My iPod touch is the 16gb version (8gb and 32gb are available).
I have now loaded 53 CDs (mostly classical), 560 photographs, and over 30 applications (software programmes) which include weather, shopping list, Radio Times, diary system, dictionary, games, and direct links to: my e mail, Wikipedia, Google, my own and several other blogs.
The unit is designated with a nominal 16gb, but I guess its own operating system takes up a certain amount leaving a net 14.52gb free. So far I have 60% of this still remaining, so I could more than double my cd collection.
If you have a cd with a major symphony with another item thrown in to fill the cd the only way to ensure you play only the symphony is to isolate this into a separate “playlist”.
There are hundreds of applications that can be downloaded direct onto the iPod. Initially you have to set up an account with iTunes and through this you can organize and purchase music and download your own cds then connect up the iPod to the computer and it loads all the changes or additions you have made. I have now got a playlist of Wogan Tog like pop music that would play for 1.2days!
I have established that I can blog from the iPod touch, but was unable to upload photos. I think there is a way of doing this by setting up a special Blogger account and your post is sent to them and they post it to your blog, but I will have to set a day (or perhaps a week) aside to explore this further.
This is by far the most user-friendly piece of computer related equipment I have ever come across. The main drawback is of course that you can only get onto the Internet through a local wifi connection, and I suppose if this were available you would use the proper computer anyway, although I do find it handy to use the iTouch if I’m watching tele when I wouldn’t normally be bothered to get up and use the pc to Google something. All this can be solved by acquiring the iPhone which has Internet connection wherever you have a phone signal, and also includes a camera, but at the moment this is exclusive to O2 and they have no signal in my home area; there are rumours that their exclusivity expires in October and it may be that Vodaphone et al will be able to market the iPhone. If this comes to pass I will certainly have one.
It is clear that this post was written during a Steve Jobs moment. As PCs and Macs draw closer together in compatability, functionality and appearance such events are becoming rarer, but the symptoms are unmistakable. Let's use a marine metaphor: the gin-soaked captain, battered by the idiosyncrasies of the Microsoft tramp steamer he is guiding (uncertainly) towards port is almost run down by a sleek, speedy passenger liner with ten swimming pools, painted in brilliant white and called the SS Mackintosh. The captain of the latter (formerly a partner in a PR firm), as an apology, invites the tramp's main man aboard where dressed in his oily rags he moves from one level of luxury to another. Returned to his tramp he opens the sea-cock, scuttles the ship, swims ashore and swears he will only command passenger ships in the future. Seven or eight years ago the metaphor would have been extended to include the subsequent period of betrayal where the ex-tramp man finds his new vessel can only go round in circles and cannot enter 90% of the world's ports, even though it does (or doesn't) do these things with style. These days the ships are closer to parity.
ReplyDeleteTwelve years ago I switched from the tramp steamer to the SS Mackintosh and was astonished to find how much easier life had become. Now I'm bashing up the Channel in the mad March days, as before. Captaining all those swimming pools would have required me to be of independent means.
As I said, a Steve Jobs moment.
BB - A complex metaphor indeed which led me to Googling Steve Jobs and re-acquainting myself with the fascinating history of Microsoft and Apple.
ReplyDeleteI would convert to Apple if I could afford it. My daughter Jill had such aspirations recently as she will need a new laptop when she starts her new job in January, but on checking prices she had to come back to the real world.