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iPod touch Apple Cripples iPod Touch Calendar

An open letter to Steve Jobs:

I have read hundreds of comments from iPod Touch customers who are upset about Apple dropping the ability to edit calendar information one week after it went on sale. After reading every one of these comments, I have some observations and conclusions.

First, I am not sure that you are making the correct decision to remove this ability from the iPod Touch, and I think now seems like a really bad time to do it. iPod Touch is a breakthrough product, and you had the chance to 'go for it' this holiday season. iPod Touch is so far ahead of the competition, and yet now it offers the same features as the rest of the iPod line. It benefits both Apple and every iPod Touch user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPod Touch 'tent', especially internationally where the iPhone is not yet available. I strongly believe eliminating this particular feature will not help you do just that this holiday season.

Second, being in technology for 20+ years I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and yet it seems weird that someone who bought a product before an imaginary cutoff date misses that one feature of the same operating system they were promised or whatever. This may be life in the technology lane, but it doesn't have to be. If I wait for the next feature addition or to buy the new improved model, I'll miss out on a great technology product because this was already something better and less expensive than any other products on the horizon. The good news is that if I buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple is supposed to do, I know that with a little encouragement and a well written email, I can expect years of useful and satisfying service from them starting before the product even ships.

Third, even though you are making the wrong decision to needlessly cripple the iPod Touch, and even though the technology road is bumpy, you need to do a better job taking care of your early iPod Touch customers as you aggressively go after new iPhone ones with a better feature set. Your early customers trusted you to deliver on your advertised specs, and you must live up to that trust with your actions in moments like these.

Therefore, I trust that you will decide to offer every iPod Touch customer who has or will purchase an iPod Touch from either Apple or a reseller, and who is not asking for any other sort of consideration, the simple privilege of being able to add and edit calendar information, something that has been available on a handheld device since the advent of the Newton. I hope that details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple's website in the near future. You can bet that I will stay tuned.

I want you to do the right thing for your valued iPod Touch customers. You have disappointed a great number of us, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple customers.

John Doe
Apple Customer
 
Apple is really becoming annoying!
Well I have no plan for iPhone. And now no plan for Touch, either.
 
In the MacRumors news forum, a new thread: Apple's Joswiak on the iPhone, iPod Touch, 3rd Party Apps:

Apple takes a neutral stance - they're not going to stop anyone from writing apps, and they're not going to maliciously design software updates to break the native apps, but they're not going to care if their software updates accidentally break the native apps either.
Click to expand...

I dunno. Sounds like they're maliciously breaking their own native apps already! ha ha.

At least the hack-door is open though. Full support via SDK would be far better imo.
 
Cancelled order.

I decided to cancel my order.

I am not in the US, so can't buy the iPhone. However, I don't really WANT the iPhone. I want the wiPod. Putting aside the ridiculousness / marketing devilry involved with crippling the iCal application on the iPod,while leaving the Contacts open (you can't add Contacts to previous iPods either! So that's not a valid excuse re: iCal.), I'd like to point out that it's obnoxious of Apple not to include the other apps that are on the phone as well (notes, mail, maps, etc).

Arguing that those apps aren't needed on the Pod, because it's not the phone, is just plain narrow-minded, lemming like marketing-susceptible twaddle. (sorry... :) ). Yes, the iPhone has 'always' on connectivity, and therefore makes those apps easier to use when no wifi is available. However, not too many laptops/computers have always on connectivity, but they all have similar apps. Hence why we're always lookin' for wifi! The iPhones/Pods are computers. Not putting software on them (that, in this case anyway, everyone KNOWS is already built/works on the iPhone) is pure 'maximize the profit' marketing crap. Anyone who argues otherwise, (who doesn't work in marketing for apple), is clearly not able to see that they're being taken for a ride. You don't have to buy the product, or you can, based on the features within, but arguing that it 'makes sense' from a consumer point of view, just doesn't make sense. It 'makes sense' from a corporate point of view (arguably, though possibly not, depending on the backlash) of maximzing profits.

Why would you guys support that? As people buying this stuff, we should ALWAYS be pushing corporations to do better by us. And before someone jumps on the slippery slope, and says well "then why don't you argue they should include everything free, blah, blah, blah" -- Remember that, in this case, the software is already built!

As I said, I've cancelled my order until I see the apps, or a hack that won't get reversed on the first or any subsequent update.
 
Check the front page should clear this thread up:

GearLog relays some comments by Apple’s vice president of Hardware Product Marketing, Greg Joswiak.

As has been known, Joswiak confirms that the iPod Touch and iPhone use the same software platform -- "they're both running OS X on basically the same hardware".

The iPod Touch does not have Bluetooth (despite images floating around the internet) and there are no games coming for the iPod Touch for now.

Of interest, Joswiak comments on 3rd party application development:

Apple takes a neutral stance - they're not going to stop anyone from writing apps, and they're not going to maliciously design software updates to break the native apps, but they're not going to care if their software updates accidentally break the native apps either.

http://www.gearlog.com/2007/09/apples_joswiak_we_dont_hate_ip.php

Things are looking goooood
 
ksolano said:
Holy cow, first they said yes, now they say no!?
WTF?? can anyone give us any serious answers? will we be able to input data into the ical app?
Click to expand...

Don't Panic until it is confirmed. The Apple store people say that you can input addresses as well as calendar events. Makes the old palms look pretty obsolete. Whish it had blue tooth.
 
gavd said:
I kind of agree with you about the market not being so forgiving, but I think the majority of the people who are going to pick up an iPod Touch aren't going to know whether you were ever going to be able to add calendar entries or not so I can't see it being too damaging.
Click to expand...

Well, if it becomes highly publized, or a well known fact (like through these forums for example;)) a lot of people will know about it, and will keep that in mind the next time they buy a brand new unreleased Apple product. I for one will tell people about it, because I think this represents a near bait-n-switch. Practices like this should have ended more than fifty years ago, yet lo' and behold, it's a technology company that's trying to pull them off.
 
Once you put features in a product... no matter how much you add to it... there's still going to be people complaining.. "Why can't it do this and why can't it do that?". It's an iPOD people. If Apple didn't put Wifi and Safari on it then nobody would care that it doesn't have Mail and iChat and notes because it wouldn't be used as a PDA. Just feel LUCKY that Apple put those extra cool features into it that you can enjoy... I know I'll enjoy Safari!
 
TheSpaz said:
Once you put features in a product... no matter how much you add to it... there's still going to be people complaining.. "Why can't it do this and why can't it do that?". It's an iPOD people. If Apple didn't put Wifi and Safari on it then nobody would care that it doesn't have Mail and iChat and notes because it wouldn't be used as a PDA. Just feel LUCKY that Apple put those extra cool features into it that you can enjoy... I know I'll enjoy Safari!
Click to expand...

Since when did owning an Apple product become a privilege? A proper consumer in a market economy like ours would never be satisfied, and always want more out of their purchases. In light of that, I'm very angry that the iPod Touch doesn't cook my breakfast, dispense shaving cream, end world hunger, and stop global warming:p Seriously though, it isn't just an iPod. It was built as more than that, and this seems to knock down some of that functionality.
 
I am debating canceling my order and getting an iPhone now with all this recent hacking going on! I'd love to have the phone, the camera, and blue tooth, even though EDGE would still be useless to me because I live in Canada. I'd miss having the comfort of a warranty too if I did this.

Still might be worth it for everything rolled into one device though; I hate carrying around multiple things with me everywhere I go!
 
I just read they crippled BT also, hell, its a disgrace they reduce the potential machine to a beauty queen with no brain.

wongulous said:
God DAMN IT.

If the iPod touch is ACTUALLY CRIPPLED... I'm just going to get a Treo. Maybe I'll even go Windows Mobile. I am so pissed!!!!!! I can't get AT&T here but I want an iPod + most of a PDA + Safari!!!!
Click to expand...

now, this iPod touch more like a expensive internet browser with no any other PDA's function. what a waste. You should at least hold back for a while until apple does it right.
 
Lucky?

TheSpaz said:
Once you put features in a product... no matter how much you add to it... there's still going to be people complaining.. "Why can't it do this and why can't it do that?". It's an iPOD people. If Apple didn't put Wifi and Safari on it then nobody would care that it doesn't have Mail and iChat and notes because it wouldn't be used as a PDA. Just feel LUCKY that Apple put those extra cool features into it that you can enjoy... I know I'll enjoy Safari!
Click to expand...

So, even if it doesn't suit my needs, I'm supposed to buy one anyway -- and feel grateful that I can do so?

Look -- if what you really need is a 16Gb Nano with a nifty touch screen, then that's great, the iPod Touch looks like it's definitely for you. And if you what you need is an apple smart phone, then congratulations, the iPhone looks like it's definitely for you. If it's form you're after, the iPod Touch definitely looks pretty.

But what about those of us who prefer function? Like a lot of folks, I've already got an iPod -- 40Gb 3G, in my case, more than half-full. And I don't need an iPhone -- my company already paid for one they pay me to carry, and my personal cell is a $15-a-month, no-bill, no-contract prepay that works just fine, thank you. I'm happy to not trade it for something that'll cost me $2,000+ over the life of a contract with AT&T.

Now, what I do need is to replace my Palm Tungsten E handheld that just died a few weeks back. Now, you can insist the iPod Touch is "an iPOD people", of you can call it whatever you want. But if it will let me add "Meet w/boss" to my calendar after I bump into him in the halls at my office, the bottom line is I'd certainly buy one -- even if it meant walking away from what I've spent on Palm software over the years.

If it doesn't, tho', I certainly won't, and Palm will likely end up with my $300-$400 instead.

That doesn't mean the iPod Touch shouldn't be liked by those who like it; it simply means many of us were going to buy one with the features listed originally; with the features listed now, we're simply not.

When the iPhone came out, we all heard people say, "Wow, that's great -- if I could just get it without the phone, I'd definitely buy one." Who heard anybody say, "Wow, that's great -- if they'd just take out the phone, cripple the calendar app, take out Notes, e-mail, Google Maps, etc., etc., I'd definitely buy one"?

We wanted something that does what an iPhone does, just without the phone; nobody can say the iPod Touch does that.
 
TheSpaz said:
Once you put features in a product... no matter how much you add to it... there's still going to be people complaining.. "Why can't it do this and why can't it do that?". It's an iPOD people. If Apple didn't put Wifi and Safari on it then nobody would care that it doesn't have Mail and iChat and notes because it wouldn't be used as a PDA. Just feel LUCKY that Apple put those extra cool features into it that you can enjoy... I know I'll enjoy Safari!
Click to expand...

This thread is going in circles. In fact I'm sure I've rebutted this point from you before.

In the days of the early PCs/home computers people asked the question: Why would I need sound on this word processor?

Now, how stupid does that sound these days?

The same goes for the assertion that the Touch is "just" an iPod.

There's nothing else to discuss on this matter until someone gets hold of a touch and tries to put the full application set for this platform (Touch/iPhone) on it.
 
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