The new iPod Touch is awesome. It’s got two cameras (even though the rear one isn’t the same of the iPhone’s), it’s got an all new sleek and thinner design, it’s got a Retina Display. Unlike many people said on Twitter today, it’s the same Retina Display you’re used to on the iPhone 4. The camera is different, the display’s the same. The new iPod Touch is one hell of a music player.
Or, it’s not a music player at all. It takes photos and HD videos, it’s got a state-of-the-art display perfect for reading and gaming - Steve Jobs himself said the iPod Touch outsells both Sony and Nintendo combined.
It’s time to stop thinking about the iPod Touch as an iPod.
Don’t get me wrong: it is an iPod. But not like the iPod Classic, or the Nano, or the Shuffle. It’s a multi-purpose iOS device that can do everything the iPhone can, except making phone calls. It doesn’t come with contract free, it’s got a lower price point. It can run (almost) all the same apps the iPhone 4 can, but it’s not tied to a specific usage field anymore. You can say the iPhone is primarly a phone. You can’t say the same thing about the iPod Touch. Not anymore.
Sure, there were iPod Touches before. Personally, my first iPhone OS device was a first-gen iPod Touch 16GB - I still have it here under my desk. The latest one, though, introduces so many tech bumps that it’s impossible to think of it as a music player. It could be a low-cost digital camera, or a portable mini eBook reader. Perhaps a mobile device to surf the web, or a video player. You can’t define the iPod Touch.
Apple knows that. In fact, the iPod Touch is one of their best selling products ever. Today, they said they’re even outselling Sony and Nintendo. Why doesn’t the fact that Nintendo still hasn’t realized they’re going to have to rethink their product line surprise me? Because console makers are stubborn. Videogames have a huge market (really, there’s no doubt about that) but the App Store has been biting their ass for 2 years now. It started slowly, now people seem to aknowledge that, indeed, they prefer a multi-purpose device that can play great games to a single-purpose console. I’m not talking about geeks and hardcore gamers. I’m talking about real people, those that make the numbers.
If you can’t define something, is it safe to say that it can be anything you want? Strangely enough, Nintendo seems to think so.
