Why buy an iPod touch now?

June 8, 2009 4:50 PM

iPhone Vs. iPod touch: Is the Touch now basically useless for anyone willing to jump through a few hoops?

Apple announced the new iPhone 3GS today. Priced at $199 for the 16 GB model, with all sorts of new bells and whistles, both hardware and software. (AT&T plan required of course)

The 16GB iPod touch is still priced at $299. The new OS (3.0) will be available for the iPod touch, but won't include such things as the compass, video camera etc).

For someone like me looking for an iPod touch, or basically an iPhone without the phone function (Yes, i'm sure i don't need/want it, thanks) why would I possibly buy an iPod touch when I could buy the new iPhone, sign up for AT&T, wait 30 days, cancel, pay $175 termination fee and have a spanking new iPhone with all the features and no monthly plan? This would total about $375 all said and done and only be $75 more then said iPod touch.

Am I missing something? Even buying the original 8GB iPhone at the new $99 price and paying the $175 fee is still only slightly more than the $229 for the 8 GB Touch...

posted by alhadro to technology (11 comments total)

Depends on whether you need to pay the $69 for the first month of service on AT&T.
posted by smackfu at 5:03 PM on June 8

Or you could wait a few months, when the Back to School promotion is about to end. At that point (after they've cleared out stock of the current iPods) I'd expect a new iPod Touch with 3.0 to be available. It'll most likely have the magnetometer, BT, maybe even the 3.0Megapixel camera. Hoops to be sold separate.
posted by now i'm piste at 5:08 PM on June 8

All the iPods are due for a bump. With the exception of the newly designed Shuffle (released 3 months ago in March), the last time they made any noise was at the special announcement in early September '08. If you want a iPod touch, go for it. They're being advertised as free (rebate, quick turn around) with the purchase of a new computer.
posted by now i'm piste at 5:20 PM on June 8

I expect the price on the iPod Touch will be adjusted soon, possibly within a few weeks after the new iPhone becomes available. They've done this a few times with the iPod lines, ie. new model comes out, old model gets discounted without any major announcement within a few weeks/months.

I think Apple does this to push customers towards the new/updated product. If they cut the price on the iPod Touch at the same time, some people would buy the iPod Touch instead of the new iPhone. Instead, by making the new iPhone look most attractive in pricing, they boost the number of sales of the new iPhone in the first month. Every tech manufacturer loves sending out the "OMG, we sold X million units of our updated product in the first month!" After the hype has worn off, they'll reduce the price on the iPod Touch to capture the value customers.
posted by junesix at 5:31 PM on June 8

Incidentally, there are other differences. For instance, the iPod Touch is much thinner and a bit lighter than the iPhone. 8.5mm vs 12.3mm (44% thicker) and 115g vs 135g (17% heavier).
posted by smackfu at 5:40 PM on June 8 [1 favorite]

The phone has a camera? Then I would have to stick with the iPod Touch or risk serious trouble at work, which is where I do the vast majority of the things I would do with it.
posted by ctmf at 6:49 PM on June 8

Another revision for the ipod touch is in the works, expected to possibly arrive as early as this fall. Hence, the whole back to school promo to help get rid of the current model quicker.

I like my ipod touch 2g. It has proved more than useful in odd circumstances.

Oh, and signing up for an iphone 3gs and then canceling with the $175 ETF? Don't forget activation $36 and one month of service at $70, you're looking at at least $480.

Not an original idea btw.
posted by liquoredonlife at 7:01 PM on June 8 [2 favorites]

MacRumors Buyers Guide says "don't buy -- updates soon"
posted by intermod at 8:24 PM on June 8

The phone has a camera? Then I would have to stick with the iPod Touch or risk serious trouble at work, which is where I do the vast majority of the things I would do with it.

Whaddaya work at the CIA? The Pentagon? What's serious trouble in this case? A North Korean prison camp?
posted by RockCorpse at 4:45 AM on June 9

As intermod suggests, wait a bit if you can.

I have an iPod Touch 2g, and I love it. It has been extremely helpful while traveling, and now that my Qwest internet account allows me free wifi access wherever AT&T has it (like the ubiquitous Starbucks), I'm golden.
posted by King Bee at 5:31 AM on June 9

Whaddaya work at the CIA? The Pentagon? What's serious trouble in this case? A North Korean prison camp?

Many government and military installations now forbid cell phones with cameras because they create a security headache. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other industries with similar standards for similar reasons.
posted by canine epigram at 10:36 AM on June 9