So you say Android it fragmented?

[aitte]

Yeah, that's not the first time he's called the iPad a desktop replacement. Below is a snip from his OP in this thread.

To me, it sounds like he's got buyers remorse from having jumped in feet first with a new technology that didn't pan out the way he thought it was (i.e. a desktop replacement).

No buyers remorse here. I used the term to refer to Apple calling it a "post-PC device", and how they eventually want us all to use tablets in the future.

I'm using mine for some quick work on the go, while I do all heavy work on my Mac Pro.

It's just a completely evil move to lock out the iPad 1 from an OS it would be fully capable of running, all in the name of capitalism.

Suddenly, it won't be able to run the latest apps that will require iOS 6, and its 2nd hand resale value just went through the floor.

A tablet is different from a smartphone. With a smartphone, not getting updates is sad but okay. With a tablet, you expect a far longer life, as it is a far more capable device. Apple just showed their true colors clearer than ever.

I'm guessing you didn't look at the 2012 Q1 bars of that graph of yours did you? Android dropped to 2011 Q3 values and the iPad rose to 2011 Q2 values.

No, I very clearly saw the Q1 drop. I said I hope Android becomes the majority market leader. Totally unrelated statement.

It would be a good thing to displace some of the Apple hubris, even though I prefer iOS as a platform.

Even if you didn't have $1000 in software invested in iOS, what would you get by switching to Android?

Your iPad 1 got two full OS upgrades after you purchased it. (iOS 3 -> iOS 4 -> iOS 5).

The Moto Xoom got it's first full OS upgrade, ... three months after the upgrade was released. What do you think the chances are that it's going to get a second full OS upgrade?

Seriously, which Android manufacturer had a track record of handling upgrades like Apple does?

Hehe you say "Your iPad 1 got two full OS upgrades after you purchased it. (iOS 3 -> iOS 4 -> iOS 5)." as if it was a good thing. This is not a smartphone; it's a far more capable device, and now it's been executed by Apple a mere 2 years after release. It is quite similar to launching a new MacBook and saying "no more OS X for you in two years". A phone is one thing - you primarily use that as a phone. A tablet is for far more things, and a longer life is to be expected.

As for Android - I could take any Android device and install custom firmware that gets it to the latest version. The hardware will never be "killswitched" - no "programmed obsolescence" a la Apple. You can always manually upgrade an Android device and will only have to upgrade hardware when it FEELS too slow for you.

 

[aristobrat]

With a tablet, you expect a far longer life, as it is a far more capable device. Apple just showed their true colors clearer than ever.

The life (or usefulness) of your iPad 1 doesn't end this the fall when iOS 6 comes out. It will be just as useful two years from now as it is today.

You're the first person I've met that expected the Apple tablet to be treated any differently than the tablets/PDAs before it.

 

[Intell]

The life (or usefulness) of your iPad 1 doesn't end this the fall when iOS 6 comes out. It will be just as useful two years from now as it is today.

Quite true. My iPod Touch 1G is still having a great life as a media player and a PDA-ish device.

 

[aitte]

The life (or usefulness) of your iPad 1 doesn't end this the fall when iOS 6 comes out. It will be just as useful two years from now as it is today.

How will it be just as useful when I can no longer upgrade my apps for it or install new apps, once a lot of them require iOS 6? I'll have to do the "back up your old .ipa software installers and never lose them or you cannot re-install this app" dance.

 

[Intell]

How will it be just as useful when I can no longer upgrade my apps for it or install new apps, once a lot of them require iOS 6? I'll have to do the "back up your old .ipa software installers and never lose them or you cannot re-install this app" dance.

There are still a few apps being updated for iOS 3.1.3. I just updated about three of them on my iPod Touch.

 

[aitte]

There are still a few apps being updated for iOS 3.1.3. I just updated about three of them on my iPod Touch.

Yeah luckily it takes a while for all but the most bleeding-edge developers to enforce a new iOS version. It's still an absolute evil move to kill a tablet this soon though. One that they could easily still support in their iOS builds.

But there's another problem with being outdated - what about security updates when iOS exploits are discovered? Has Apple ever released iOS security updates for older iOS lines?

For example: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/apple-patches-serious-security-holes-in-ios-devices/11983

iOS 5.1.1 fixed issues that allow a malicious webpage to take complete control over the iOS device. Presumably that bug exists in older iOS versions too, but as far as I can see, Apple never updates older iOS devices even for vital security fixes.

 

[Intell]

But what about security updates when iOS exploits are discovered? Has Apple ever released iOS security updates for older iOS lines?

Apple did release iOS 1.1.5 for the iPod Touch 1G only. When the jailbreakme 2 and 3 PDF exploits were released, the jailbreak community released patches for older iOS versions to prevent the exploit from being used maliciously.

 

[aristobrat]

Yeah luckily it takes a while for all but the most bleeding-edge developers to enforce a new iOS version.

Developers develop for where there's a market.

IMO, the inexpensiveness of smartphones makes it affordable for most to flip their phones every two years. Even with that high flip rate, developers are still supporting an iOS from 2009.

I don't see people flipping their iPads nearly as quickly as they flip smartphones. Which to me means that developers are going to see even larger markets of devices running older OSs.

Based on the way developers have continued to treat older OSs on iPhones, I don't see any reason to go all hyperbolic about iPad 1s being executed after two years.

Will your iPad 1 receive any more iOS updates? No.
Does that mean it'll cease to function this fall when iOS 6 comes out? No.
Does that mean that your apps will cease to function this fall when iOS 6 comes out? No.
Does that mean that after iOS 6 comes out, developers will stop developing for iOS 5. No.

Are most (if not all) of your existing apps going to see upgrades that will continue to run on your iPad 1 after iOS 6 comes out? Yes

 

[aitte]

Apple did release iOS 1.1.5 for the iPod Touch 1G only. When the jailbreakme 2 and 3 PDF exploits were released, the jailbreak community released patches for older iOS versions to prevent the exploit from being used maliciously.

:-/ Ugh, that's pathetic. Apple, with its mere >100 billion dollars, can't even do THAT minor favor of applying the patches to the older codebase and recompiling.

I'm gonna have to process this absolute rat move for a while (come on, a powerful TABLET killed after a mere two years?!), and will most likely:

* Entirely stop buying iOS software
* Continue using the device for a year or two
* Move on to Android when its tablets have matured so that I can be on a platform where hardware won't be killswitched (inb4 "two years in the future Android will be dead")

----------

Developers develop for where there's a market.

IMO, the inexpensiveness of smartphones makes it affordable for most to flip their phones every two years. Even with that high flip rate, developers are still supporting an iOS from 2009.

I don't see people flipping their iPads nearly as quickly as they flip smartphones. Which to me means that developers are going to see even larger markets of devices running older OSs.

Based on the way developers have continued to treat older OSs on iPhones, I don't see any reason to go all hyperbolic about iPad 1s being executed after two years.

Will your iPad 1 receive any more iOS updates? No.
Does that mean it'll cease to function this fall when iOS 6 comes out? No.
Does that mean that your apps will cease to function this fall when iOS 6 comes out? No.
Does that mean that after iOS 6 comes out, developers will stop developing for iOS 5. No.

Are most (if not all) of your existing apps going to see upgrades that will continue to run on your iPad 1 after iOS 6 comes out? Yes

You admit the core of my argument:

"IMO, the inexpensiveness of smartphones makes it affordable for most to flip their phones every two years."

"I don't see people flipping their iPads nearly as quickly as they flip smartphones."

That is what I've been saying - it's EVIL for Apple to drop a powerful tablet - a major device - this soon for NO technical reason whatsoever. They're also utterly gutting the 2nd hand value of them as a result.

I dread the day when some of my vital software starts using iOS 6-only features, or when some big new exploit is discovered and I don't get security updates.

I absolutely hate that I'll have to carefully read all app update messages to look out for iOS 6-only versions, and back up my .ipa's for older versions in that case.

The worst part of it all is knowing that they COULD compile iOS 6 for the iPad 1 with the flick of a switch if they really wanted to, but they don't. They have this "n+2" money-grubbing scheme in motion (with the 3GS being exempt from this because it's sold in emerging markets). Quite fine for phones, which are easy to flip and don't matter much. Horribly evil for tablets.

Suddenly the "it just works" convenience of Apple is more like a walled dungeon.

 

[aristobrat]

That is what I've been saying - it's EVIL for Apple to drop a powerful tablet - a major device - this soon for NO technical reason whatsoever.

Based on every company I've seen produce a tablet or PDA since the early 2000's having dropped upgrades before a year (if they offered upgrades at all), I have no idea why you would think Apple would handle it any other way.

Obviously you did, and you're upset about it. That's why I made my buyers remorse comment. You've got $2000 invested in a platform that's obviously not being treated how you thought it would be.

The worst part of it all is knowing that they COULD compile iOS 6 for the iPad 1 with the flick of a switch if they really wanted to, but they don't. They have this "n+2" money-grubbing scheme in motion (with the 3GS being exempt from this because it's sold in emerging markets). Quite fine for phones, which are easy to flip and don't matter much. Horribly evil for tablets.

Honestly, any point you bring up, you quickly negate by not acknowledging basics, such that "n+2" for smartphones is revolutionary in the market (i.e. were Apple truly money grubbing, they'd do the typical "n+0" or "n+1" scheme like virtually every other smartphone manufacturer has done since smartphones came out in the early 2000s).

That and your flick of a switch is partially BS, too. I tried running the hacked iOS version that first supported video recording on the prior generation hardware (that Apple didn't enable the feature for). It looked like crap. The hardware wasn't capable of taking 30fps video like the hardware in the new iPhone.

Every year when the new iOS comes out, there's the uproar that not all features work on the prior version, and then people find a way to install those features. And almost without fail, those features not enabled on the old hardware run like crap when hacked to install on it.

So don't say "it's just a flip of a switch" and everything in the new iOS is going to run perfect on the last generation of hardware, because that's never been the case (from being an iPhone owner since the first generation and having tried it), to having followed the forum posts on here from countless others having done the same.

For crap's sake, the iPad 1 can't even keep the text in several browser tabs in memory without having to refresh it. Go ahead and make the point that iOS 6 will 100% run as a normal user would expect it to on that iPad.

 

[aitte]

Based on every company I've seen produce a tablet or PDA since the early 2000's having dropped upgrades before a year (if they offered upgrades at all), I have no idea why you would think Apple would handle it any other way.

Obviously you did, and you're upset about it. That's why I made my buyers remorse comment. You've got $2000 invested in a platform that's obviously not being treated how you thought it would be.

Well, I've used PocketPC PDA's since the early 2000s and could always install custom firmware on them to get them to the latest Windows Mobile versions even when the vendor dropped support. Your device can live on with the latest versions forever.

On Android you can easily install the latest versions of vanilla Android, and live on the latest versions forever.

On iOS, Apple decides to kill your device after two years on a money-grubbing whim, locking you out from security updates (INSANELY important), features (not very important), and app updates once they require the latest iOS version (quite important).

I do see a difference in the pattern here. All other devices die when YOU feel like your hardware is too slow and want to upgrade. Apple devices die when the almighty Apple decides that they want you to open your wallet again.

I expected such a powerful device to keep getting iOS updates until the hardware could literally no longer support it. Apple decided otherwise, and a lot of iPad 1 owners are now completely shocked. We're seeing more and more of my kind of posts as the news spreads.

For crap's sake, the iPad 1 can't even keep the text in several browser tabs in memory without having to refresh it. Go ahead and make the point that iOS 6 will 100% run as a normal user would expect it to on that iPad.

I've been an Assembly language programmer and electronics engineer for 20 years and know enough about hardware down to the electronics level to build my own computer from scratch - those are my qualifications when I say that there's nothing in the latest iOS version that the old iPad 1 hardware can't run. The limitations of the iPad 1 are RAM and GPU speed. Its GPU speed only matters for games - because the GPU in the iPad 1 is PLENTY fast enough for ALL other uses. That leaves the RAM - which WAS underdimensioned, but none of the iOS features require particularly much RAM. As for Safari, it employs background unloading of tabs to preserve RAM, true. They could keep that behavior for iPad 1s. There's nothing in iOS 6 that an iPad 1 can't run perfectly. Including Siri (which by the way used to be a standalone app that ran on all iOS devices before Apple bought it).

 

[Intell]

On Android you can easily install the latest versions of vanilla Android, and live on the latest versions forever.

Have you seen Android 4 on the T-Mobile G1? It makes the iPhone 3G running iOS 4.0.0 look like a speed machine. And the G1 is running a highly slimmed down version at that. Don't go around saying it's easy to do. Because most of the Android devices are dropped by their manufactures because they just don't have enough ram or storage for the newer versions. Even third party hackers and modders have trouble getting the ROM to fit at all. Sometimes they have to remove some features just to get the bare kernel running with a very bland, blank UI.

 

[aitte]

Have you seen Android 4 on the T-Mobile G1? It makes the iPhone 3G running iOS 4.0.0 look like a speed machine. And the G1 is running a highly slimmed down version at that. Don't go around saying it's easy to do. Because most of the Android devices are dropped by their manufactures because they just don't have enough ram or storage for the newer versions. Even third party hackers and modders have trouble getting the ROM to fit at all. Sometimes they have to remove some features just to get the bare kernel running with a very bland, blank UI.

That's true for the very earliest devices, as well as very low-powered budget devices today. However, if you were to buy an iPad-equivalent, powerful tablet today, you would never have issues running the latest versions of Android.

Note also that you're saying what I was saying -> Android devices need upgrades when the HARDWARE no longer has enough power, NOT on the whim of Apple.

 

[aristobrat]

I've been an Assembly language programmer and electronics engineer for 20 years and know enough about hardware down to the electronics level to build my own computer from scratch - those are my qualifications when I say that there's nothing in the latest iOS version that the old iPad 1 hardware can't run. The limitations of the iPad 1 are RAM and GPU speed.

You also said that the iPhone 1 can run iOS 6.

 

[Intell]

Note also that you're saying what I was saying -> Android devices need upgrades when the HARDWARE no longer has enough power, NOT on the whim of Apple.

Then by the complaints set forth by many other people talking about their iPad 1G's being slow, the iPad 1G's hardware is no longer up to the task of iOS 6. This is likely due to the RAM. Apple is forced by their own ELUA to continue supporting the 3Gs. Just like they were with the iPhone 3G and iOS 4. Even though it ran very poorly.

 

[aitte]

You also said that the iPhone 1 can run iOS 6.

It could. It's not THAT much weaker than the newer models, even the 3GS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#Model_comparison

Sure, SOME features would be too much, like graphics-intensive 3D maps, but most things would run.

 

[aristobrat]

However, if you were to buy an iPad-equivalent, powerful tablet today, you would never have issues running the latest versions of Android.

There's no track record for you to factually state that.

And it's pointless for the 99% of owners of such products that would have zero ability to fathom how to hack a customized ROM, much less pull it off successfully.

For them, the device "is killed" when the manufacturer stops offering official upgrades.

Which for Android tablets, is TBD. However, based on the history of Android phone makers, ... it doesn't look promising.

----------

It could. It's not THAT much weaker than the newer models, even the 3GS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#Model_comparison

Sure, SOME features would be too much, like graphics-intensive 3D maps, but most things would run.

The camera in the iPhone 3 couldn't shoot fast enough for the video app from the iPhone 4. How well do you think it'll run on the iPhone 1?

There's no GPS in the iPhone 1. How much functionality was just lost with that? HDR shooting? Think the processor is fast enough for photo editing?

You make many grandiose statements between points that actually stand. I think you're losing most folks with the grandiose statements, though.

 

[aitte]

There's no track record for you to factually state that.

And it's pointless for the 99% of owners of such products that would have zero ability to fathom how to hack a customized ROM, much less pull it off successfully.

For them, the device "is killed" when the manufacturer stops offering official upgrades.

Which for Android tablets, is TBD. However, based on the history of Android phone makers, ... it doesn't look promising.

The track record is simple: Powerful CPU + Powerful GPU + incremental Android OS changes = top of the line Android hardware today will run the latest Android OS for a VERY long time to come.

There's another factor for Android tablets and why those manufacturers stop releasing official updates - which is that each vendor has loads and loads of different models with differing hardware. Luckily users can install custom firmware to solve that problem.

Apple has one line, which is very homogenous and where the majority of code would run on the older devices without any modifications at all.

The camera in the iPhone 3 couldn't shoot fast enough for the video app from the iPhone 4. How well do you think it'll run on the iPhone 1?

There's no GPS in the iPhone 1. How much functionality was just lost with that? HDR shooting? Think the processor is fast enough for photo editing?

You make many grandiose statements between points that actually stand. I think you're losing most folks with the grandiose statements, though.

There are always a small subset of features that won't work on earlier devices; also, don't confuse what I'm saying here - I'm not saying Apple SHOULD support the iPhone 1 - I am saying they COULD. However, I *AM* saying they SHOULD still support the iPad 1, an EXTREMELY capable device that would easily chew through every single feature in iOS 6.

Anyway, the issues boil down to:
1. Apple killswitching devices years before the HARDWARE would have felt too slow. This is unlike all other platforms, where the user can always stay up to date in some way.
2. Apple having a very small, homogenous product line and >100 billion dollars in the bank, yet can't even be bothered to release SECURITY updates for older devices, when those devices use the same architecture and could easily have the security patches applied.
3. Apple killing a tablet - a major, powerful device - just two years after launch, and for no reason other than wanting to force people to buy new hardware.
4. Tablets are powerful and meant to last many years; whereas phones are something you replace often.
5. The iPad 1 is not very different from the iPad 2/3, and could easily run everything in iOS 6.
6. Apple doesn't just do this "n+2" thing; they also artificially lock out features for everything but the newest device, to sell more of that new device, even though the HARDWARE differences between devices are really minor and the SOFTWARE could really run on the entire iOS device line if they really wanted to. Example: http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/ (bottom of page has loads of artificial lockouts based on model, such as limiting OFFLINE BROWSER BOOKMARKS to the latest devices - something that NOBODY could argue is a CPU/GPU power-related choice).

It's just not cool to have $500-1000 tablet hardware artificially killed off in just two years. With Windows Mobile / Android, you know that your hardware is going to serve you (via custom OS updates) until the day that YOU feel that you want a faster CPU/GPU and really want to upgrade the hardware. NOT when some arbitrary outside force says "I know you just bought this really powerful thing, but uhm, about that... yeah, no more cake for you, but you can always buy our latest really powerful thing version 2, and we'll provide you with cake again until we decide that you should buy the really powerful thing version 3, and oh yeah, there'll of course be a really powerful thing version 4 soon after that, so yeah, don't get too attached".

 

[roxxette]

At least you get several updates on iOS as soon as it's released. Android = maybe an upgrade 8 months after release.

For exactly "security updates" ...... Im a iphone fan but seriously theres only 1 update a year the rest is 99% ****

 

[aitte]

For exactly "security updates" ...... Im a iphone fan but seriously theres only 1 update a year the rest is 99% ****

True that. Almost all of the point-releases of iOS are maintenance/bugfix/security related. New features are relegated to major iOS upgrades once a year. That is how it should be, though - it's good software design to do a feature freeze and focus on bug fixing in the stable/released branch, while developing experimental features behind closed doors.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

There is a lot of emotion flying around in this thread. I don't really care to get too much into it but I will say one thing.

Don't forget these are FREE upgrades, so you really can't complain all that much. This isn't a "PC operating system". This is a whole new ballgame. You can't necessarily guarentee 6 years of upgrades.

 

[Intell]

It could. It's not THAT much weaker than the newer models, even the 3GS.

Sure, SOME features would be too much, like graphics-intensive 3D maps, but most things would run.

The iPhone 1 is much less powerful then the 3Gs. Lightyears behind. Even iOS 3.0 made it get a bit slow and you're wanting it to run iOS 6? It couldn't even handle iOS 4 very well as seen by the iPhone 3G. Both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 1 have the exact same GPU/RAM/GPU configuration. If the iPhone 3G couldn't handle iOS 4 well, then the iPhone 1 certainly couldn't any better.

1. Apple killswitching devices years before the HARDWARE would have felt too slow. This is unlike all other platforms, where the user can always stay up to date in some way.

How is this unlike other platforms? I don't see Windows Mobile 6 devices getting Windows Phone 7. Android, I'm not even going to start on that. Symbian OS? You'd be lucky if Nokia even acknowledges your device exists after one year.

2. Apple having a very small, homogenous product line and >100 billion dollars in the bank, yet can't even be bothered to release SECURITY updates for older devices, when those devices use the same architecture and could easily have the security patches applied.

If Apple was to support ever old device, it'd turn into Microsoft with Windows XP and 2000. Both operating systems are over 10 years old.

3. Apple killing a tablet - a major, powerful device - just two years after launch, and for no reason other than wanting to force people to buy new hardware.

The iPad 1G ceased to be a "major, powerful device" the moment the iPad 2 was released. Since then, it was all back seat.

4. Tablets are powerful and meant to last many years; whereas phones are something you replace often.

Tablets made of cell phone internals? Only as long as a typical cell phone. Tablets made from a x86 CPU? As long as Microsoft keeps updating XP/7 it'll last. Don't forget ARM and x86 tablets are in completely different worlds. This could change when Windows 8 comes out, but it won't effect iOS very much.

5. The iPad 1 is not very different from the iPad 2/3, and could easily run everything in iOS 6.

The iPad 1 is very different from the 2 and 3. One has one CPU core and the others have two. One has 256Mb of ram and the others have 2x and 4x that amount. One's GPU is grossly underpowered where as the others are very powerful.

6. Apple doesn't just do this "n+2" thing; they also artificially lock out features for everything but the newest device, to sell more of that new device, even though the HARDWARE differences between devices are really minor and the SOFTWARE could really run on the entire iOS device line if they really wanted to. Example: http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/ (bottom of page has loads of artificial lockouts based on model, such as limiting OFFLINE BROWSER BOOKMARKS to the latest devices - something that NOBODY could argue is a CPU/GPU power-related choice).

Locking out old features isn't something that just Apple does. Look at Vista's Areo features. They only work on good GPUs even though a poor GPU can render it.

 

[aitte]

There is a lot of emotion flying around in this thread. I don't really care to get too much into it but I will say one thing.

Don't forget these are FREE upgrades, so you really can't complain all that much. This isn't a "PC operating system". This is a whole new ballgame. You can't necessarily guarentee 6 years of upgrades.

They're not free upgrades. They're paid for with the hundreds of dollars that the device cost, and without the OS the device would just be a collection of metal and silicon.

As for Apple, with its >100 billion dollar bank reserve, it is piss-poor that they don't even devote a few programmers to releasing security fixes for older iOS versions. It's understandable to lock out slow, old devices from getting the latest features. It's a whole different thing to completely screw them over by leaving their devices open to extremely serious exploits, where visiting malicious websites could completely take over your device. Apple doesn't care about that and it was up to a third party community of jailbreak hackers to fix these issues for older devices. Something that a single Apple programmer could have done in four easy steps:

1. Apply source code patch to fix exploit
2. Re-compile
3. Make sure the program still works (it most likely will, otherwise it'll take a few minutes to fix whatever went wrong)
4. Package and release the security update for older devices.

About 15 minutes of work for one solitary programmer.

Surely a 100 billion dollar budget could cover one programmer to make sure that old devices don't sit around with extremely serious, gaping security holes? No, not in Apple's world.

 

[BFizzzle]

It could. It's not THAT much weaker than the newer models, even the 3GS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#Model_comparison

Sure, SOME features would be too much, like graphics-intensive 3D maps, but most things would run.

I could easily notice my iPhone 3G running slow when I enabled multitasking and wallpapers lol.


I agree with what your saying for the most part..

 

[Intell]

They're not free upgrades. They're paid for with the hundreds of dollars that the device cost, and without the OS the device would just be a collection of metal and silicon.

As for Apple, with its >100 billion dollar bank reserve, it is piss-poor that they don't even devote a few programmers to releasing security fixes for older iOS versions. It's understandable to lock out slow, old devices from getting the latest features. It's a whole different thing to completely screw them over by leaving their devices open to extremely serious exploits, where visiting malicious websites could completely take over your device. Apple doesn't care about that and it was up to a third party community of jailbreak hackers to fix these issues for older devices. Something that a single Apple programmer could have done in four easy steps:

1. Apply source code patch to fix exploit
2. Re-compile
3. Make sure the program still works (it most likely will, otherwise it'll take a few minutes to fix whatever went wrong)
4. Package and release the security update for older devices.

About 15 minutes of work for one solitary programmer.

Surely a 100 billion dollar budget could cover one programmer to make sure that old devices don't sit around with extremely serious, gaping security holes? No, not in Apple's world.

They are free. The updates used to cost real money for the iPod Touches. iOS 1.1.3 cost $20, 2.0 cost $10, and 3 cost $5.

Constantly keeping things up to date in that way is very resourceful, especially as that product gets more and more obsolete.