My Thoughts on iPod Touch 2.0
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Last night, well really early this morning, us iPod Touch owners finally got our hands on the new 2.0 firmware. Like many other people while waiting for the firmware to be released I went ahead and downloaded a few apps to be synced with my updated device. Finally after getting the upgrade I have been able to play around with these apps and games and also I have gotten a chance to go through and mess around with the new 2.0 firmware. Here are some of my thoughts.
Bad stuff,
- Its not very stable. I am not sure if this is Apples fault or the developers but many applications crash. Sometimes instead of crashing back into the home screen it forces me into a full reboot. This can be easily fixed with some software patches from both Apple and the developers.
- Backing up the iPod? Every time I connect my iPod it has to do a back up, which is God awfully slow. I have about 25 apps and 3 gigs of music and it takes roughly 15-25 minutes to backup every time I connect the iPod to the computer.
- AOL Radio and Pandora- While I absolutely love these apps there is one big problems with both of them. Neither one of them lets you multitask. Once you leave the application the music stops.
Good Stuff,
- Games have a lot of potential. The only app I have paid for has been Crash Bandicoot Nitro Racing and the game is too much fun. Tilting the screen to drive never gets old and the game plays and looks just as good as most PSP games do. There are some frame rate issues but still it makes me think that in a month or two some truly great games could come out for this system.
- A complete experience. Having the 2.0 firmware makes my iPod feel like a new product. I have the January Update software on my iPod along with all of the great new apps from the App Store. The iPod feels like a complete personal system, in fact I would go out on a limb and say that it is the best “PDA” I have ever used.
- App Store. The App Store is perfect. It is so easy to find games, free apps, and anything you can think of. It makes finding apps for the platform simple, powerful, and well thought out. It works just like any department of iTunes does, so you know its of the best quality. Also the App Store is a much better solution then having to look all over the Internet for programs.
So as you can tell I have fallen in love again with my iPod Touch. The App Store is a great start for the platform and with more developers being added to the developer program its going to be one hell of a year for the iPhone and iPod Touch. With another update to fix some general bugs this is going to be one of the greatest personal devices of all time.
Comments welcome
4 Comments
Doug
July 13th, 2008
at 6:46pm
Before you got to Good Stuff #2, I was going to ask you what you thought about the iPod Touch’s ability to act as a PDA. $299 can be a little steep if you ask me for a PDA but since it is a PDA that can house your e-mail, calendar, to-do/tasks, MP3s, movies, and has WiFi the price can be justified especially if you can find it on eBay. I would definitely justify it if your work place or school has WiFi access (even if it is 802.11) all over the place.
When I am at work jumping from computer to computer, I use a USB flash that has the Portable Apps version of Thunderbird on it. With an iPod Touch, as long as I have WiFi access, I won’t need it.
Randy
July 23rd, 2008
at 5:26am
“The App Store is perfect”
Far from it. There’s no way to sort the apps in descending order by rating. Seeing just the newest apps is difficult. There’s no view that shows rating and a brief description in a list so you can see anything more than the icon. Then you have to dig in and read everything even to look at something as simple as the aggregate rating. There’s precious little in the way of trial software, and even the few that do have trials have to put TWO apps up, because the idea of unlocking trial software is apparently foreign to the App Store apps.
Having used Handango, Palmgear and Pocketgear for years, the App Store is a pleasant looking, but in typical Apple style it’s missing a lot of functionality.
Matt McCarty
July 23rd, 2008
at 7:52am
@Randy my thoughts on the App Store have changed. I still think its pretty good but there are some flaws. With so many apps being added sometimes some apps get lost in the rush and most people never find them.
Also there is too much crapware in the store.
Randy
July 28th, 2008
at 12:38pm
Okay, glad you came down a bit :).
As much as I do love my iPod Touch, there’s just enough “we know what’s good for you” fascism with Apple that it makes me pull my hair out. Still no PDF reader in the App Store. (I wonder if Apple is actively preventing that?) Lack of Trial software concept combined with a lot of junk apps means that sales are being lost and it’s hard to separate quality from shovelware. Apple needs to address this, or once the novelty wears off, it’s going to get messy.
Also, Apple needs to flush non-reviews. For instance, I was comparing the various bibles, and several that I saw were hit with one star reviews. Because the software was bad? No, because someone with an axe to grind against Christianity decided the way to grind it was to pan all the bible software for….being bible software! Yeah, that helps me pick the best piece of SOFTWARE. Idiots like that do more to hurt their own cause than I could do. But it is annoying because it means I have to dig through their troll posts to evaluate software. Apple needs to come down HARD on reviews that don’t actually review the software. And since the only way to get an iPod touch app is through the App Store, why can’t Apple make sure that you actually purchased or downloaded the app before it lets you review it? Unlike other media, Apple is the exclusive purveyor of app store content, so they could easily do this.
Why they haven’t is a mystery.
Randy