It's Been a Week

Last Friday I received my new iPod Touch, and I've had a fair amount of time to really evaluate what it does and how well it does it. Do I feel good about my purchase? Hell yeah!

It's fair to say that I've given it a good test. I've become familiar with the iTunes interface (which is what links and syncs it to my computer), and I've downloaded several apps (all free ones so far). Some of them were amazingly cool, some were just very handy, and of course--A few sucked and were removed. I've even gone so far as to "jailbreak" the thing, which is what the hacker community calls it when you unlock your iTouch or iPhone (they're almost identical) by re-writing the built in firmware that operates them. The firmware is basically like hard-wired software--It's the operating system that's contained inside. When you do that, it gives them the ability to download things from places other than The Mother Ship (Apple's iTunes site).

The built-in wireless runs circles around the Dell Axim PDA that I had previously. This thing connects instantly! The built-in browser works totally flawlessly, giving you the ability to zoom in and out at will just by gesturing on the touch screen.

The touch screen itself is worthy of a mention, but words can't do it justice, so I'll move on.

The fact that it has some sort of leveling gadget built it comes into play in several of the apps. One of them actually is a level if you can believe that! Here's a pic I stole from their site:



You can even play an electronic version of the game of Labyrinth on it by holding it and tilting it back and forth to guide the steel marble through the maze of walls and holes. It's much better than the original wooden box version of the game that you put on your lap. The coolest "useless" app by far is the Zippo lighter. It puts a full size lighter onscreen that you actually open and light. When the flame is burning, the flame actually behaves like a real flame, moving back and forth when you tilt the iPod. Bizarre! If nothing else, it puts back the possibility of using a flame in concert when it's time for the crowd to signal an encore instead of just a lit cell phone screen. Check out an excellent YouTube video of it HERE and you'll see what I mean.

Apparently it also contains some sort of built-in GPS device, because when you go to Google Maps (an included app) it asks if it can use your current location as your point of origin. It's pretty accurate too.

As I mentioned earlier, I unlocked it, or "jailbreaked" it as they say. (Hey, don't look at me--I know it's bad grammar, but that's the term they use.) I did it a couple days ago, but restored it back to factory settings again last night. I wouldn't have even attempted it unless I knew I could restore it with the factory firmware. Enough of that. I determined that there is no reason for me to get apps from anywhere other than the approved Apple site. They were riddled with ads and even slowed down my internet access. Nah, I'll stick with the straight and narrow on this one. It works great and apps for these things are dirt cheap anyway. Most of the apps that you actually pay for are only 99 cents anyway, so why gamble? Being the "tweaker" I am, I had to try it though...

Sorry I'm gushing, but everything about this thing impresses me. When you own something like this you can truly understand what drove Apple stock through the roof in the last couple of years--It's cutting edge usability! Whether it's for holding music or pictures, or running any of the myriad of little applications that make life easier, it's great.

OMG, this blog post looks like a public service announcement!

(We now return you to your regularly-scheduled program)