The Wide, Wide World of Apple

[Barrister]

The PSP or DS may be superior, but by sneaking it in as a "music player that also plays games" appears to be having more success than the "game pad that is starting to play music" approach from Nintendo and Sony.

Nintendo has sold over 100 million DS systems and over 500 million games.

Apple has sold 30 million iPhones, and 20 million iPod Touch's, and well over a billion apps (no idea how many are games), over a much shorter period of time.  The DS has 3,680 games available for it, while the iPhone iTouch has 21,178 available.

The game is hardly over, but it looks like Apple's approach of going after a much more general audience may be more successful.  But time will tell.

[derspiess]

How much hype was there?

There's always hype.

It was about what everyone expected, and what Apple has done every year for 8 years or so - announced new iPods for the holidays.

There just wasn't much substance with this one.  I really think most people were expecting more.  I thought they would pump up the Touch to kill off whatever hype the Zune HD still has, but I guess with MS's 1.1% market share, they're not concerned

The surprise for me is no camera in the Touch.  There was a rumour of problems with the camera units, perhaps this is why.  It seems a strange omission since the iPhone already has a camera/video.

True.  The only reason I can think of to put a different camera in the Touch is if it's improved over the iPhone's camera.  But then again I would not think Apple would ever let another product leapfrog its flagship mobile product (iPhone) in any way.

[derspiess]

The game is hardly over, but it looks like Apple's approach of going after a much more general audience may be more successful.  But time will tell.

They can have that market segment all they want.  I don't think people buy the DS or PSP to play the typical iPod touch game anyway.  Apple's approach may be quite successful for what it is, but the way they compared the Touch/iPhone to the more established mobile gaming platforms was ridiculous. 

[DisturbedPervert]

Apple has sold 30 million iPhones, and 20 million iPod Touch's, and well over a billion apps (no idea how many are games), over a much shorter period of time.  The DS has 3,680 games available for it, while the iPhone iTouch has 21,178 available.

The game is hardly over, but it looks like Apple's approach of going after a much more general audience may be more successful.  But time will tell.

Apple has sold their billion apps at vastly different price points.  And the DS has a lot more than 3000 games, every single GBA game as well as thousands more through emulation.

Doesn't really matter to me who makes more money though, Nintendo's massive profits ensure real portable gaming machines aren't going anywhere.

[Barrister]

True.  The only reason I can think of to put a different camera in the Touch is if it's improved over the iPhone's camera.  But then again I would not think Apple would ever let another product leapfrog its flagship mobile product (iPhone) in any way.

It has nothing to do with putting a different camera in.  As I understand it the iTouch has no camera at all, which now makes it an oddity in the iPod lineup.

Oh, for all you shuffle haters - Apple is working with 3rd party headphone makes to bring out non-Apple shuffle headsets.   

[derspiess]

It has nothing to do with putting a different camera in.  As I understand it the iTouch has no camera at all, which now makes it an oddity in the iPod lineup.

I guess I was assuming they'd be using a different camera from the iPhone, given that there shouldn't be significant issues adding the iPhone camera to the Touch.

Oh, for all you shuffle haters - Apple is working with 3rd party headphone makes to bring out non-Apple shuffle headsets.   

"working with" = imposing the Apple Tax.  Still a FAIL.

[Barrister]

Apple Tax

Lets stick to facts and not buzzwords, mkay?

Apparently the camera on the Nano can only take video, not still pictures.

[derspiess]

Apple Tax

Lets stick to facts and not buzzwords, mkay?

Oh, sorry-- "licensing fee" for an unnecessary proprietary function

[Ed Anger]

As an iTouch owner, I find the gaming part to be mediocre at best. A few good games in a huge shallow pool.

[Barrister]

Stage 2 of Operation Make the King of Macs even more Powerful(tm).

Cable Internet installed today. So long crappy DSL.



Of course I remember how, 3 years ago, I was so happy to get onto DSL instead of dial-up in Alberta.   

[Barrister]

And sure enough, Northwestel insisted on sending a technician to "install" the cable modem, when all he did was take it out of the box and plug it in. 

Well I guess it isn't all he did, as he did cut a couple peices of cable to size and he "tested" the line before plugging in the machine, but those were steps either I could do, or didn't really need to be done.

[Ed Anger]

Dammit Beeb, I was less than enthused about the iTouch's games, and you can't even froth uncontrollably at me? FUCK YOU BUDDY.

You make Steve Jobs sad.

[Barrister]

Dammit Beeb, I was less than enthused about the iTouch's games, and you can't even froth uncontrollably at me? FUCK YOU BUDDY.

You make Steve Jobs sad.

Don't tell anybody, but I get a kick out of trolling derspeiss by only posting reasonable and rationale comments about Apple products.

Plus what can I say - I don't own the Touch, so I have no good or bad the games are.

And Steve Jobs can make himself feel better by rolling around in a giant pile of money and replacement organs.

[Barrister]

Snow Leopard is here!!!11111oneoneone

Or at least the Purolator people left a note saying they tried to drop off something that I assume is Snow Leopard.

Tomorrow, I install... 

[DontSayBanana]

And sure enough, Northwestel insisted on sending a technician to "install" the cable modem, when all he did was take it out of the box and plug it in. 

Well I guess it isn't all he did, as he did cut a couple peices of cable to size and he "tested" the line before plugging in the machine, but those were steps either I could do, or didn't really need to be done.

Cable companies also have a whitelist "firewall" to prevent unauthorized computers from using their network. Part of the reason they insist on sending an installer is to record and verify hardware IDs of modems, routers, and computers that will be connected to them. Congrats on joining us in the land of "doesn't take forever to load" Internet connections, though.