After all of the hubbub and excitement from today’s iPod event settles, many will sit back and contemplate everything they say today. Apple’s entire lineup got some much needed attention. Some of the more surprising revelations for me was the fact that the king pin of the iPod lineup, the iPod Touch didn’t get the much anticipated camera. Instead, the Nano got the coveted feature. Why they limited it to the Nano is beyond me. Second, the iPod Classic still lives. While I was half and half on if Apple was actually going to pull the plug on more or less the same formula that launched them into popularity just a few short years ago, today we know that the golden oldie lives on — albeit with a bit more storage under the hood. The top of the line player in Apple’s media player line up, the iPod Touch received a very welcome bump up in capacity as well. While it still can’t compete with the older spinner based Classic, the iPod Touch which now tops out at 64 GB for $399 is one of the best choices for a flash based portable entertainment device.
Personally, I don’t have much use for the shuffle or Nano as I want my gadgets to consolidate, hence my attraction to the Touch. Though, I can certainly see the draw of the smaller devices: more portable, affordable, and convenient. On the software front, iTunes 9 was announced bringing with it some much requested features such as app organization and more sophisticated syncing abilities. All in all, it was a good day for Apple and hopeful iPod customers.
On the iPhone OS front…or lack thereof, the larger .1 increase in the OS would suggest bigger changes/more new features added. However, that isn’t the case as even the 3.1 update isn’t too exciting. Here’s to hoping the next Apple event brings some more stunners.
There is one thing keeps pinging me in the back of the head: “Is that all?” While I certainly understand you can only innovate a certain product so much, it seems as if they sort of ran out of steam with the latest refresh. The Touch, the high end premium device got a simple capacity upgrade and a few minor tweaks under the hood. There weren’t any mind blowing new features or design. Same goes for the other iPod devices — notable improvements, but nothing that is making me think “Gee, I sure want to sell my old 1st Gen Touch for a new iPod”. This years iPod event seems more like a yawner. Am I making any sense? Anyone care to disagree?
