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Apple Updates iPhone and iPod Touch
u-bend writes "With little publicity Apple has released new, higher-capacity models of the iPhone and iPod Touch. The new iPhone boasts 16 GB of storage and is priced at $499 (the 8 GB model remains at $399), and the new iPod Touch has 32 GB, also priced at $499. Although the price is still pretty hefty, it indicates that the capacity/price ratio on these wireless flash-based players is starting to move in the right direction."
At the moment, the iPod touch does not function as a hard drive, unlike the other iPods. There is a workaround, you can hack it or use some third party programs to write to the media folder.
The problem, as I understand it, is that the iPhone only has room for one flash chip, not two. This means that instead of using two 8 gig chips to give the iPhone 16 gigs, they need to use a single 16 gig chip. The iPod touch, on the other hand, has room for two chips. That's why the cost-to-added-gigs ratio is different.
"Stumble before you crawl"
9) Non-removable battery. The last 5 years tells us that no one cares. Over time more and more electronics manufactures are going to start doing this. There's really no need anymore to change the battery. The designed lifespan on the current generation of batteries is 3-5 years, which is just about the same as the designed lifespan for the devices themselves. Letting you add more storage to something that's basically a storage device makes little business sense. 10) Costs $500, much more than cheaper, more open-devices do. for example?
> 1) Requires iTunes.
There are 3rd party apps capable of loading music on iPods.
> 2) Doesn't work with Linux.
There are Linux apps capable of loading music on iPods.
> 3) Is laden with DRM.
Only if you purchase music from the iTunes Store, and then only if you purchase the DRMed tracks as the Store includes DRM free tracks.
> 4) Doesn't support popular codecs like OGG.
Contrary to Slashdot believe, OGG is not popular.
> 5) ONLY supports iTunes Music Store and not other, cheaper services.
iPods are able to work with Amazon's online store and any others that sell MP3s.
> 6) Doesn't allow simple drag-and-drop access to copy music.
You can drag any song you wish from the library to copy your music to the iPod or you can use the autosync feature.
> 7) Software is locked down on the device.
There is a Linux distro available for iPods.
> 8) Non-removable storage.
There are many guides on iPod drive replacement on the web.
> 9) Non-removable battery.
There are many guides on iPod battery replacement on the web.
> 10) Costs $500, much more than cheaper, more open-devices do.
Then please list any sub $499 32GB flash touch screen device that is more cheaper and more "open".
The originating poster was speaking of the USB Mass Storage Device class. Other devices of this class include USB flash memory sticks, iPod Classics, and any plain HDD-only device that interfaces with a computer through USB. Usage of such a device is supported by most computers with USB ports without installation of any special drivers.
The iPod Touch and the iPhone is not a device of this class unless such a workaround is installed for the firmware that is already preinstalled onto the device.