I am not a die-hard Apple fan. I don’t own an Apple computer. I don’t care what Steve Jobs thinks about Windows. I don’t care about the iPad. What I do care about is the value I get for the money I spend.
To this end, the touch 32GB iPod was a great purchase. It’s easy to use, has thousands of free apps (that balance my checkbook, sync my Google Calendar, read books, play internet radio, and so much more), thousands of low-priced apps, and it is highly portable. I travel every week, and this device comes with me everywhere I go. I used to carry a Sony PSP with me, but have found that I have very little use for it now.
Sure, the games on the PSP were better. Sure, the screen was bigger. However, I don’t play games that often, and have actually found that the iPod/iPhone games are more well-suited to my gaming capacity. I play games in short snippets as I have time, not for lengthy periods of time at a whack. I can store a dozen or more movies on my iPod, and with a $25 component cable, can watch those movies on the TV in the hotel room. This device fits in my pocket without causing me to lean or walk funny (not sure the PSP Go even solves this problem for Sony), and the iTunes interface is easy to use and functional.
I know there are a few reviewers who think loading media content is too complicated and not intuitive enough, but that may just be a symptom of their know-how, and not really reflective of the experience I’ve had with this device. I find iTunes a useful tool that makes loading media content easy and quick.
The one shortfall that remains for iPod (and now the iPad – what a stupid name) is the lack of Flash support for Safari. It seems like this is something that should have been remedied by now. However, it’s not impossible to fix, and with the lauch of the iPad, this fix must be forthcoming.
Overall, if you have the cash, this is a great device. It’s not the best movie player, or the best mp3 player, or best PIM, or best Internet tool … but it does each of them very well. If you wanted the best for each, you’d end up carrying around several devices much bigger that the touch 32GB iPod and another model. The Zune HD is supposed to be a great mp3 player, but Microsoft is so far behind Apple’s iTunes for media content and available apps, that seems like a loser to get involved with at this point in the game. Looks like a great device, but just a little late in the game.
Either way, the iPod works for me and I have been able to get a lot of value out of this little device.
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