Is your value of $400 worth an iPod Touch?

[BlackHawk47]

These days, you have to work for $400 (most people, anyways...). I learned from working at a theme park, a bit over minimum wage, at age 16 as I am now. Spending literally a 2 week paycheck on an iPod that will become outdated in a year or more, though will last you well for a few years, doesn't seem worth it in my eyes. I would love to own an iPod Touch, but for that kind of money, I'd have to work quadruple to feel satisfied with spending so much on such a small device. It makes wonders, though... not saying it's bad, but for $400, that's a whole lot to look at.

So what do you say? For all you iPod Touch owners and those thinking about it, is your well earned $400 (work money or waiting for your once a year birthday, and I don't even get over $300 for my birthday...) worth an iPod Touch? I think the consumer's market really consumes everyone's money these days, especially Apple...

[a113524c]

Yes, it is 100% worth it.

[BlackHawk47]

I really, really like them, but the price kinda bothers me. I could definitely go for a 32 GB if it were less than $400...

[kornchild2002]

The price is expensive but that is about 2 days worth of work for me (a little over by the time you count taxes, social security, and everything else) so I can now afford to purchase a new iPod every year. That is why I didn't hesitate purchasing the iPod touch now as I know that I will get one next year if Apple changes things (besides capacity and battery life).

I do think that if I didn't have a job that or was working a minimum wage job then yes, $400 would be really expensive to fork over for a device that will be replaced next year. You can do that with any iPod model though as the 160GB iPod classic is $350 and it will just get replaced (or updated) next year as well. That is the problem with technology; it is moving too damned fast for the average consumer to keep up. New products are released almost every year so it is impossible to get products whenever the new models come out.

[DerekVOF]

I usually save up quite a while before buying a "toy" -- I've enough bills to pay without throwing my money away on the latest gadget every couple of months. However, I've been saving up those "thank you" points from my credit card for the last two years, and when I heard the rumors in late spring of the iPod Touch, I cashed 'em all in. Had just enough to pick one up. Is it worth it? Definitely - I've been spending a good 4-5 hours every day using it. Rather than twiddling my thumbs while I'm taking my dogs out, I'm scanning the web and listening to music. For me, I think it's fantastic and well worth it, even if I'm not planning on upgrading it for several years (knock on wood).

[nbabbitz]

while $400 is not an insignificant amount of money, my job enables me the freedom to go out and buy a new ipod when I feel the changes made are worth the purchase. While I think $400 is a little high for what the iTouch does I am extremely happy with the iTouch and love watching movies on its wide screen while at work on break!

[concretedreams]

Just gotta say, good for you waiting on the 32GB, wish I coulda waited. Luckily, my whole (current) media library plus photos fit on my 8GB with about 2.3G left, but the $300/$400 for 8GB/16GB "values" really are questionable right now.

I always eBay my iPods pretty fast, though... I've sold five so far since early 2006 and always had an iPod. I actually kinda rented my first 2G blue iPod mini for 7 months for $20. It went through random pothead HELL. XD

I got $150 for my 5.5G Apple refurb a couple weeks ago, not bad at ALL.

I also think just one iPod is kinda supposed to be designed for all your stuff...

[zardoz66]

I think $400 is a good price for what you get. think of all the technology behind it, and then all the support you get as well...

Sure it would be nice if it was less, but would you want it to suck more or have less support or even both?

point is there is a lot of less value devices out there, then there is iPod touch.

[Code Monkey]

For what you get, I don't think it's worth it. $400 for me is eight months of savings with the budget my family's on. For that I get what exactly?
Web surfing... I think I can do that on my computer with a 21" wide screen monitor. When I'm in public, I've usually got, at the minimum, small children with me if not one of those wife things I've heard about - probably not the best time to be catching up on the forums. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic novelty, but it's not a novelty I would actually pay extra for.
Touch interface - OK, so it's like watching ST:TNG finally come to life in your hand, beyond that, uh... Nope, it's cool, but it's not worth anything extra.
WS video - this is actually a good feature of the touch, but after seeing even the "fixed" ones, it's obviously not that good of a screen. After two years with a 5G iPod, I can say that portable video has yet to impress me enough to consider it worth spending money. When the day gets here that I can have everything I TiVo downloaded to an iPod as easily as my Podcasts for *no* extra money, I'd begin to consider video on an iPod worth paying for. For now, another novelty but nothing I'll pay extra for.

So, what's that leave: an iPod with 16GB of storage for $400 but not much better footprint in my pocket than a classic at nearly half the cost and significantly better battery life. If you've got the money, it's a very neat novelty toy, but it's an economic disaster as far as value goes. With money as tight as it is for me since we moved to NY, it is cute, but not worth it at all.

[zardoz66]

It's prolly all relative on how hard it is for someone to save money. Anyone will value there money more if it's harder to save for sure...

[concretedreams]

For what you get, I don't think it's worth it. $400 for me is eight months of savings with the budget my family's on. For that I get what exactly?

There you go. The 8GB is just as bad a value, if not worse.

2055: "I think they played music once.... yeah, there was this little hole, that's how you heard the umm, music. Video was all 2-D. Imagine just... looking! at it! ytf?"

[Pina_p9]

No, $400 is absolutely ridiculous. People were complaining about the PS3 being $600. Hell, I was complaining about that price and the PS3 is kick ###.

Now $400 for this is SO not worth it. Don't get me wrong, it is AMAZING, the technology is all there, it makes even the most boring person seem cool, but I just don't see how it can be $400.

The only people that can live with it are either grown adults w/good paying jobs (congratulations btw) and spoiled kids (which are approximately 99.9% of american kids these days).

I'm much like the OP, but I go to college and have to split half of all expenses with my parents. This has helped me mature so much money-wise. I was part of that "spoiled american kid" type. But now, I watch out on what to buy. EVERYTHING that I buy, regardless if its 50 cents or $1500, I want my moneys worth. The mere fact that there is no physical volume buttons on the device is not worth it to me.

And no I am not a "touch-hater." I was in college during the keynotes presentation and then when I got home I heard about a new "phoneless iphone" I was estatic! Then I saw the price, then I saw the storage cappacity, and then I saw the missing features.

I don't know why so many here defend the touch by saying "It's just an iPod" No, that's the classic. Thats the nano. The touch was supposed to be earthshattering. If it had all/more features than the iPhone, I could live with the price.

It's not the $400 I'm worried about, it's what I'm getting for it.

[dazz87]

No, $400.00 is not worth it. Whats the point of having wifi when there is no flash support. Battery life not so great, compare to the other ipods. Battery draining when its completely off, and other issues is not worth the price. Plus at 14.82GB of space No way. Had my touch for about two weeks and it went back to BB.

[kornchild2002]

The touch was supposed to be earthshattering. If it had all/more features than the iPhone, I could live with the price.

It's not the $400 I'm worried about, it's what I'm getting for it.

Who said the iPod touch was supposed to be earth shattering? I didn't hear Apple say that we have an "earth shattering" product coming out today or anything like that. The iPod touch is just that, it is an iPod. The iPhone is for the person who wants one of the best all-in-one devices while the iPod touch is for people who want to get the media and Safari features of the iPhone without actually having to purchase an iPhone. I would love to get an iPhone but right now they are exclusive with at&t and I don't want to use that phone service. So I have a iPod touch where I can access the internet from my university campus, my house, 90% of all hotels/motels, and many fast food joints.

I think that many people downplay the importance of the iPod touch in that it really is revolutionary. People would have nothing but positive praises if the iPhone wasn't already released. That is the problem right there, people constantly compare the iPod touch to the iPhone. Both products are meant for two completely different markets. Those markets can sometimes cross each other but the iPhone is for people who first and foremost want a cellphone. People need to stop comparing the two devices then they will realize that the iPod touch is actually a good little device. It is expensive as hell but that doesn't stop it from being good. That is why I really don't trust iLounge's review of the iPod touch. They seemed to have a negative attitude going into the review with the mindset of "it's not an iPhone so meh" before ever picking up a iPod touch.

[Complexis]

I would be much more satisfied if the storage were at least 30GB. Though aside from storage, I think its worth it.

[zardoz66]

I would be much more satisfied if the storage were at least 30GB. Though aside from storage, I think its worth it.


sure, but would you pay another $400 for that extra storage, that's the cost of that amount of flash...

[Code Monkey]

sure, but would you pay another $400 for that extra storage, that's the cost of that amount of flash...No it's not. Maybe it is if you just buy a 32GB unit without the benefits of volume purchasing, but you can easily slap multiples of smaller units in there for a reasonable price, certainly not more than about $192 *total* for the memory. The issue isn't so much the cost of flash but rather Apple's obsessive fetish with thinness. Apple won't make a better performing player if it means they can't meet their so-called style requirements. It's reaching the point of no longer making any sense.

[nbabbitz]

I wouldn't really say it's Apple's obsessive fetish with style, but rather the consumer's fetish with style...if style isn't part of what you are looking for why not go get the Archos?

[Code Monkey]

I wouldn't really say it's Apple's obsessive fetish with style, but rather the consumer's fetish with style...if style isn't part of what you are looking for why not go get the Archos?It's Apple's issue with thinness. You can make an Apple styled product without insisting it's 0.31" thick at the max. I've yet to meet anyone declaring this new insistence on keeping the products around a centimeter thick was *why* they bought an iPod.

It increases the cost and decreases performance, and it's at the point of getting stupid.

[nbabbitz]

personally i love how thin it is, and i know many many others do as well...but this is not the only reason Apple went to flash mem...it is also more stable and they recieved a ton of complaints about the ipod hard drive not being able to withstand any sort of shock without damage...like people have said in other threads, the itouch isnt for everyone, and if having more than 16gigs of storage is essential then i guess you would be better off waiting until they increase the flash memory in a future model

[BlackHawk47]

The only people that can live with it are either grown adults w/good paying jobs (congratulations btw) and spoiled kids (which are approximately 99.9% of american kids these days).

Taking a look at my situation, at age 16, do I look like one of the majority of 99.9% of kids who are spoiled as hell? No... I'd look better at statistics, with my estimate being 50%...

Nonetheless, though adults with high paying jobs do have the freedom to spend money like that with a less look on the value of $400, there are many others who save every penny from their paychecks that go for needs, with a small amount saved on the side for a want, like an iPod.

Otherwise, I agree partly that depending on your job and position in society in either a rich or spoiled family, or a low paying job or a middle class family who pays for other things, a value of $400 is drastically different.

[Fred333]

I would say it would be worth it for me. But then again I love the having the "new phone".

[kornchild2002]

It's Apple's issue with thinness. You can make an Apple styled product without insisting it's 0.31" thick at the max. I've yet to meet anyone declaring this new insistence on keeping the products around a centimeter thick was *why* they bought an iPod.

It increases the cost and decreases performance, and it's at the point of getting stupid.

No offense but I take it that you work for Apple and have seen Steve pacing in his office going back and forth saying "Dammit, this damned iPod is way too thick! We need a much thinner unit!" Then you hear his design team come back and say "But sir, we can't make the device anymore thinner than it already is. We are at the mercy of LCD thickness now."

You get my point. Apple has always made their iPod thinner with each generation release but that is common practice. Microsoft has made their 80GB Zune actually thinner than their 30GB model released last year. Rio continually made their products smaller with each successive release. So Apple isn't the only one trying to release thin products here.

[concretedreams]

In the year 2002, retrospectively crapass 2G black and white screened iPods with JUST a tad more capacity retailed at price points starting at $100 above the touch's. What were the "values" those people got exactly?

The values of HINDSIGHT and PRICING, and by 2005, a PERMANENTLY DEAD BATTERY. Yeah, it's pretty cold. Oh, don't worry though. It'll happen again.

...but it was all true! I remember thinking, "my god, the USE! The 10(!!!) and 20(!!!!!!)GB capacities! The interface...how EASY! $500!!!!!!!! *throws glass at door* THOSE CRUEL, CRUEL CORPORATE SCUM!!! They can't charge that, it's not right!! I guess THIS is why Apple never made it!"

Now, with stage one in the phaseout of hard drives on certain new flagship models underway, we can all probably say "missed ya!" to wild iPod premiums once more. What if the inevitable 32GB ends up at $449, or even $499? It wouldn't be ANYTHING new and everyone KNOWS it!

Conversely, the Classic has NEVER been cheaper, implying obsolescence to the minds of the economically "elite". It's just the nature of the materialistic beast.

[Code Monkey]

You get my point. Not really. We watched them make a 1G nano that had "thinner than a pencil" as it's *lead* selling point in the keynote and when you visited the web page for the product when it was new. It also was a step back in everything but the addition of a colour screen from the mini it replaced.

They hyped the touch similarly this year. Apple loves to brag how thin their devices are, it's the one thing they unquestionably lead the industry with, and when that thinness clearly had a sacrifice, they tend to mumble something under their breath about the lame battery life and capacity and hope you don't notice.

If you can do something like the 2G nano where you deliver industry standard battery life, capacity, function AND tiny size all the while actually undercutting the competition on cost, I say, "HELL YEAH!". But when the only thing you're leading the industry on is the neat-but-pointless touch interface and better-than-Microsoft's-but-still-needlessly-crippled wi-fi, who cares? They should have taken the "hit" of a few millimeters and made a better product instead.

[zardoz66]

ok, thickness, lets say is does not add any or even that much thickness to add 16GB more. and if the drvice cost was 459.00 for 32GB would you buy it?