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When Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) introduced its highly marketed and -- at the time -- much-coveted iPhone this summer, I was not among the masses waiting in line or standing by on the Internet to buy one the minute the clock struck 6 pm ET.
I had concluded, quite reluctantly, that at US$600 it was too expensive. Besides, the Internet access would be too slow for my FIOS (fiber optic service)-spoiled taste, and I would have to pay a hefty fee to leave Verizon.
Still, I longed for the device: I'm a sucker for anything iPod. Also, I use my video iPod at the gym, and the new, larger screen on the iPhone seemed worth it for that reason alone.
As it turned out, it was a good thing I waited. A few months later, Apple not only dropped the price of its phone, but also rolled out the iPod touch, a stripped-down version of the iPhone sporting the screen size for which I had been lusting.
At $400, the touch ain't cheap -- but for the most part, it delivers as promised. It's designed by Apple, so it is quite cute -- slimmer than earlier devices with a screen that is downright soothing to look at.
iPhone Refugees
Indeed, my path to iPod touch ownership was a fairly common one. Most of us -- judging from bulletin boards, blogs and so forth -- had been close to shelling out the money for the iPhone. Alex Nelson, an account executive in Washington, DC, for instance, told MacNewsWorld he considered getting the iPhone when it originally came out "but the $599 price point and the fact that the service provider was AT&T (NYSE: T) turned me off from the product."
He opted for the iPod touch with little hesitation, though, when he realized it offered the same features he was looking for with the iPhone: WiFi with the Safari browser, wireless music downloads and the touchscreen interface.
Not being able to link up with work e-mail 
has been Nelson's biggest problem with the iPod touch.
"I know that it was not marketed as a mobile phone or BlackBerry, but I thought that adding e-mail to a program with Web-browsing should have been an easy feature for Apple to include," he said.
"It took me several days to get comfortable with the touchscreen interface," Nelson added.
Battery Life
As for me, the major drawback with the iPod touch is a problem I thought Apple had vanquished several versions ago. The battery drains awfully fast.
Also, its capacity is surprisingly limited for an iPod. Technically, at 8 gigabytes I can hold a radio station's worth of songs -- it is the movies that take up so much space.
Right now, my iPod touch is nearly full holding just two movies, perhaps 10 or 15 television shows, and 25 songs.
The Best - for Now
For now, I don't mind cycling out content as needed, given the lack of a viable alternative. From where I stand, this is the best iPod product Apple has released.
I've played with a friend's iPhone and my original suspicion that it would be too balky speed-wise was correct. Then there's the dependency on AT&T.
Apple did its early adopters an ill turn this year when it cut back the price of the iPhone. Sure, it's a for-profit company, but I would have expected exclusivity for a little longer.
I didn't get burned buying the iPhone when it first came out -- but I just escaped. I suspect I'll get annoyed if Apple introduces an iPod touch in the next month or so that executes its premise better than my version does.
For instance, Nelson finds the WiFi connectivity adequate to meet his needs. Me though? More often than not, I haven't been able to connect to iTunes when I wanted to. Web-browsing is equally hit and miss, of course, as is accessing YouTube.
The screen, though, makes up for almost every flaw. I don't know what Apple did to accomplish it, but there's almost no glare on the screen -- I can use it in just about every environment except direct sunlight and still get a perfect picture.
This product also seems to be a little hardier than earlier iPod versions. Apple shows no mercy to customers that need to repair their iPods -- something I have learned firsthand -- so I was horrified when I dropped my iPod touch the third time I used it in the gym.
No problem, though, it still works. I expect it to keep working just fine -- at least until I see it retailing for $250 to lure Christmas shoppers and wind up throwing it across the room.
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