iPod Touch.. Yay or Nay?

Received an email from a young lady who was interested in jumping into the MP3 player market... Finally. She had been one of those few who, to this day, still carried around their old Sony CD Player on the NYC Subways... Proudly. (Okay, okay. To be fair, it was a present from her sister.)
*

Why was she interested in purchasing one now? Well, her husband convinced her that she deserved it. (Awwww.)

*

What she wanted... was my opinion.

*

To be fair, she has owned an MP3 player before. A Rio 500 to be exact.

Although it had only a small market share compared to Apple Computer's iPod, the Rio brand name has been linked with the early days of digital-music history since weathering a lawsuit from the recording industry that aimed to shut down the MP3 hardware business.

The Rio 500 was the first MP3 player to allow file transfer via USB cable, and PC & Mac support. It featured 64 MB of flash memory available for music, had a backlight, ability to set bookmarks, had an expansion card slot (Smart Media card) and was powered by one AA battery. It was roughly the size of a standard pack of playing cards.

*

Unfortunately, the Rio's music died in late 2005 when it's parent company D&M Holdings announced that the ultra-competitive business no longer fit its market strategy.

Rio 500 Specs

• 64 MB built-in flash memory, expandable with SmartMedia cards
• Over 12 hours of continuous playback on 1 AA alkaline battery
• Weighs 2.7 ounces
• USB port connector for high-speed downloads - 5 times faster than a parallel port connection (!?!)
• Repeats one track, all tracks, or random
• Customizable EQ
• Create custom on-board playlists
• Includes earphones, USB cable, battery and software

History lesson over, I asked if she had any particular device in mind.

She replied, "Well, what is your view on ipod-touch? I heard the wi-fi function eats up battery and it doesn't work all the time."

Now I've considered the iPod touch in it's 32GB form as I think it's almost perfect for me, but I've held off from investing since my current 5th gen iPod is good as new.

Even before embarking on a brief bit of research, I did not find it hard to believe that the wi-fi would be a resource hog on the latest iPod from Apple. However, it would be so for any portable device on the market nowadays no?. Either I advised that the wi-fi could be disabled until she required it, which may end up being almost never unless the user decides to download music via their iTunes Wi-Fi store (which offers no content besides music) instead of iTunes via a computer.

While I had found complaints about the wi-fi, here and there, none of them had been major. Most had been easily rectified by the owner by a system reset. Again, the user most probably would not (or should not) keep the wi-fi enabled unless there is access to a wi-fi network and the need to add music wirelessly or if you happen to be in a Starbucks and wish to download the song currently playing or if you want to surf the iTunes Wi-Fi store for free.

*

I have come to love Apple products in the past couple of years and fear that they may soon reach their pinnacle as all great companies and products have in the past (read: Sony Walkman). But for now while I still don't think that make the best product.. meaning products with the most useful features, they have the simplest probably most forward thinking design that has been done very well currently.

*

Microsoft is still a year or 2 behind Apples curve in my opinion. Creative and the other companies still hold their own but I would still go Apple right now simply just for ease of use (more on Creative later).

*

I normally don't like associating myself with the popular crowd for the sake of being 'in', but in this case 'networking' (get it? Wi-fi?) would be a great benefit as Apple has such a huge fan base the support technically and otherwise is vast. What other product can you buy that will plug in with a sneaker made by the world's most popular shoe designer so that your player and your sneaker synergies to become a sneaker+player+pedometer? How many car manufacturers (or digital clock makers for that matter) create docks for this thing?

*
The hardest time she'll have with the iPod Touch will be how much space she thinks she'll need... there are 8, 16 & 32GB versions, and what song, movie, game, podcast.. to down first.

Long story short. I told her to go for it.

*

My verdict? The iPod Touch is a definite WANT... um Yay!

Bonus: Cnet's take on the 2nd Gen iPod Touch.

iPod Touch - Tech Specs:

Size and weight

• Height: 4.3 inches (110 mm)
• Width: 2.4 inches (61.8 mm)
• Depth: 0.33 inch (8.5 mm)
• Weight: 4.05 ounces (115 grams)

Display

• 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
• 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 pixels per inch

Audio

• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
• Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps)
• Protected AAC (from iTunes Store)
• MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps)
• MP3 VBR
• Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4),
• Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

Capacity

• 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB flash drive
• Holds up to 1,750, 3,500, or 7,000 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format
• Holds up to 10,000, 20,000, or 25,000 iPod-viewable photos
• Holds up to 10 hours, 20 hours, or 40 hours of video

Wireless

• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
• Nike + iPod support built in
• Maps location-based service

Prices - 8GB $229, 16GB $299 and 32GB $399