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."

Comments

Dammit, now I need another excuse

[_xeno_]

Dammit, I had said that I didn't want an iPhone, but would like a device that was like the iPhone without the phone part.

Then Apple released the iPod Touch.

So I updated my excuse to be that it didn't have enough storage space, that I wanted at least 30GB of space before I'd make the leap.

And now they've released a 32GB version.

Now I need a new excuse explaining why I'm not going to get one...

(Seriously, though, I do intend to grab one eventually - it sounds like exactly something I'd want - but not quite yet.)

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

[SargentDU]

Just justify not having one because they cost too much and you do not have the money allocated for it. :)

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

[Poltras]

My god are you a fucking loser.

Will you cradle your iPhone in your arms at night?
Mine is named Sammy.

Will you finally feel 'special' when you have one?
It is my bestest friend, and I know he will not stab me in my back. Sammy talks to me, though I sometimes disregard his advice.

Will you sit around coffee houses desperately using it as visibly as possible hoping someone cute will strike up a conversation with you? My sister is cute, and she always interrupts my conversations with Sammy...

Apple really needs to include a 'L' tatoo, with a perfectly chosen font of course, for the pathetic fucks who buy iPhones to stick on their foreheads. I will tattoo Sammy's name over my heart soon. That's what friends do, right?

If love could be sent using SMS, I'd send you some.

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

[Yokaze]

1) Works with libgpod based programs (e.g. gtkpod or Amarok)
2) Which is developed primarily on Linux
3) Which you don't have to employ, but allows you to use the online shop with the most extensive range of products
4) Ogg isn't a popular codec. At best, it is popular container format, which it isn't neither.
5) Works with every store, which provides MP3s or AAC, which contary to Ogg Vorbis ARE popular formats.
6) See 1)
7) For which, for some unknown reasons, exist a very active developer community, and a shitload open source software. Maybe even more than for any other portable player, thankyouverymuch.
8), 9), 10) Point taken, but mainly a matter of taste.

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

[brass1]

1) Requires iTunes. Not quite. For upgrades, probably. That's a lot like complaining that your car requires tires, though. iTunes and the iPod are a single package, not two different systems tied together.

Doesn't work with Linux. Only if you don't want it to.

Is laden with DRM. Only if you want it to be.

Doesn't support popular codecs like OGG. I object to the use of "popular codecs" and OGG in the same sentence.

ONLY supports iTunes Music Store and not other, cheaper services. wrong.

6) Doesn't allow simple drag-and-drop access to copy music. I believe manual music management was implemented for the Touch and the iPhone in 7.6, but I don't recall exactly. You've always been able to drag and drop into a play list (say, a master playlist that only syncs to your ipod...).

7) Software is locked down on the device. oh? A velvet rope is not lock down.

8) Non-removable storage.
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?

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

[theurge14]

> 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".

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

[Paradise Pete]

It's odd that most people are willing to pay $20,000 for a car they drive 30 minutes a day

The problem with that comparison is that spending $20,000 on a car is one of the stupidest things that young people do. It's already an absurd amount of money, and if they figured out how much it actually cost them in future, if they would instead invest some of that money, then the decision to buy that car is completely brain-damaged.

So then what your argument is saying is essentially "If you're so stupid that you would do X, then how can you not do Y, which is not nearly as stupid."

Re:Dammit, now I need another excuse

[The Relentless]

Apple really needs to include a 'L' tatoo, with a perfectly chosen font of course, for the pathetic fucks who buy iPhones to stick on their foreheads.

Hmmm. I bought my iPhone to use as a phone, surf the web, and watch vids. I never once considered sticking it to my forehead. Does the new 16gb version come with some kind of adhesive to make this possible?

Who cares? It's just a product refresh!

[jmorris42]

Seriously, who fscking cares if Apple is doing a normal product refresh? I bet Dell updates the memory/hdd/etc on serveral of it's products every week, don't see that making frontpage news on Slashdot. It even scrolled across foxnews for God's sake, how insane is that? Has everyone drunk that much of Steve's acid spiked Kool-Aid?

This isn't a new product, it is just a ramp in the flash. Something EVERY flash based product does several times per year as prices and capacity get better. It is like announcing water is still wet.

Re:I'm waiting

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

It also indicates...

[IBBoard]

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.

What it also indicates is that people are willing to pay extortionate amounts for flashy bits of gadget from Apple. Still.

$500 is ~£250. I'm in the UK and bought a house in October. House prices are high at the moment, and the price of an iPhone is a third of my monthly mortgage! Hmmmm, three iPhones/iPods or one mortgage payment? Oh the tough decisions.

Re:It also indicates...

[Anonymous Coward]

Not apples fault you own a cheap house... ;)

Re:Flash memory prices

[The Only Druid]

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.

Re:Capacity Isn't The iPhone's Problem

[sl0ppy]

i drop my poor iphone all of the time. it has a ton of scratches and marks all over it. it still functions just as well, and has continually been a workhorse.

i've only had one problem, and that's lockup at a pub i visit often. unfortunately, every iphone user locks up there as well.

Re:I'm waiting

[Anonymous Coward]

Even better, you can hack it and then put a file server on it! (i have both AFPd and SSHd installed on my iPhone. I'm waiting for someone to port SAMBA for my windows friends)

Re:32 GB of flash?!

[moderatorrater]

You know, when you say "$499 for an iPod Touch" it sounds like a lot It sounds like a soliciting charge just waiting to happen.

Re:I'm waiting

[toleraen]

The iPod Touch does not use a hard drive to store data. It's flash memory based.

Seriously, how nit-picky do you need to get? Do you remind people that they're not really burning a DVD, but merely heating the dye on the disc?

Re:I'm waiting

[jx100]

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.