After a week of use we thought it was time to get round to writing our review of the iPod Touch. Being one of the Apple fans who watched blogs and coverage of the 5th September Keynote address as it happened and who then rushed their credit cards to Apple Online the last few weeks have been a long wait.
First we had the fact that although we pre-ordered the device others were able to purchase the items over a week before us.
Our sadness and dismay turned to relief when we discovered that many of these devices had screen issues and the whole week 37, 38 debate started. It was at this point we were one of the first site to discover that Apple had altered the product features to remove information about adding and editing calendar events.
Well after 3 weeks of slight anxiety over what we had ordered and an almost daily compulsion to check our online status the touch arrived. A week 38 no less and we are very happy. The device is possibly better than we first imagined.
The Screen
The Screen is amazing. Being in the UK we are yet to get our hands or see in real life the iPhone so have nothing to compare the Touch screen but I have to say it is impressive. The resolution is excellent and personally I think the colour clarity is excellent !
The Touch Screen
The Touch is amazing. Everyone we show the ipod to wants one. The simplicity of gestures and navigation make the device instantly useable.
The Internet
We had no problem connecting the device to a number of different wireless networks. The iTunes store worked perfectly and downloads were easily imported in to our main iTunes install. Safari really impresses. We set ourselves the challenge of only using the Touch to access Facebook throughout the day. Facebook has a dedicated iPhone version of their site that also works with the Touch. The experience was brilliant. Navigation and speed were great and data entry was very easy using the built in keyboard. To be honest it took about 30 minutes of use to get used to the keyboard but once confident we were able to fire out messages in seconds.
The Applications
All of the applications on the device are great with the exception of the inability to add and edit calendar devices. There have been a number of reports on Digg.com that Steve Jobs has referred to this issue as a ‘bug’ but it sounds like a strange description of the issue to me. There has been a suggestion that the next update will bring the all important calendar + button. It does seem nonsensical to have the ability to add a contact but not an event.
That aside I think the application support is the source of my biggest frustration with the Touch. Personally I think the Touch is an amazing product, it is a spectacular piece of innovation that offers a very usable interface with excellent video and audio outputs. The real negative is I just feel I am not getting enough out of it. Perhaps Apple are using it to create a thirst for the iPhone, if this is the case it is working for me ! I feel the touch at present is like having a Mac Book Pro but I am restricted to four applications. Why is there no email ? I can access my webmail in Safari and it works well but why not give users the mail app ? I have heard people explain this off that the Touch is a media player not a PDA. Well the iPhone is a phone but it has media capabilities. That excuse just sounds like a lame reason for not creating a really powerful and useful device.
If Apple opened up the ability to add 3rd party application or even allowed us to install Apple mail at a small charge they would have one very popular device. Rumour has it this will come when Leopard is released but I am not convinced. I think the real reason for the limits is to stop the Touch taking too much away from the iPhone. I was at a meeting today and the date of the next meeting was being discussed. The Touch was considerable easier to navigate than my Pocket PC but I couldn’t add the date…. It instantly occurred to me I could if I had an iPhone 
Do any of the negatives put me off the Touch ? NO !!! Even when my iPhone arrives the Touch will definitely remain. Firstly the extra 8GB of storage is essential for video and paradoxically I am thinking I will keep the Touch for media and the iPhone for Coms… Perhaps Apple knows me too well.
If you are not considering the iPhone or are locked to a contract then the Touch really should be on your christmas card list. It is a real joy to use. Apple have invested a lot of time developing the GUI and it hard to find the flaws.
A must buy !
