I have ad an iPod Touch since Xmas. As most of you know, it’s pretty much a first gen iPhone without the phone part. I actually hate it a little bit: allow me to summarize.
User Interface
Yes, I know this device is sold as having god’s-own user interface. I disagree. The interface is very pretty, but not actually as functional as it could be.
Part of the problem might be that I use my iPod primarily as a music player. It’s crazy I know, but what I mostly want to do with my digital music player is play music. The problem is that the interface of the music player actually sucks a little.
The only way I can think to illustrate this is by comparing what can be done in the various player modes it has. You can hold the thing vertically so it displays in portrait mode, horizontally for landscape mode, or double-click the menu button when it’s locked to bring up some controls there. Here is a summary of what you can do in each mode:
| Feature | Portrait | Landscape | Locked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next song (shuffle) | Y | Y | |
| Next artist/album | Y | ||
| Adjust volume | Y | Y | |
| Move within song | Y | ||
| Pause/Play | Y | Y | Y |
| Coverflow UI | Y |
This is the kind of inconsistency that should make anybody who has taken a usability course cringe. It means I have to hold my device in a certain way to actually use it the way I want.
In all cases, most of the device’s big, luxurious screen is taken up displaying information I don’t care about in the slightest: the cover art (or background when locked). Even if I had all of the cover art there (it seems to be displayed only for songs purchased from iTunes: songs I have ripped and have perfectly good metadata for have nothing), I don’t want to look at it. Coverflow is sexy to be sure, but it’s not actually displaying anything useful to me. Think of all the useful information that could be there if they had chosen function over form. Or the buttons to touch could have been bigger and easier to hit.
Lock-in
As I mentioned earlier, Apple’s hamfisted attempts at vendor-lockin are a big deal for me.
First is the locking of the device itself: no software can be installed on this device that has really cool UI and portable computing potential. In order to install your own software, you either have to be a registered developer (I think) or do a jailbreak and risk Apple bricking your phone (or committing a criminal act if C-61 passes). [UPDATE 07/10: I’m reminded by an Apple announcement that by this I mean “unapproved software” in this paragraph.]
This is just unacceptable stupidity: on the Touch, there’s no conceivable reason to not have designed the OS to isolate applications from each other (so a junky app can’t crash the whole device), and then allowing installation. For the iPhone, the additional argument of junking up the carrier’s network is also used and is also crap: other phones allow software installation and the mobile networks haven’t been brought to their knees.
Now we move from this (which is annoying and shortsighted) to Apple’s cartoonishly evil behaviour: cryptographically signing the song databases. This makes it effectively impossible to use any software other than iTunes to put music on the device (or sync contacts, calendar, etc.).
I don’t have a Windows or Mac computer easily accessible, so here’s how I sync music to my iPod: (1) take my work laptop home and boot into Windows; (2) install iTunes if it’s not there already; (3) connect it to my network and make sure the music is being shared properly from my main computer; (4) import that music into iTunes; (5) connect the iPod and pray that it actually works. This seems to actually happen about as often as I visit the dentist, and it’s about as pleasurable.
Backlight
This is a small niggle, but the backlight on the display doesn’t turn off when playing music. On my old 4th generation iPod, the backlight would go off after 10 seconds or so to save power. On the Touch, it sits there draining battery until I lock the screen.
Voice/Data Plans
This doesn’t really have anything to do with my iPod, but it is relevant to iPhones. There has been great furore over the plans that Rogers has introduced to go with the iPhone.
On this point, however, I have no issue. Unlike many of the petition signers, when the plans were announced, I did not weep openly or consider self-immolating in front of a Rogers kiosk.
Yes, the Rogers plans are worse than the plans from AT&T in the US. But if my memory and this chart are correct, they are an order of magnitude better than previous data plans. I’ll take that as a win for Canadian wireless-fu, and leave it there.
And they are not offering unlimited data plans. I agree wholeheartedly with Allen on this one: there are no unlimited plans anywhere, so get over it.
Anyway…
Yeah, the iPhone is pretty, but I don’t think it’s worth trampling your own mother in the crowd to get one… or even paying the sticker price.
I’ve said before that I am quite enamoured with my Blackberry. I also considered the HTC Touch but obviously haven’t used it enough to give a good review.
And, there’s so much shake-up on the way for the handset makers that it might be worth waiting: Google’s Android OS, the OpenMoku phone shipping, the LiMo Foundation. All good news for people that actually think they should be in control of the device that they bought.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I’ve got an iPod touch too and agree with you on several of these. A couple tips I’ve discovered though:
If you hold your finger on the next/prey song buttons it will fast forward or rewind after a few seconds.
The screen will go off after 1-5 minutes depending on the auto-lock setting.
One feature I think would be nice would be a setting to turn off the auto rotate feature so you could leave it in portrait mode so the music settings stay the same. I use it in my car and it’s always flipping to landscape when I pick it up from the seat beside me (at stoplights of course… the touch interface is way too dangerous to use while moving, which is another issue).
I’m getting good at the keyboard though (which I’m using now). I didn’t intend to leave such a long comment. 🙂
July 10th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Dang! I really wanted an iPOD touch and you are convincing me not to get one. Hmph!
I have an iMAC and a Macbook so Itunes isn’t an issue for me.
I think I’ll still get one, just not sure which size: 8, 16 or 32 GB.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
You can add cover art for songs you didn’t buy…but you have to do it manually. It seems you don’t have to do it for each song in the album though, one or two is good enough. You just grab the jpg from somewhere and drop it into iTunes.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I completely Disagree. The ipod touch and iphone were not made to be efficient, they were made to look pretty, hence the fancy cover flow and icons. As far as the landscape, portrait argument,i admit it would me nice to be able to adjust volume in landscape, but the movement it takes to turn the ipod 90 degrees takes as much effort as turning a door knob. Same for the backlight argument, pushing one button takes virtually no effort. However, as far as third party applications, It would be fantastic to be able to get them legally rather than jailbreaking (which is totally worth it). If you really wanted an ipod for efficacy you should have gone with a video or a classic. But as long as were on the topic of efficancy, what about the capability of checking email or weather on the iphone? Oh, and to the previous Brent, go for the 16GB ipod touch, gives you enough room for music and movies and if you decide to jailbreak it will give you tones of room for apps.
July 26th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
WORD UP, I agree.
I’m waiting for the Android. I just hate Apples attitude.
July 27th, 2008 at 1:09 am
It’s not just me: http://noscope.com/journal/2008/07/why-itunes-really-really-sucks-part-2
August 12th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
The “Issues” that were stated on this site are a complete JOKE. Half the things that were complaints you can change in the settings. How retarded are people these days….you complain to stay happy. The Ipod touch is the most ADVANCED music player ON the market. Period. I will say that its not worth $300-500 but if you’re smart like me you’ll catch a ending bid on Ebay and get it for $190.00. Find me a music player that works seamlessly w/ the best music playing software available for free, lets you install apps, has WiFi, a large 3.5 crystal clear screen, and is as thin as paper. You can critisize Apple all day but you can’t disagree that they are INNOVATIVE and THEY are setting the standards that other companies merely try to immitate. If you want the best simply pay for it. If not, buy somebody else’s product and quit complainin’. I rest my case.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:52 pm
I completely disagree. The iPod touch interface is pretty basic. I IM my friends from their MSN and Yahoo accounts at school. There’s a wi-fi there that let’s you do whatever you want. (Sometimes I use it to cheat hehehe) I just kinda figured this out but if you double tap the whole Button thingy on your iPod touch or Iphone it’ll open up a music player instrument where you can play music from. It also says if you want to just go to the music section of your iPod instead if going to the menu for it. It works almost anywhere. It’s good if you were in the middle of an app that let’s you play music. I use it all the time when I’m playing sudoku on my iPod. (This is kinda random, but I heard about the MacBook Wheel, and just looking at it, it looks like crap. Who the hell wants to use a wheel as a frickin keyboard. Writing a goddamn document could take hours. It looks horrible. Now if it was called a MacBook Touch and used only a onscreen keyboard and was at least 10×12, that would be something worth buying considering there’s no typing, no noise (since you can turn noise clicks off). I always hated the noise made from my laptop when in the middle of a college lecture. The system also should correct you like the iPod touch.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:41 am
I have to disagree with you entirely (except for the iphone which is a joke because of the gay plans). Who cares that you have to rotate it. Are you that lazy that you cant move your hand? I have a touch and it is amazing 06388a61
June 8th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
you hate your iPod touch because it doesn’t a nice music player
play music in an Ipod Touch is the minimun that you can do with it
June 11th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I hate my iPod touch because even though It has the memory software like flashplayer can’t be downloaded quicktime is ok for YouTube but lately I’ve been finding that more and more videos say the movie can’t be played and this video doesn’t support the iPod touch so I only keep mine to check my email
June 17th, 2009 at 8:01 am
I got one from work for a training that I’m supposed to support for K-12 teachers. This product sucks eggs. I hate it, for all the reasons you mention and because it is so Apple-y. Pretty to look at but mostly useless. I feel about Apple products the way I feel about men’s obsession with big busted idiot women. The big question is how do you all fall for this again and again and again. And now I have to WORK with this thing. At least it wasn’t my money out the door.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:07 am
The comment I want to leave here is not against software or defiantly not the hardware of the IPOD TOUCH that I have; 16GB.
The only Shitty thing is I can’t type into a search bar for music to do an advanced search!
Other than that I am able to:
– Make free calls to phones
– search wifi(wififofum)
and that gets you online to do:
anything…
email weather MSN skype radio’s channels comin out the ying.
although 3g would be nice lol if it was with the blackberry I hope they come out with:D
Yea thx4readin
July 14th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Apple’s attitude sucks.
I bought an Ipod touch for my wife for her birthday and knew we were in trouble when you couldn’t turn the thing on until it had linked to itunes.
I agree its pretty but I cant figure out why it is listed as an mp3 player when IT DOES NOT PLAY MP3s. You have to convert them. What is that about?
I have a $20 mp3 player that works better than this over-priced trash.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:03 am
Is there a way to fast forward when it is in landscape mode. Can you get a set of higher end earbuds so that it will fast forward? I bought t for exercise mostly, and figured that it would work as well as or beter than my old creative mp3, but I am having second thoughts.
August 9th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
In response to Alex’s comment,
First of all you can install apps, that apple approves, and cost you like what 7 or 6 bucks ?
The touch screen in itself is so dysfunctional in that even the settings only allow one to let the screen dim after a minute at the least, and lets talk battery life, are you fucking kidding me? I’ve had this thing for four months now and one whole charge allows me to listen to like 20 songs, check my facebook and email , and watch ten minutes of video , and the battery is already flashing red,
The iPod touch has good ideas, albeit theres way too much stuff for a lithium ion battery of that size to handle , I mean a nearly constant glowing touch screen , a wifi receiver, apps and music all supported on one little battery thinner than most cell phones ? I don’t think so.
And the screen orientation is like apple shoving their thumbs up our asses , bye the time I try to switch songs in the damn landscape mode and switch back, the bastard freezes on me?
thanks but no thanks, i’ve recently bought a classic, and my God, how I love it, a music player for music, not a wannabe laptop.
So much easier to use, although its a bit bulky , it sticks out like a sore thumb in my pocket,(so does the touch , which is also like the size of a clipboard)
I’m gonna get a nano for on the go 🙂
oh and one more thing – “be smart like me” ?
if we were all smart like you we’d be an illiterate nation
“critisize”?
check dictionary.com on your self proclaimed God-Pod touch
August 20th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
[…] they’re not female). There are several reasons why I do not want an iPhone, some have been mentioned by Greg, another being that I’m on a contract with Bell and do not wish to pay the cancellation […]
August 26th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Hey Greg, I completely agree with you. That’s why I’m not really into Apple products; they value design over usability. I think my decision to buy a Zune was a good one; I want to use an mp3 player purely to play MUSIC, not to deal with the other crap that’ll just waste my time. If I wanted the music functionality AND applications AND everything else, I’d have bought an Archos 5 or a mini PC tablet. Good article. I just recently wrote an article describing my feelings about Apple products too, and I found that we have very similar opinions about the functionality of iPods and Apple products in general.
September 5th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
SCAM ALERT!!! We bought an iPod Touch today and it did not come with the latest 3.0 software. Apple then forces you to pay $10 to buy the upgraded software. What a scam by the lovely Apple “geniuses”.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
I agree and disagree at the same time…I will say this, although I do Love my 16gb touch. In some ways it does suck… The screen freezes, the battery life is pointless ( I walk with charger), and most important Adobe Player doesn’t work on this.
December 6th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I was interesting when I read your post.Knowledge is truly powerful.
December 12th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
OMG!!R u serious.I happen to b browsing the Internet on my iPod touch right now,and I can’t help but to say u r so wrong. Everything is so crystal clear,and beautiful. The music player is my fav part bout it. Its hard 2explain how great the graphis r. It’s hands down the best music,web, and spelling corrector ever. Which happens 2b auto correcting right now lol.U can listen to music while u browse the Internet which I happen 2b doing right now. It’s the best keyboard and u can get testing on it 🙂 I bring my iPod with me evrywhere I go,and idk what I would do without it.it has great apps built in gps Internet,yahoo,gmail,just everything and more. At first I wanted am iPhone, but I’m crazy bout my iPod touch more than I would have liked the iPhone with all the high phone bills. I mean free Internet, crysal clear music,high def,YouTube, great battery life. In my school people just cum up 2 me evryday wanting to listen 2 it. My friend even tld me she was jelly(jelius) it’s hands down an eye catcher(ull get tons of attention…I haven’t had 1flaw or glitch yet. Nor my sis(she has 1also) it also werdly corrects slang words. If I type In idc or idk,or LOL wrong it will auto correct. Idk may-b I just think that’s kewl.it loads rlly fast,and has a beutiful layout for u 2 customize. If I do make spelling errors it’s only b-cuz u am typing super fast. On other touch screens their was no way 2type fast like this. I rlly don’t think I’m
giving it as much credit as it deserves b-cuz wat I’m just sayingia nothing compared 2 actually having 1 to use 4 urself. I’m not convencing u 2 buy it. Well actually I might actually b LOL. I would suggest it 2 any1 besides my worste enemy LOL. I luv my iPod so much, and I wish u could have a chance to just experience it LOl. Well watever u choose I hope u make the right decision b-cuz every1has diff opinions.
December 14th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Personally, I hate the iPod touch. As cool as it may be to carry around the whole world on your iPod, Apple has kinda forgotten the use of an iPod…errr, to play music.
BUT it is pretty hardy. One of my friends has it, she fell over and it knocked into a wall. It has a giant crack but isn’t actually broken. Most of my friends who have the iPod love it (I’m 13).
Having said that, im happy with my Classic, the music player that can be used for, drum roll please, *to play music*. YAY!!!
December 14th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Lol I forgot to say that i own a Classic, a Shuffle, 2 Nanos and one of the old Minis. I just get people to give them to me. I bought a touch but then decided to return it, thats the only reason I know.
I also have a Creative Zen. It was a bit stupid of me to get a Touch because I have over 100gb of music (PLLEEEAAAASSSSEEEE don’t say, ‘but you’re only 13!)
Anyway this is a bit irrelavent, soo…
December 18th, 2009 at 6:39 am
I agree on most points made.
the music player is just plain stupid in function. There should be a setting that holds the mode unless changed. Yes, it’s easy to “turn a doorknob” (jackass who made that comment), but it’s not so easy when you’re riding your bike on the road to work and have a pack on and it’s 28 degrees and the ipod is in your jacket pocket and you have to slide the freakin’ unlock every time. All this to skip to the next song? What kills me is that it’s entirely unnecessary.
Apple is the new conformist. Apple tells YOU what you should want and how YOU should get it. Just look at how usable third-party apps are when you jailbreak an ipod, it makes the ipod 1000x better.
I shouldn’t have to press five buttons and pull the entire unit out of my jacket pocket just to skip to the next song. In 1988 I had a Walkman that I would leave in my backpack as I listened to it. I could ff to the next song by reaching into my pack and pressing one button, didn’t need to “turn a doorknob,” and I didn’t worry about the battery draining needlessly for 60 seconds because Apple felt like it wasn’t important to allow user controls to such a thing, which by the way is obviously Apple’s premeditated decision due to the likelihood of owner’s getting batteries replaced and further adding to Apple’s revenue.
Ipod’s music interface BLOWS HARD.
I hate Apple.
March 16th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
For me it is very efficient but not for you because you’re kinda retarded. At least the IPod 2g.
May 4th, 2010 at 10:02 am
JZ,
That’s some argument you have there, all backed up with true premises and logic, congrats, Corky.
Retard
May 4th, 2010 at 10:05 am
I’m still trying to figure out the logic of not including a setting to turn off the moronic auto-turning feature of the screen. It’s beyond annoying, it would be a simple fix, it’s a common and widely-held sentiment, and yet Apple ignores it. The worst part is that the ipad has a switch to turn it off. I think it might just have become the final straw for me with Apple, I’m tired of Apple telling me how I should want to use a device, and I’ll tell them instead how I’ll be spending my money.
August 19th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
I hatee my ipod so much! First off, i always have wifi (3 blue bars), and right when i go to the internet, the wifi disapears, or i still have the wifi,but all of the sudden it says, cannot connect to server. Other problems,
>It freezes on me out of nowhere
>I turn off brain trainer notifications, but they still seem to pop up on me.
>It doesnt have a camera! (thats not a huge issue i just want a built in camera! It would be very cool)
>I turn on my calender notifications, but when i have something i forget about, but i wrote it on my ipods calender, it doesnt remind me.
>When i get a new text, it doesnt notify me. But i have my text free notifications on.
>Battery runs low, even when i have my ipod turned off.
And those are just a few problems i have, trust me, theres alooooot more.
Iphones are even worse, so dont get me started!
I dont have one but my friend does and i see ow many problems she has on them.
Hope this gets you out of buying one! Not that i was trying to, but you can still buy one if your real brainy and know how to fix it! haha! Byee,
Julia 🙂
October 27th, 2010 at 8:23 am
I needed A LOT of self control this morning to not through the stupid device out the car window this morning
I have a car radio with a usb port, sometimes, the stupid ipod touch will decide not to talk to the radio, and takes 15 mins of retrying to get it to talk to the car usb.
My first and biggest disappointment was that I could not develop software for the device, now i can but it has to be approved by apple (?!?!?!? ) wtf ? what if I want to write a hello world program
I use it mainly as a mp3 player
all the other functions are nice to haves but I can certainly access them from my laptop , faster and more reliably
itunes is another reason I hate the damn thing
I’m going to sell it and get a plain mp3 player.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:20 am
I think its really stupid how you have to go onto itunes to first set up your ipod. i also got one for christmas and my gran doesnt have internet access so i ha dto wait 3 days to set it up.