iPod Touch, should I get one?

[beth_leonard]

When mrc80238was out visiting he let me fondle his iPhone for a while. Ohhhh. I've had iPhone envy for some time because some of the moms at church have them. When I show up for an event on-time, and the next earliest person shows up 10 minutes late and uses her iPhone to check e-mail while we wait for the rest of them, I develop even more iPhone envy.

Luckily, mrc80238also pointed out to me that the iPod Touch does nearly everything the iPhone does, except be a phone and have a monthly service charge. That's the main thing I didn't want with the iPhone.

I already have a cell phone. It takes pictures and costs me $5/month for all the minutes I would want to use, which is approximately 4. I see no need to pay $600+ over the next two year contract agreement for 4 minutes per month of phone time.

Nearly everywhere I go and would want to use net access has wifi (Church, Little Gym, if pre-school doesn't have it we could probably donate it to the school for less than the cost of a monthly service plan) so the iPod touch looks very tempting. I've stopped carrying a palm pilot, my old one won't hold a charge anymore, and I need to carry my calendar and contacts with me again.

With some comparison shopping, it looks like I want the iPod Touch 32GB version. The 8GB doesn't have as fast of a processor, and 40 hrs of movies with 32GB should be more than enough so I don't need 64GB. I think Amazon's price of $279 is the same as Costco's, but I should probably double-check. With our outrageous 9.25% sales tax, it's cheaper than Costco as long as Costco is $255 or more, and I seem to remember Costco being $279 too.

So, dear friends (and family) is there any reason why I shouldn't get myself an iPod Touch? It's the same price as my first Palm Pilot so many years ago. I really need to duplicate that functionality again with a mobile calendar and address book, and the iPod touch does so much more.

--Beth

Comments

[songmonk.livejournal.com]

Obviously each person's needs are different, but you seem to have written up a compelling case why the iPod Touch is right for you!

[theeidolon.livejournal.com]

As it happens, we have an iPod touch (not iPhone) that came with our
computer as some sore of promotion for free, which we pretty much
never use. Maybe we should talk... It's from this spring, so I think
it's the latest version. I think it's only 8GB though.

[kirin]

I've been quite tempted by them myself, but haven't been able to justify one given the very large overlaps with the cell phone + older 30G iPod + Nintendo DS that I already own and usually have with me. WiFi + usable web browser would sure be nice though. I'm pondering my future upgrade-path options. Unfortunately, as you touched on, trying to combine *all* the functions runs up against the very expensive smartphone service plans. (And I think you're way underestimating them at $600 for two years... I was looking at more like $2k when I last decided against getting an iPhone.)

[beth_leonard]

Yeah, I didn't feel like looking up the actual cost for a phone service plan. I knew it was 2 years of required fees, and that they were likely at least $30/month. I conservatively multiplied $30x20months and got more than $600, which is far more than I would want to spend for phone service regardless.

--Beth

[beth_leonard]

Hmmm, tempting. If you were to try it out, would you consider it to be "fast enough" for loading LJ web pages, switching between aps, running iCal, and looking up addresses? or would you more characterize it as "acceptable, yet annoying?" How much would you want for it?

--Beth

[feuervogel]

The iPhone plan starts at $70/mo, for the lowest amount of minutes. That's just over twice my base rate on AT&T.

[theeidolon.livejournal.com]

I found my fingers to be too big to easily type on the screen (or more
likely, I'm not used to it) so I've hardly used the web features at all
except to see that they work. It's sitting in a drawer not used, so it
would probably fall under "free". There's no point in having it sit
around unused for a year until it becomes obsolete...

Thank you!

[beth_leonard]

Who am I to argue with free? I'd be happy to take it off your hands whenever you get a moment to mail it. Our address is: 1264 Albion Ln, Sunnyvale, CA 94087

Thank you!
--Beth

[beth_leonard]

I can't believe anyone owns those things at those rates.
--Beth

[feuervogel]

Some people appreciate the convenience of having basically a mini computer in their pockets. Blackberries have a similar rate plan. The bulk of the price is the data service, since it automatically checks your email every 10 minutes.

[helencoleman.livejournal.com]

I think your first decision should be what type of calender do you want to use. I got the Palm compatibly so I could sync with my tutoring schedule, but Dad chose Blackberry (probably because his friends have one). There's lots out there to pick from.
mom