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iPod touch How thin is too thin??

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Yeah I agree. It's probably a little too thin. I just got a Griffin case for it yesterday which adds just enough bulk for me to be comfortable with. Absolutely love the device otherwise
 
I agree with everyone who feels apple could have given us a better Touch, had they not been so frickin' OBSESSED with thinness.

1. the sleep button is hard to depress because it's on a sloping edge instead of as on the 2G touch, where the switch was on top of the edge.

2. same issue applies to the volume buttons.

3. sucky camera due to lack of room for a better camera module

4. battery life is marginal, at best, when using wifi. a thicker body would have accommodated a higher AH-rated battery

5. it's just plain annoying to hold something so thin. even my 2G is too thin, IMO. I have a storm, and that is far easier to hold. (sure it's heavier, but it's not like I can't hold a few more ounces, for crap's sakes!!)

Basically, I like the 4G enough that I'm glad I bought it, but I feel Apple could have done far better, had they not been focused on making things super thin and minimalistic. I would love to see Apple turn over a new leaf and actually use focus groups instead of relying solely on Steve Job's vision of what people want. I know what I want and it doesn't match up with SJ's ideas. I guess that's why the ONLY products I've EVER bought from Apple have been ipods.

And what's with the gray blacks? The retina display's resolution is beyond awesome and I love it, but I am bummed by the crappy black level,especially when viewing movies. My Storm2's screen has far superior black levels.


rant over.
 
burgundyyears said:
Because they know it will sell.

I trust their analysis over yours.
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That's an odd response... and not quite accurate. There is more to it than "they know it will sell". Apple could've kept the thickness the same and with the added features and it would still sell.

Apple builds to their own vision and then attempts to convince people that they want that vision. They "sell" the vision (market it, push it, etc.).

Bottom line: They made the iPod thinner because that was their vision for this generation of product.
 
battlekid said:
Lol. I have the second ipod ever. Gen 2. The BRICK. It's AWESOME! 10GB hard drive. Over an inch thick. Built-in firewire 400 port. Aah, the good old days.... Lol.
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The first and second gen ipods were not over an inch thick "Lol."; the specs for those models (the difference between second and first gen being an upgrade from 5 to 10 gb hd, same body) were 6.5 oz, 4.02" H x 2.43" W x 0.78" D.

Apple should concentrate on making ipods transparent instead of thinner.
 
Apple has billions of dollars its hoarding away, and now is making these ultra-thin ipod touches. I guess they go by the old saying, "You can never be too rich or too thin."
 
Apple has been pushing for thinness for about 6 years now. They never used to focus so much on the MacBook Pro being 3mm thinner than the previous version, or the new iPod touch being .3" thin. Now it seems a lot of the keynote is dedicated to how thin things are. I truly do believe that Apple will continue down this path, adopting wireless syncing/charging and flexible OLED displays, until we eventually have 2mm thick iPhones and iPods.
 
I certainly don't need the iPod touch 4g to be as thin as it is. I was fine with the 3rd gen, just wanted a flat back. And if they flattened the back, but kept the depth the same from the centerpoints, they would have had more room.

I think Apple's thin-ness obsession has been causing them problems. It's part of the reason for the antenna problem on the iPhone 4. They wanted it thinner, so they moved the antenna to the outside, making it vulnerable to attention. They wanted the new touch thinner, and I think it's caused the clicking people hear in videos with Wifi on, because the mic and wifi antenna are all jammed up to close together. A thicker device could remedy all these little problems.
 
So many things in this thread that I want to quote and respond with "That's what she said." Must. Resist.
 
Thin is in, and makes sense for anything you want to carry on you. The less of your pocket or briefcase or purse a thing takes up the better. Apple seems to be ignoring the fact that we have hands to hold the things when we use then, and razor-blades are harder to hold on to than chewing gum in it's wrapper.

There is a tech rumor out now that MS is working on a device that is simply a piece of glass. They are (usually) smart enough to leave those ideas in the lab though. Samsung has already demonstrated transparent OLED displays and devices with them.

Where is it all going? Keep subtracting dimension and eventually you have none. I honestly expect we'll eventually have chips implanted at birth that give us mental access to the WWW. It will be auxiliary to your own mind, and visually/virtually accessible when you close at least one eye. Forget thin. "Zero" add-ons is the future.
 
sracer said:
That's an odd response... and not quite accurate. There is more to it than "they know it will sell". Apple could've kept the thickness the same and with the added features and it would still sell.

Apple builds to their own vision and then attempts to convince people that they want that vision. They "sell" the vision (market it, push it, etc.).

Bottom line: They made the iPod thinner because that was their vision for this generation of product.
Click to expand...

Really? Apple makes products in their vision? And here I was thinking they would make something in Microsoft's vision.

They could also make an inch thick iPod touch that would probably have 50 hours of gaming life and that would certainly be in the vision of some people, but they're not going to do that either.
 
burgundyyears said:
Really? Apple makes products in their vision? And here I was thinking they would make something in Microsoft's vision.

They could also make an inch thick iPod touch that would probably have 50 hours of gaming life and that would certainly be in the vision of some people, but they're not going to do that either.
Click to expand...
If you can't see what is going on then no attempt to explain it will help you.
shrug8fl.gif
 
ct95 said:
As far as the question of what is too thin - I think the current iPod touch is too thin. If it starts limiting features such as camera quality (e.g., autofocus capability), battery life, etc., then it's too thin.

I think only Steve Jobs cares about thinness. He basically equates thin with being beautiful. He said as much in the iPod event and spent more time on the thinness than any other feature. Seriously, does anybody even care that the new iPod is thinner??
Click to expand...

Its like you said, when they start having to sacrifice features that people actually care about (batt life, cam quality/focus, etc), then its a problem. Apple's had a history of doing this sorta thing (aesthetics first, features a second or third). Sometimes it works, sometimes they take it too far. I believe they've taken it too far here. Thats not to say the new Touch is bad, but it could have been better if they hadnt gone crazy with the thinness.

But you'll never convince Stevie of that. He loves that stuff.
 
peestandingup said:
Its like you said, when they start having to sacrifice features that people actually care about (batt life, cam quality/focus, etc), then its a problem. Apple's had a history of doing this sorta thing (aesthetics first, features a second or third). Sometimes it works, sometimes they take it too far. I believe they've taken it too far here. Thats not to say the new Touch is bad, but it could have been better if they hadnt gone crazy with the thinness.

But you'll never convince Stevie of that. He loves that stuff.
Click to expand...

Which is why I look forward to the day when Jobs is no longer with Apple.
 
dave1812dave said:
Which is why I look forward to the day when Jobs is no longer with Apple.
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I know - maybe Apple will finally be successful when they get rid of him.

Love how these threads always devolve into thinly-disguised Jobs-hating. Of course, the most successful CEOs are often the most hated, so that's no surprise.
 
I dont think anyone is Jobs-hating. He's obviously responsible for a lot of Apple's success & the reason why they'll still around. Anyone who knows Apple's history can't deny this.

But he's stubborn as a mule sometimes. I actually think his "rule with an iron fist" approach is a good one because he's got a great eye for design & how things "should be". Sometimes if you get too many inputs you end up with a messy product. But no one is right all the time.

I think in this case, most people would have preferred/benefited from better components rather than being even thinner. These's no reason for it to be soo thin. But we have all the reasons in the world to have better battery life, better functional camera, etc.
 
I don't think it's too thin. SJ ever since was a pioneer in omitting bulk in his products. And I think it plays a big part in Apple's success story. That distinguishes Apple from all the rest, makes them stand out.

I wouldn't mind if the iPt was 1mm thick and flexible like a credit card, consisting of just the 4" oled touch screen. Indeed that would be awesome! I definitely would buy it.
 
peestandingup said:
I think in this case, most people would have preferred/benefited from better components rather than being even thinner. These's no reason for it to be soo thin. But we have all the reasons in the world to have better battery life, better functional camera, etc.
Click to expand...

I think you have simplified the equation too much. Would they have been able to hit the same price points with better components while maintaining the margins and long term growth that their investors expect?

And, yes there are reasons to make it so thin. Not the least of which is to challenge and focus the designers. Apple has no problem increasing the size of a product when they have reason to (iPod nano, shuffle).
 
Just remember the thinnest they can ever make it is the width of a earphone jack...which is about how thin it is. They've even gone as far as tapering it so half the stupid thing is exposed, kind of irritating really.

Then again, if they're truly insane they could make it the width of a 2.5mm jack and require some adapter or special Apple earbuds, then trying to push that as some stupid standard.
 
BaldiMac said:
Would they have been able to hit the same price points with better components while maintaining the margins and long term growth that their investors expect?
Click to expand...

Sure, just raise the price $20-$30. They did it with the 8GB model.
 
I just got mine and think it is too thin.Waiting for switcheasy to wake up and make a case for it.A nice thick bulky case.:)
 
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