do I want an ipod touch? *update* I bought it!

[Semidevil]

I'm considering on buying an ipod touch, but I"m not sure if it is worth the money.

I"m not doubting it because of Apple or whatever; I'm just thinking of possible things I can do with an all-in-one media player.

-Would like an mp3 player for walking
-movie watching is nice (but probably wont get much use)
-wifi is good to have.

I dont plan on getting an I-Phone, so that is out of the question.

For those of you who have an ipod touch, do you find lots of uses for it besides what I mentioned above? Do the apps give lots of creative and fun function for the touch? I'm assuming that the iphone and the touch are the exact same thing, except the phone has the phone functionality correct?

what's the difference between the generations? 1gen, 2gen, 3gen

does most of the iphone apps also work for ipod touch apps?

update:
after one reply, I decided to go ahead and buy it! haha. got the 8gb 2nd gen. very very fun.

so far, I have some racing game, a compass, facebook, and also a handwriting app. Does anyone have any more apps to suggest?

a couple question:

Is the accelerometer suppose to work in all screens? I notice that it doesn't work for everything. still trying to figure out which screens.

*is it beneficial to jailbreak the device? what other functions/advantage do I get by doing it?

 

[TheStu]

There have been 2 generations of both the iPhone and iPod Touch.
The second gen touch is thinner with bluetooth, and speakers. It has all the functionality of the iPhone, sans the phone itself. The apps can add quite a bit of functionality and fun to the device and there are plenty of free games and other apps out there.

Since it is flash based storage, it won't be a problem when walking or running. The screen is awesome for movies, and the wifi is nice.

 

[MrChad]

Watching movies is a very nice feature when traveling. I ripped all my Arrested Development DVDs and encoded them using Handbrake. They look fantastic on my iPod Touch, and I can fit a ton of episodes on there in addition to my music.

 

[pm]

Just for the record, the iPhone has a camera, a microphone and a GPS and the iPod Touch doesn't. It's not the exact same thing minus the cell phone part.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: pm
Just for the record, the iPhone has a camera, a microphone and a GPS and the iPod Touch doesn't. It's not the exact same thing minus the cell phone part.

My bad, i forgot those. I am not sure how much I would want the camera, but the GPS could be interesting.

 

[silverpig]

Let me put it this way:

Back in 1997 my parents bought the family a P200 MMX computer. It had windows 95, 16 MB ram, a 2 GB hard drive, and a 33.6 modem.

The iPod touch is superior in every way to that computer. Think what you did with computers back then, then think about doing it all anywhere you want and you have the iPod touch.

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: pm
Just for the record, the iPhone has a camera, a microphone and a GPS and the iPod Touch doesn't. It's not the exact same thing minus the cell phone part.

My bad, i forgot those. I am not sure how much I would want the camera, but the GPS could be interesting.

im betting the next ipod touch will have either gps or a mic built in...not sure about the camera, and i know bluetooth support is enabled now (if you get the 3.0 betas).

well as for the mic, you can use the iphone earbuds and they work fine in any 2G ipod touch.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: pm
Just for the record, the iPhone has a camera, a microphone and a GPS and the iPod Touch doesn't. It's not the exact same thing minus the cell phone part.

My bad, i forgot those. I am not sure how much I would want the camera, but the GPS could be interesting.

im betting the next ipod touch will have either gps or a mic built in...not sure about the camera, and i know bluetooth support is enabled now (if you get the 3.0 betas).

well as for the mic, you can use the iphone earbuds and they work fine in any 2G ipod touch.

Even if the next Touch doesn't have GPS it is possible that a 3rd party could make an addon for the Touch. OS 3.0 should have support for that kind of thing.

 

[pm]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: secretanchitman

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: pm
Just for the record, the iPhone has a camera, a microphone and a GPS and the iPod Touch doesn't. It's not the exact same thing minus the cell phone part.

My bad, i forgot those. I am not sure how much I would want the camera, but the GPS could be interesting.

im betting the next ipod touch will have either gps or a mic built in...not sure about the camera, and i know bluetooth support is enabled now (if you get the 3.0 betas).

well as for the mic, you can use the iphone earbuds and they work fine in any 2G ipod touch.

Even if the next Touch doesn't have GPS it is possible that a 3rd party could make an addon for the Touch. OS 3.0 should have support for that kind of thing.

Yeah, you are right, Secret and TheStu, the 2nd Gen iPod touch has a microphone. Thanks for the correction - I knew the 1st gen didn't, but didn't know about the 2nd Gen. The thing that makes the microphone useful is that then you can use an iPod Touch with Skype and make free phone calls from WiFi Hot spots - which, if you are in an area with a lot of WiFi (like a college campus) makes for a vritual free cell phone - at least for outgoing calls.
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/iphone/

And yeah, with 3.0, the likelihood of a 3rd party GPS add-on is pretty high.

 

[QueBert]

a GOOD GPS add on for OS 3.0 will be sweet. Screen will still be a bit small for what I'd like a GPS to be, but I could see it being really nice still. After owning it since launch week, I don't know if I could live without my Touch, I use it for almost everything I do. I don't even think of it as an iPod because I use it for my contacts, calendar, appointments etc. I might pick up a 3rd gen if it's that much better, or they have a 64gb version.