May 11, 2009

I Love iPod Touch

Gary Eckstein General Technology 2 apple ipod, consumer electronics, electronics, Internet, iphone, ipod, ipod touch, mobile, skype, twitter, wireless

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For various clients in the past I have provided business cases for technology including the assessment and procurement of competing Information Technology products. Apple products have been a part of the assessment particularly in education based organizations. The Apple products have generally competed against PC variants such as Dell, HP, Lenovo and Acer and the total cost of ownership (across the product lifecycle) of Apple products has always exceeded that of the PCs. I have therefore wondered as to the attraction of Apple products to consumers!

Skype on iPod Touch

Mothers Day in Australia (yesterday) and I decided to give my wife something she had been speaking about for ages, an Apple iPod touch . I was dubious about the ‘cost to benefit’ ratio that the iPod Touch would realise as they are not cheap! Trying to justify the cost I calculated that international phone call bills will be reduced through using the iPod Touch for Skype calls. Without having used an iPod I was still battling to justify the cost, until I used it!

Positive Review for Apple iPod Touch

I now understand the attraction to Apple products. They are solid, look and feel great and are really user friendly. The screen of the iPod Touch is fantastic in clarity, colour and even the touch screen works perfectly. O.k., it did take awhile to load iTunes onto the PC and register the iPod but now that that is done, loading applications, music and video is quick and simple. The most impressive of all was how simple it was to get the iPod connected to, and working with, the home wi-fi. Using the Safari Internet browser on the iPod is great for Web surfing particularly on social networking sites such as Twitter and YouTube. The touch screen keyboard is a little small for lots of typing but is fine for minimal typing.

A Two Year Old can use an iPod

So, getting back to the cost versus benefit……Again, the iPod is not inexpensive however my conclusion is that, for home use, the iPod is awesome; even my two year old daughter is enjoying playing the piano on the iPod as is my four year old learning from playing a memory game. I am not however convinced that this is the best non-phone mobile device for business use. Perhaps that conclusion will change as I get more use from the iPod.

2 Comments

Hugo
May 12, 2009 @ 09:47:31
It's mother's day, you're contemplating the 'cost to benefit' ratio of a present.
I appreciate your take on these things from a business perspective, and in that context it makes a lot of sense.
When it's a gift though your understanding of some of the finer points may be lacking. When it's a gift for your wife [and you can afford it -that's the real important one-] you go *kiss kiss* "Enjoy your iPod, honey" *kiss kiss*. It's a gift. You either want to give a gift or you don't.
I'd love to have an iPhone myself, they cost too much [although the interface is just fabulous]. I can't wrap my head around a $500 price tag. It's just too much. I spent $160 on my cell phone. That was the cheapest cell phone at the time [7 years ago]. I still use the thing, although it's getting a little long in the tooth.
Maybe some day.
- Gary
  May 12, 2009 @ 20:00:17
  Fair point Hugo! I’m certainly with you on the mobile/cell phone side of things…..if it does what you want it to do then there is nothing wrong with old and/or basic phones (let’s face it…..even the basic phones usually have more features than most people use).
  Thanks for the comment.

Gary Eckstein

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