Apple’s iPod Touch : the Z review

iPod Touch from My Sweet 2

Note: These two successive posts on the iPod Touch are part of my Blog-O-rama column last Monday entitled “She Says, He says on the iPod Touch .”

MR. Z SAYS : Given a choice between an Asus EEE and an iPod Touch, the iPod had to win – love Apple’s products, and couldn’t bear to support Windoze 🙂 The fact that I REALLY wanted to see one myself had nothing to do with my choice, I assure you. The hardest part in selecting an iPod Touch was choosing a size, and an inscription. Some selfish part of me couldn’t let you have an iPod with double the storage of my iPhone, but I broke down and bought the most iPod I could afford. Lucky you.

The inscription was more difficult. Had to be memorable, and personal, yet something you could show others, as well. I obsessed over it, a bit. Mostly because it was free, and this one little detail made it impossible to resist. Who can resist free, after all? Damn Apple and their free engraving.

When the iPod arrived, it was already in gift packaging from Apple – clever origami folds in white, surrounding the black iPod package itself. Reminiscent of Chinese take-out cartons, a nice touch of whimsy. Glad the ribbon was elastic, so evidence of my tampering (“personalizing”) wouldn’t show too obviously.

After handling an iPod Touch, where the entire glass is your interface, it’s difficult to return to the click wheel. I’ve actually come to appreciate the iPod Touch more than my iPhone, at this point. I get all that screen real estate to play with – YouTube, internet, maps, without anyone INTERRUPTING me with their prosaic texts and inane phone calls. Who needs the outside world? Let it be invisible, like my wi-fi tether to whatever I want on the interwebz.

The genius of the Touch’s multi-touch display has to be experienced – words are simply inadequate. a flick of your finger, and the page slides and scrolls in response to your whim. Tilt the iPod, and watch the video rotate to keep pace. Zoom in and out with a simple pinch of the screen. Cover flow is genius with this screen. One of the most impressive features is the lack of pixelation as you zoom in and out..the screen blurs briefly, a transitional effect borrowed from cameras and binoculars, to accentuate the zooming feature as the screen focus shifts in response.

Browsing is simple, with the ability to save multiple browser windows easily, and switch between them with a flick of your finger. Input text with an onscreen QWERTY keyboard. iTunes will import and transfer your contacts and bookmarks if you like, for use on the iPod. Text input is fairly intuitive, with an thoughtful magnifying glass effect as you run your finger over text, for cursor movement in text windows.

Things to be concerned about with the Touch – protection is key. Get a case to keep it in one piece. Lose that beautiful display to damage, it can be a bit pricey to replace.