the Store includes DRM free tracks.

> 4) Doesn't support popular codecs like OGG.

Contrary to Slashdot believe, OGG is not popular.

> 5) ONLY supports iTunes Music Store and not other, cheaper services.

iPods are able to work with Amazon's online store and any others that sell MP3s.

> 6) Doesn't allow simple drag-and-drop access to copy music.

You can drag any song you wish from the library to copy your music to the iPod or you can use the autosync feature.

> 7) Software is locked down on the device.

There is a Linux distro [ipodlinux.org] available for iPods.

> 8) Non-removable storage.

There are many guides on iPod drive replacement on the web.

> 9) Non-removable battery.

There are many guides on iPod battery replacement on the web.

> 10) Costs $500, much more than cheaper, more open-devices do.

Then please list any sub $499 32GB flash touch screen device that is more cheaper and more "open".

Who cares? It's just a product refresh!

Seriously, who fscking cares if Apple is doing a normal product refresh? I bet Dell updates the memory/hdd/etc on serveral of it's products every week, don't see that making frontpage news on Slashdot. It even scrolled across foxnews for God's sake, how insane is that? Has everyone drunk that much of Steve's acid spiked Kool-Aid?

This isn't a new product, it is just a ramp in the flash. Something EVERY flash based product does several times per year as prices and capacity get better. It is like announcing water is still wet.

It also indicates...

Although the price is still pretty hefty, it indicates that the capacity/price ratio on these wireless flash-based players is starting to move in the right direction.

What it also indicates is that people are willing to pay extortionate amounts for flashy bits of gadget from Apple. Still.

$500 is ~£250. I'm in the UK and bought a house in October. House prices are high at the moment, and the price of an iPhone is a third of my monthly mortgage! Hmmmm, three iPhones/iPods or one mortgage payment? Oh the tough decisions.

Re:It also indicates...

Not apples fault you own a cheap house... ;)

Re:Capacity Isn't The iPhone's Problem

The iPhone is the same size as a current BlackBerry and millions of BB users don't find the phones bulky or fragile. The only people that think they are fragile are those that freak out on the first scratch. My BlackBerry 8830 has been kicked across the room and dropped on tile numerous times. Is it pristine? Oh no. But it still works just fine. When I get an iPhone it will be the same way. Battered and bruised, but I bet it still works.

My complaint on both products: No A2DP. Why...WHY?!! I'd go get an iTouch today if it had it. I want an A2DP player for the gym but also want an iTouch.

Re:Capacity Isn't The iPhone's Problem

i drop my poor iphone all of the time. it has a ton of scratches and marks all over it. it still functions just as well, and has continually been a workhorse.

i've only had one problem, and that's lockup at a pub i visit often. unfortunately, every iphone user locks up there as well.

An iPhone survived a semi truck

Fragile is one thing the iPhone is not. In fact, it survived falling from a moving car at freeway speeds only to be run over by a semi [ipodnn.com]. Other than a lot of cosmetic damage, it still works in every way.

What were you planning on doing with an iPhone?

And as for bulk, well unless you take your cell phones the way Zoolander [flickr.com] does, the iPhone does pretty well in that regard too. From what I can tell, the only smart phone that is thinner is the Moto Q, and that is only *0.1 mm* thinner.

But you must be right that the only reason people buy an iPhone is to show it off to other people. Thanks for pointing out our vanity.

Re:I'm waiting

At the moment, the iPod touch does not function as a hard drive, unlike the other iPods. There is a workaround, you can hack it or use some third party programs to write to the media folder.

Re:I'm waiting

Even better, you can hack it and then put a file server on it! (i have both AFPd and SSHd installed on my iPhone. I'm waiting for someone to port SAMBA for my windows friends)

Re:I'm waiting

The iPod Touch does not use a hard drive to store data. It's flash memory based.

Seriously, how nit-picky do you need to get? Do you remind people that they're not really burning a DVD, but merely heating the dye on the disc?

Re:I'm waiting

The originating poster was speaking of the USB Mass Storage Device class. Other devices of this class include USB flash memory sticks, iPod Classics, and any plain HDD-only device that interfaces with a computer through USB. Usage of such a device is supported by most computers with USB ports without installation of any special drivers.

The iPod Touch and the iPhone is not a device of this class unless such a workaround is installed for the firmware that is already preinstalled onto the device.

Re:Flash memory prices

The problem, as I understand it, is that the iPhone only has room for one flash chip, not two. This means that instead of using two 8 gig chips to give the iPhone 16 gigs, they need to use a single 16 gig chip. The iPod touch, on the other hand, has room for two chips. That's why the cost-to-added-gigs ratio is different.

Re:32 GB of flash?!

You know, when you say "$499 for an iPod Touch" it sounds like a lot

It sounds like a soliciting charge just waiting to happen.

Re:Good alternative to the Touch?

I don't know, the Nokia N800 [wikipedia.org] probably comes closest to an iPod Touch.

There really isn't a good comparison to the iPod Touch or iPhone because "elegant design" doesn't translate very well to a bullet point on a comparison chart (hence the famous Slashdot article [slashdot.org] about the iPod). It really comes down to whether the Apple touch interface, ease of use, and pretty hardware design are worth the extra cost to you or not.