I think it is safe to say that when the iPhone was announced and everyone saw the interface there was an audible gasp heard around the world. While gesture-based touch-screens are nothing new (See the Bill Buxton videos from Alias | Wavefront in the mid 90's. He also specifically addresses the iPhone here.) it was the first time anyone has seen this sort of UI on a handheld device. At least something as elegantly designed. This is the type of gadget you would expect to see in a SciFi movie. You couldn't carry that many albums, movies, etc in your pocket just a few years ago. This is the type of advancement that will force every other Portable Media device maker to "Up" their products.
Ok, so recently the iPhone prices were dropped. What does everyone do? They complain about it. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!! Things go down in price every day and better stuff gets released every day. You will never be ahead of the curve. The best you can hope for is keeping up with it. And even that isn't possible unless you have a bottomless wallet. Well, for all the early adopters/whiners out there Apple is giving you $100 to spend in their stores as a way to say "Thank You". That's pretty damn cool. Creative wouldn't do that. Archos wouldn't do that. I don't know any company that would do that. Don't get me wrong, I hate Apple in a lot of ways. I use them daily at work. But that's a pretty cool gesture for them to refund money.
In steps the iPod Touch. Let's just call it the iTouch even though Apple legally can't. So the iTouch is basically an iPhone without the phone. Which is what I was hoping they would come out with. It still has Wifi and speculation is that it will eventually have Bluetooth turned on as well. It also has a standard headphone jack unlike the iPhone. Well, the day of the announcement everyone is all excited until they announce the size. 8gb and 16gb. I think pretty much everyone responded with "WTF!?". Including me. Sure, 8gb and 16gb is nothing these days. Especially when they release a "new" iPod called the "Classic" that has a 160gb hd. But let's think about this for a minute. When you buy new music don't you want to put it on your iPod? That requires hooking up to a computer right? So what's the difference of hooking up to put some fresh playlists on your iTouch? Although I am hoping that we can use WIFI to sync as opposed to a hard connection. Anyway, I think that 16gb could be more than enough if you simply rotate playlists every few days or weeks. Personally I'm more excited by the ability to check webmail, browse the web, use widgets and to play videos on trips. I'm rarely sitting anywhere long enough to listen to much music. Other than in the car or at my desk working. So I guess the question is, "do I really need tons of storage?". I mean, it's just that much more stuff to sift through. It makes the device a little bigger and heavier to add a hard drive. Honestly, I think limiting the content to my favorite stuff would be much easier to keep clean and manage. Am I just trying to convince myself that 16gb is enough? Maybe a little. But I think realistically being able to carry around 3500 songs or 20 hours of video is more than enough to keep track of. I have a 20gb iPod which I retired once I got my 4gb Nano. 4gb was pretty small and I found that I never updated the thing. But with as many features as the iTouch I have a feeling that I will be adding more widgets than music and video.
Overall I just think we have all become completely spoiled with the rapid advancements in technology and we have come to expect more and more. Until we get to the point of unrealistic demands. We should be excited that companies like Apple are pushing the envelope of UI and technology. The iPhone and iTouch have in many ways exceeded anything we could have dreamed up. I'm going to go place my order now. And if a bigger better one comes out in a couple of months. This one will go to my beloved wife. ;)
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