Switched On: The iPod touch and the big picture
By Ross Rubin 
posted Sep 11th 2009 11:30AM
posted Sep 11th 2009 11:30AM
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
In a New York Times interview of Steve Jobs conducted by Engadget columnist aspirant David Pogue, Apple's CEO suggested that the company did not include a camera on the iPod touch because the company was now marketing the iPod touch as a game machine and that a camera was not germane to such a device. "We don't need to add new stuff," said Jobs.
But why is adding a digital camera any less germane to the portable game device of the iPod touch than it is to adding it to the media player of the iPod nano? Or, if price is an issue, why not exclude it only on the entry-level model? The iPod touch market will soon be large enough to support such diversity. And if the iPod touch is indeed being marketed as a gaming console and a low-cost point of entry to the app store, excluding a camera disrupts the continuity of the touch/iPhone platform, while the iPod imaging message is now more muddled: If you're buying the iPhone 3G, you can capture stills but not video, while the "lower-end" iPod nano offers video capture but not stills, the iPod touch offers neither, and only the iPhone 3GS offers both.
Since the iPod's introduction, a few media players with integrated cameras have entered (and failed) in the marketplace: the Archos camcorder and Olympus m:Robe. While the camcorder-enabled iPod nano will surely sell orders of magnitude more than those products did, the video camera feels no less tacked on. Quite to the contrary when it comes to portable gaming, Nintendo, the longstanding market share leader in handheld games, added a camera to its DSi, and a rear-facing one at that.
To be fair, an iPod nano with embedded camcorder does enable Apple to market a Flip competitor that is significantly smaller than the Flip mino, with a screen size closer to even bulkier competitors such as the Kodak Zi8 -- although it lacks HD video capture. The candybar camcorder market has been small by iPod standards, but it continues to attract more competitors -- Samsung, for example, recently launched the HMX-U10.
The Jobs interview does offer a potential clue to what was perhaps a more pressing concern in integrating a camera into the touch. Explaining why the nano was limited to recording video and not stills, Jobs mentioned that adding both would have made the nano a significantly thicker device; Apple has consistently pointed with pride at the thinness of its mobile and portable devices.
Particularly with the thin Zune HD (and its OLED screen) entering the fray, Apple is likely loathe to bulk up the incredibly slim iPod touch. I suspect that the protests of users will eventually change Apple's mind; even FM radio has made it into the iPod after all this time. But for the next year, at least, iPod touch users may be condemned to carry a separate digital camera and endure burdens such as optical zoom, image stabilization, and vastly better image quality.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
But why is adding a digital camera any less germane to the portable game device of the iPod touch than it is to adding it to the media player of the iPod nano? Or, if price is an issue, why not exclude it only on the entry-level model? The iPod touch market will soon be large enough to support such diversity. And if the iPod touch is indeed being marketed as a gaming console and a low-cost point of entry to the app store, excluding a camera disrupts the continuity of the touch/iPhone platform, while the iPod imaging message is now more muddled: If you're buying the iPhone 3G, you can capture stills but not video, while the "lower-end" iPod nano offers video capture but not stills, the iPod touch offers neither, and only the iPhone 3GS offers both.
Since the iPod's introduction, a few media players with integrated cameras have entered (and failed) in the marketplace: the Archos camcorder and Olympus m:Robe. While the camcorder-enabled iPod nano will surely sell orders of magnitude more than those products did, the video camera feels no less tacked on. Quite to the contrary when it comes to portable gaming, Nintendo, the longstanding market share leader in handheld games, added a camera to its DSi, and a rear-facing one at that.
To be fair, an iPod nano with embedded camcorder does enable Apple to market a Flip competitor that is significantly smaller than the Flip mino, with a screen size closer to even bulkier competitors such as the Kodak Zi8 -- although it lacks HD video capture. The candybar camcorder market has been small by iPod standards, but it continues to attract more competitors -- Samsung, for example, recently launched the HMX-U10.
The Jobs interview does offer a potential clue to what was perhaps a more pressing concern in integrating a camera into the touch. Explaining why the nano was limited to recording video and not stills, Jobs mentioned that adding both would have made the nano a significantly thicker device; Apple has consistently pointed with pride at the thinness of its mobile and portable devices.
Particularly with the thin Zune HD (and its OLED screen) entering the fray, Apple is likely loathe to bulk up the incredibly slim iPod touch. I suspect that the protests of users will eventually change Apple's mind; even FM radio has made it into the iPod after all this time. But for the next year, at least, iPod touch users may be condemned to carry a separate digital camera and endure burdens such as optical zoom, image stabilization, and vastly better image quality.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
I couldn't care less about a stupid VGA camera. A much more needed 'improvement' to the iPod Touch in my opinion is a version with larger 4.3" screen, 16:9 aspect and 800x480 resolution.
Couldn't care less for the iPod, but this is exactly what it needs if it is to be a proper PMP. And a new design wouldn't got a miss - I've dropped things in the toilet that are more attractive than the current look.
They are saving the upgrades for the coming years
1-3.2 MP camera Still pictures only
2-OLED Screen!
3-Colors for the ipod Touch
4-iPOD Touch HD! 720P output via separate dock station and 16.9 Screen
5-Screen resolution 800x480 instead of the current 480x320
6-Stream music via Wireless without the need of applications
7-GPS with navigation
8-OS 4.0
9-Newer faster CPU ipod touch now twice as fast
10-Video Camera now Woot
11-Enhanced battery extra 5 hours of music playback !
12-FM RADIO in 2015! we are awesome company (Not even HD radio)
13-Lock your ipod touch via the camera, it only opens when it take a picture of your eyes FBI style
14-Price drop for the same PRICE !
etc
For me all what i want is freaking improved sound quality ! ipod touch is awesome device but in 2009 its sound is not on par with sony walkman or cowon S9 etc (But i still prefer the ipod because it does many other things better its not only a music device)
nah I'll stick to my psp thx, i luv my gba, nes, snes, sega, psx, commodore, dreamcast, n64, ds and arcade emulators, really do i need anything else with a library of over 5000+?
i agree. i could care less about video or taking pictures. what i was crossing my fingers for is a 16gb version at that magic price point of $199. $299 is too rich for my blood, and i don't need 32gb anyway. i guess i'm stuck with my old school 5th gen. iPod with video for another year.
@voodoo 16:9 is 854x480 not 800x480, but I hate widescreen format anyway.
I don't care about the camera either but uh, seeing as how the ipod touch is a PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYER, how about SOME BETTER AUDIO QUALITY and EARPHONES THAT DON'T BLOW?
DR House-
quite the impressive list you have going there.
But exactly how many high-profile media events will it take to introduce all those improvemtns. Based upon how much Apple introduced at the latest news fiesta, I would suspect probably at least 9-10.
hmm, two musical extravaganzas per year means your dream machine is 5 years down the road...
@madwh
True enough mate, but 800x480 seems to be a standard res that LCD manufacturers make. Basically something wide and higher-res is what i'd like. If they are aiming to improve the specs with each generation, then for me I think its about time they pushed the screen up a bit spec-wise.
The big picture is that Apple's iPod Touch owns the Zune HD as far as sales are concerned. I guess that's why Apple added a minimum of upgrade to the Touch. A faster processor and more memory is enough to bury the Zune HD. I suppose the amount of sales the Zune HD will be dependent upon how many Microsoft employees and family members there are throughout the U.S. and a few hundred Engadget commenters.
@Typical Nerd Troll
Really? In case you haven't noticed, the Zune HD packs Nvidia's Tegra chipset, which is way more powerful than the shit Apple puts into the iPod Touch. It can run 1080p HD content, for pete's sake! Oh, also, the Zune already has a considerable install base for: 1. having to compete with Apple, and 2. it's only been out a short time.
I think this is all merely a cover up. The camera module failed on the first batch for some reason,and they couldn't just delay it, the idea is to get the product out first and then they can just "upgrade" it when they fix the camera. I'd wait to see someone get a hold of the new ipod touch and see if there is things missing where a camera was meant to go in.
While I agree the improvements you suggest would have been fantastic, I can tell you pretty emphatically that this was not only a dealbreaker for me, but a lot of people I know as well. If you happen read comments over at Giz, you'll note that I actually conducted an informal study of 27 random people and my two parents and all but one (not counting mom, who called it the iTouch), who owned a 3GS and admitted the camera was a major factor influencing his upgrade from a 3G, said the camera would have a major impact on their consideration.
These were not "geeks". They were representative of the average community, and they were genuinely surprised.
i have to disagree with a larger screen. you can vote me down but making the itouch (yes, i call it itouch, i don't care) bigger will make its size a bigger turn off. it's size right now is already kind of pushing it for a "carry around daily"
Boom!
14-Price drop for the same PRICE !
The best one yet.
@Spartan
...and 3. It's available in only NA.
@Dr House
I completely agree with you here. The Iphone/Touch is successful because Apple was not afraid to release a product that blew everything else out of the water. While other companies were adding unimpressive features to their devices each product update ( ex. storage, GUI, design), Apple made a remarkable leap forward to capture the attention of consumers. However, I believe Apple is now conforming to the accepted business practices that other companies are using - barely scratching the surface of Moore's law with lackluster updates to justify a price point while increasing their ROI.
I am not upset that the Ipod Touch doesn't have a camera with this release. Instead I am disappointed that Apple is a company now focused on milking a product by releasing unimpressive updates rather than wowing consumers with impressive updates. The yearly increase of storage space in a PMP is expected, but why not give consumers something unexpected? It's the whole reason why Apple Press Conferences are watched by the world...consumers look to be excited by their announcements. Jobs stating they "don't need to add new stuff," is a lazy cover-up for their intentions to focus on max profits rather than on exciting innovation. Of course they will be "adding new stuff" to the Ipod Touch, just not as soon as we, the intelligent gadget aficionados, would like to see them.
ZuneHD Rulezz1!!!!
Oh and I forgot to add this,
iPod Touch - It's a great gaming device!!! /s
.
Honestly, who would ever consider an iPod Touch over a PSP or Nintendo DSi for gaming?
@ Alex
Steve Jobs?
My favorite games on DS, Elite Beat Agents and Professor Layton, are both touch-screen only. If games like these were released on the Touch, I might buy one as a game machine. Maybe.
@ Alex
Tower defense games are actually really good on the iPod. Sure, I carry around my PSP to play Dissidia or really "game" but for a quick, "God this meeting is crap" or "This subway ride would be better without this bum staring at my junk" moments I'd rather use the iPod.
I just want a handheld xbox and I'll be happy.
@Mjayhunt: Depending on how you think about it, it might be coming out Tuesday.
@mr nimblewick
If you jailbreak your iPod Touch, there is a game called "Osu!" which is a clone of Elite Beat Agents/Osu Tatakae Ouendan.
There is also a PC version if you're interested.
@alex - anyone that likes listening to music and surfing the internet on a pocketable device and doesn't want to carry around something separate for gaming?
@ Alex- it appears your comment is a little off base, as I believe there have been many more ipod touch's with purchased games loaded on them than PSP or gameboy's.
that aside, I'm pretty surprised by the number of people who ignorantly spew garbage like the ipods having inferior sound quality to other PMP's. sure the packaged earbuds are garbage but with your favorite earphones the ipods or iphones have just as good or better sound quality than any other PMP. show me PROOF otherwise or stop blindly repeating what you saw someone say on a message board somewhere.
@ Devin: Are you kidding? The iPod's sound quality compared to pretty much ANY competitive products is garbage. I just can't begin to describe how bad an iPod sounds when compared to a Zune or Cowon S9, side-by-side with no equalization.
But since you want proof, try this: listen to an MP3 with your best set of headphones on your computer, then listen to the same MP3 on your iPod with the same headphones.
i still love how the iPhones "new" video messaging made headlines...i have had video messaging on throwaway verizon handsets for years...
im an apple fan, but its time for the love affair with the press to end.
What's worse is that there are people out there who undoubtedly think Apple have innovated with new features to phones like copy and paste and MMS. Things that are not at all new to most modern phones.
And how usable was it on your phone? Yeah...exactly.
Dax, it was pretty hard. I choose a photo and pressed send via MMS and it did it... I got so tired after that you can't even image.
I don't think anyone ever thought Apple created something new with Copy and paste and MMS but it was a nice addition and people were happy to finally get it. When you think about it, what were phone like before the iPhone... Apple seriously pushed the industry to go foward... I don't know about you but i can remember when they first announced the iPhone i was litteraly blown away...
As far as MMS is concerned I don't really use it anyway but i had a razr and the picture quality was so bad you couldnt even see what was on the screen so the feature is much more usable on the iPhone if you look at it that way!
"iPod touch users may be condemned to carry a separate digital camera"
or a cell phone. Which they will be carrying anyway because they don't have an iPhone.
Everyone who is complaining about the lack of camera will have a cell phone, and with it a camera of equal or better quality. Why does it matter which device it's on when you have to carry both anyway? And really, carrying a cell phone should take priority over a music player if you are out.
Probably because it's really the only thing they could have added to make the iPod Touch seem superior to the Zune HD. Would it have been a gimmick? Probably. But it's still something people could have pointed to. As it ended up, the only things out there to point to now are bluetooth(which the vast majority of consumers will never even see) and higher pixel count due to it being 3:2 aspect ratio, and even that is offset by the fact that it actually has a lower pixel density of 163ppi vs 167 on the Zune HD. Now you have a massively marketed, historically popular device that seems entirely outclassed by a poorly marketed historically unpopular device. There's no telling what'll happen out of this and I'm guessing that scares some people.
Why should a phone take priority? What if someone wants to listen to music but does not want to contact or be contacted by phone? While on holiday for instance?
It's called airplane mode. You can turn off the phone functions.
Mark, your delusions grow weirder with every post. It's as if you're paid to slip Zune HD references wherever you can.
I don't have a cell phone. In fact, I despise them.
If apple gives me a way to wirelessly transfer pics to and from my phone via bluetooth to use in applications then I wont have no problems. Until then your argument is null. Its not so much people want to take pictures, its that they want to use the applications and features on the iphone/ipodtouch OS to edit and upload images easily.
To upload a image from most phones would require you accessing a laptop or desktop pc with a internet connection, where if we had this on the touch we could simply upload at a wifi hotspot which are quite common now. Not to mention, most phone OS's do not have as much of a extensive library of photo manipulation applications as there is in the appstore.
Now do you understand?
@MacVicta: Eh? Do you really think there's no reason at all to bring up the Zune HD in an article about the iPod Touch? It's not like they're directly competing products or anything... Given the amount of people I've seen(not just on here but even on sites like AppleInsider) declare that they're getting a Zune HD after the iPod Touch announcement I'd say my comment was incredibly relevant and might just paint a picture as to why so many people are angry that there's no camera. There's not really much of another reason. Apple never said there would be, and it's not exactly an amazing blow away feature.
EXACTLY. This is a non-issue.
And actually i'm glad it doesn't have a camera so you can still take it into government buildings and court houses.
Bring your cellphone which 99% of the time has a camera that would be just as crappy as anything stuck on the touch, or bring your compact Canon/other camera with you. End of story.
Dude let's be totally honest no one's gonna buy the Zune HD compared to the iPod Touch other than super anti-apple fans like yourself, which I totally respect, I used to be one. Zune has great hardware and the new UI looks slick as hell, but when you buy the ipod touch, you buy access to thousands of different mini-programs, games, and more. I used to have a Cowon iAudio X5 cause it was better than the old iPods. Better sound quality, features, etc, and I hated Apple. The next device I bought, iPod Touch. I caved in because they were the first media player to have an incredibly usable web browser, capacitive touch (which was like magic when it first came out) and now they're light years ahead of the competition. You can't deny the power of all those apps. Apple has pretty much reinvented the word APP, it wasn't even popular vernacular 2 years ago.
Now, even though I'm thinking about dropping $600 flat to get an n900 because Maemo with 1GB RAM and 32 GB on board is brute mobile power, I still can't get over all those iPhone applications and it makes me want one. I mean the choices.... jeez. Love or hate the iPod Touch and iPhone, you know you like to play with your friend's when he gets a new game.
@ale Dude, how about all the apps for Maemo? Could you not forget that it's going to run virtually every application out there for linux, which are almost all for free? So there goes the app argument. I call N900 iPhone killer, the ruler of all the mobile phone devices out there. And, boy, if I had a Zune HD in my hands too, I'd be a happy SOAB.
I really hate Apple, the way their marketing division always presents their devices as groundbreaking as they do, forgetting about all the stuff that came before them. No, I'm not a douche who thinks I'm better than everyone, so I wont buy from a company that does so. And I really wanna see how they will handle the N900 marketing, will they be talking about the apps? Don't think so.
I think some people are missing half of the point of having a camera on iPod Touch: the apps that require them.
As a recent upgrader from iPod Touch to iPhone 3GS, I'm just non-plussed by the whole event Wednesday. Apple's iPod lineup is officially uninteresting to me. It's kinda like completing the final mission in Mafia Wars. What is there to do except pick on lower level punks and how long until that gets boring.
My biggest disappointment from Wednesday is that the iPhone OS 3.1 update has again broken podcast ordering, especially for podcasts that ship multiple episodes per day. So I'm back to fiddling with the On The Go playlist to get Jim Rome to play in order again. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Oh God, why do you even spend time on a shit game like Mafia Wars? It's not even a game. Your support is partly the reason why the App store is flooded with those shitty games that appear to be legitimately fun and interesting.
Aside from that, I think we're too obsessed over what Apple releases. I wish I could go back to a time where I was pleasantly surprised whenever something new came out.
It's called manipulating the market. Which the fanboys let 'em do very well. Enjoy!
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