Today's Announcements: The Untold Story

[lizacolby1]

Do you think the word "should" means a damn thing to Apple? (Arrogant greedy ****s that they are) Nope.

There's a lot of things that they should do but never will. Sad what's become of them.

I'm not sure I know what you mean when you say "sad what's become of them." Is it sad that the OSX continues to be one of the most flexible and responsive (as well as stable) platforms in the market? Is their releasing a FREE upgrade to one of their hottest selling items (the iPhone) some kind of a sad development? Is the fact that you get help from qualified people in the local stores a sad development? What is sad?

I switched to Mac 5 years ago from PC (Gateway). Now THAT is sad what has become of them: downhill customer service (complete lack of it) and poor workmanship. What happened to Gateway is pretty similar to what has happened to most PC manufacturers. Sad.

 

[maverick18x]

I think the upgrade should be free, because I've already paid 400$ for a top of the line product and I don't see why I should pay more to get something another equally expensive product gets for free.

Equally expensive? Really? Because over the next two years I'm paying another $1,440 for the base iPhone plan. Around $240 of that subscription fee will go right back to Apple. In exchange, they're providing me with free software updates. I would be amazed if I got 12 of them over two years, but if I did they'd still cost me $20 a piece.

Stop whining that this is a paid upgrade. If you want the apps, then buy them. If you don't, then you have no reason to complain... your iPod didn't have those apps to begin with, and it was worth the money to you then.

 

[PhysicsGuy]

College Customers

Why does everybody assume that $20 is fair??? I bought my iPod touch because I am on a college campus and can't afford the data plan the iPhone requires. Why does Apple consider my product differently? $20 means a lot to me. Not to mention that this iPod touch thing keeps screwing me over. No apps? $20 upgrade for capability it should have had from the beginning? Apple is ubiquitous in the academic environment, but they just refuse to show me any love. If only Apple had heard of Google's mantra - don't be evil!

To put it succinctly - why is the iPod touch being treated like a bastard sibling of the iPhone instead of the brother it really is??

 

[thinkadrian]

I bought a macbook två years ago and simply REFUSE to pay to get more RAM memory which comes pre-installed in the new ones!

/sarcasm

 

[iBlue]

I bought a macbook två years ago and simply REFUSE to pay to get more RAM memory which comes pre-installed in the new ones!

/sarcasm

not even close to the same thing and you know it. not to mention, that's HARDWARE you're speaking of.



Don't know what's so tough to understand. They are indeed taking the piss charging for that little upgrade. While it may be worth it, it's still just pure greed on Apple's part, which is fast becoming what they're really all about.

 

[trygve]

But what do you actually upgrade to?

I don't think 20$ is a major issue, its pocket money. But what I'm wondering about is: what do these new applications actually do? Can the email application send emails, or just recieve them? Apple omniously writes that mail "lets you view rich HTML email". And: do the notes application in any way sync it's information with my local mac?

 

[David G.]

I ike how the title of this article is "Today's MWSF 2008 Announcements: The Untold Story" but then says it was posted on Wednesday January 16, 2008 01:54 AM EST by longofest.
Anyways, thanks for all the great work you guys have done. We all really appreciate it.

 

[GQB]

I've had my touch since day one, and this was the best $20 I've ever spent.
The 5 apps absolutely kick ass.
I NEVER expected to get poor man's GPS on my touch.

 

[maestrokev]

Why does everybody assume that $20 is fair??? I bought my iPod touch because I am on a college campus and can't afford the data plan the iPhone requires. Why does Apple consider my product differently? $20 means a lot to me. Not to mention that this iPod touch thing keeps screwing me over. No apps? $20 upgrade for capability it should have had from the beginning? Apple is ubiquitous in the academic environment, but they just refuse to show me any love. If only Apple had heard of Google's mantra - don't be evil!

Since when was an iPod or iPhone required for college? If $20 means a lot to you then don't upgrade - you shouldn't have bought the iPod since you're stretching beyond your means. There are school children in developing countries who can't afford textbooks or laptops and you're crying about $20 for a luxury product.

I'm starting to believe Apple's mistake was offering all those educational discounts. This isn't your parent's basement, Apple like any corporation expects you to move out, get a job and pay the market rate.

 

[GQB]

The "Locate Me" feature doesn't work very well at all for me on my iPhone. I live just about an hour north of Los Angeles in Ventura, so it's not like I'm in the middle of nowhere. It locates me about 10 miles south of where I actually am.

On my touch it located me within about 50 feet, and in the far reaches of Marin county. ***** amazing.

 

[kainjow]

it's still just pure greed on Apple's part, which is fast becoming what they're really all about.

Corporations are supposed to be greedy. If you ever think they're doing something to just be nice, you're being fooled.

 

[MadCow42]

Scary accurate "GPS"

I'm a bit surprised at how accurately it nailed my location on the iTouch... the only writeup I saw said they used a "database of known WiFi hotspots", and I'm in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Does this mean someone has mapped my WiFi location?

MadCow.

 

[iBlue]

Corporations are supposed to be greedy. If you ever think they're doing something to just be nice, you're being fooled.

Sure, but it's becoming a bit too much of a kick in the teeth. They can still make a huge profit without being almost insulting to their customers, and without letting their quality control slip. I think anyone would be hard pressed to say Apple's quality is as good as it used to be. They're like that kid that was once ignored and finally becomes popular and turns into a complete prick.
It's becoming all about the shiny little yuppie devices with them and that irritates me... and I felt like being a rotten grump about it.

 

[dAlen]

you have to keep pressing the locate me button. It is not "live gps"

why not have live gps?

Just saw a GPS device for the first time. (I live in the middle of nowhere in the country of Hungary.) My mother-in-law has one.

She paid for the ipod touch looking device, and it plays music, shows photos, has live GPS that even shows her street (in the middle of nowhere) and no monthly charges.

This is cool as can be. Its like the ipod touch (you touch and scroll the map with your finger, etc.), but the ipod touch doesnt have live GPS

Anyone, seriously, know why? Is this something to far fetched for apple.
I mean I live in the middle of nowhere and this technology exist...so is it a political one. (there ties with ATT and google) or whats up?

Someone that knows about this (probably most of you) please enlighten me.

Peace

dAlen

 

[Rogzilla]

Why does everybody assume that $20 is fair??? I bought my iPod touch because I am on a college campus and can't afford the data plan the iPhone requires. Why does Apple consider my product differently? $20 means a lot to me. Not to mention that this iPod touch thing keeps screwing me over. No apps? $20 upgrade for capability it should have had from the beginning? Apple is ubiquitous in the academic environment, but they just refuse to show me any love. If only Apple had heard of Google's mantra - don't be evil!

To put it succinctly - why is the iPod touch being treated like a bastard sibling of the iPhone instead of the brother it really is??

If $20 is a lot for you....then...and follow me here...why did you buy an iPod touch? If you REALLY want an MP3 player, get a shuffle! If you NEED a video player, get a nano! It wasn't until I graduated a year and a half ago was I able to buy nice things! That is just college life.

And boy, people sure have a bizarre sense of evil! Genocide is evil! Poisoning dogs is evil! Charging $20 for software that you don't need (I didn't have anyway to get directions or check my email on the go whilst I was in college) isn't evil.

Now go study! If you have time to follow all this and post on forums, you aren't making good use of your time!

 

[ogo]

Apple is again getting too greedy.
Software updates should be free for at least of a period of one year after purchase. And software updates for fixing major product defficiencies should be free for whole product support lifecycle.
Apple's overgreediness will in long term again cost them big bucks. Apple seems to be good at repeating this in regular cycles of getting market share, then getting overgreedy, then loosing over competition, then getting smart again after being hit on the head, and so on ...

Ogo

 

[adrian.oconnor]

Mindless consumers we are not

The comments by people who expect us all to be modern day mindless consumers are mis-guided and unreasonable. To say "you get exactly what you paid for at the time of sale" is to completely miss the point.

As a group of technically minded people, we are interested in using our technology and pushing it as far as possible (without breaking it, hopefully). We don't like to see our gadgets artificially restricted, and we have known all along that there was no technical reason that Mail and Notes (in particular) could not be on the iPod touch.

We jail break, chip and otherwise hack our gadgets because that is just what we do, and we always will. Even if the iPod touch had these apps from the start, jail break would still exist because we want to push it further still.

I think the reason that many people are dismayed by the $20 upgrade ($25 in the UK) is that this is a bit sneaky and a bit Microsoft-ish. Microsoft are in the business of releasing important software upgrades and leaving old versions to fester in the hope that you spend more cash. Apple seem to be doing more of that too.

Just to push the thought a bit further, in my grandparents' day everything that you bought was an opportunity to 'hack' and modify. Anything that broke was invariably repaired in a 'hackerish' manner, and anything that could be improved upon almost certainly was. That's just the way life is.

Let's hope the SDK rocks. If Apple get that right, it'll change everything.

 

[Loge]

The software updates include bug fixes and security enhancements. Rarely do they include new features. Apple's operating on a 12 to 18 month period between major updates to OS X, which you have to pay for.

The exception is software that is already free, such as iTunes.

OK, so why is iTunes treated differently, then? New versions come out from time to time with new features (yesterday, ), but existing Mac owners aren't being asked to pay for it.

Note, I'm not moaning about the $20, looks good value for what it is, just trying to understand where the distinction is.

 

[g-7]

Interesting question is, HOW can I buy the new iPod Touch software?
There is no iTunes Store in Poland. In fact there are many countries
iTunes Store does not support (a kind of "No Blacks Allowed" attitude).
I wonder if 1.1.3 is going to be distributed on CDs here?

 

[dAlen]

If $20 is a lot for you....then...and follow me here...why did you buy an iPod touch?

Its all about what your used to. For example:
Having used Apple products my whole grown up life I am used to the following:

1) Free software updates except for major revisions.
1a) Seeing that Leopard runs on all their hardware (ipod touch & phone) all updates would appear to be free to the software. Applications do cost. It depends on your perception. Is it an application or an update to the core software of that device itself?
2) iLife was free (trying to make an example so hold on)
When idvd got to big, they said its free but pay for the disk. Now its pay for the programs.
3) When they said in the keynote that the software update for the iphone would be free...the very use of that gave me a flash back of the iLife days and I knew that potentially they would charge one day for the service.
3a) That one day came with the very next update the ipod Touch.

At the end, its just nice to be able to clarify things and no where you stand with the vendor. What to expect for cost and non cost. Thats all really.

Also I made a post above about GPS...really curious to hear some feedback on that.

Peace

dAlen

 

[aswitcher]

The Apps are nice. Would have been nice to have the free after only 4 months since release. I am not sure how they came to the $20 figure.

sorted hope they through in some other stuff later at no cost for those who paid for this update

 

[dAlen]

The Apps are nice. Would have been nice to have the free after only 4 months since release. I am not sure how they came to the $20 figure.

There not either but they are hoping you pay for it.
With iLife it was easy when they went from free to pay.

"Oh its cost of CD for that large iDVD" - Then later "its just because its so darn cool and such a good deal at this price!" - well not that good of a deal compared to when it was free.

Yes apple is changing, but it has been like that. Free then pay.
Free then pay.

One day we will pay for our air. - oh macbook air.
Seriously, it is funny as with things like the movie rentals, one day you will have adds thrown in your movies...right at a climatic point...and then you one day will have to pay for 2 hours of adds, then some more to see a peak of a movie...and one day...well, we know what happens then. The universe explodes from the stupidity and greed. heheh

Peace

dAlen

 

[mattydodgy]

Locate me/Multiple Text messaging

Locate me tool - Great feature, but it would have been a lot helpful if it were on my iPhone like a month ago! I spent christmas in New York, and I got totally lost at one point in the upper east side, and it took me forever to find out where I was... So I had to improvise... (Long story).

Multiple Text Messaging - How handy would this have been for Christmas day and New Years, the amount of times that I had to type the same message over and over again, wishing all of my friends and family a merry christmas... My fingers got so tired... With multiple texts, it would have been so much easier!

I guess these features would come in handy this year and future years to come right?

 

[siurpeeman]

OK, so why is iTunes treated differently, then? New versions come out from time to time with new features (yesterday, ), but existing Mac owners aren't being asked to pay for it.

Note, I'm not moaning about the $20, looks good value for what it is, just trying to understand where the distinction is.

it makes plenty of sense to distribute itunes for free, as it generates money from the itunes store. didn't apple announce selling their 4 billionth song from itunes today? the number would not have been nearly that high if people were required to buy itunes software.

 

[weckart]

I too thought was extremely angry with today for not including thos updates for free. But then I had some sense knocked into me by some of the forum members here are realized the reasons I was being nonsensical. ....... Who's with me?

You drank the Kool-Aid and now you're babbling. Don't join the sheeple.

People who knew what Apple truly is noted from day one that these apps were needlessly missing from the iPod Touch and we knew that Apple would penny-pinch for these later. No surprise that this is what has happened.