iPod Touch

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Shann

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Sep 2, 2004
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My Son wants an iPod Touch. He is getting his Associates Degree this month (and continuing on to a Bachelors Program) so I'm pretty happy with him right now. I don't really understand what it is though. He already has a cell phone, and says this is not a cell phone. It sounds like he will basically use it for music and games and internet texting (is that free? we are spending a fortune on a texting plan for him with Verizon)

Would we be better off getting him an iPhone for Verizon and then I could take his old phone because mine is like 6 years old.
 
An iPod touch is very much like a very small computer. It is, of course, limited compared to a real computer but it can do many functions -- browse the web, watch movies, listen to music, play games. The iPod touch does not require a subscription fee of any kind.

The iPhone is essentially an iPod touch with a cellular phone built in. That said, you will have to pay a monthly fee for its data/internet access around $30/mo on top of the voice and text plan you pay for now. The advantage here is that the iPhone can use the Internet wherever you get phone service and also has a GPS. The iPod touch can only use the Internet wherever you get WiFi, similarly to most laptops.

Verizon has, for a long time now, offered free or heavily discounted phones to longtime customers every two years as an incentive to renew your service contract. May want to stop by your local Verizon dealer to see if you can't upgrade your phone for free.
 
the iPhone will end up costing far less than an itouch if you sign on the 2 year plan. If the bill is similar to what you pay for him now, it would make a lot more sense to grab the iphone
 
I have an Ipod touch and it's awesome. As carrot said, it's basically an Iphone minus the phone. It runs all of the Iphone apps, but you can't make calls on it, and there is no service contract for it. You can use it on your home wireless network or any other wireless network you can get access to (Starbucks, most restaurants etc.) and get on the internet for free. It does a lot of very cool things.
 
when you say you are spending a lot of money for texting, are you referring to the data package ($30 or so)? verizon has unlimited texting for $10 iirc.

if he has a blackberry and the data package he is using the blackberry messenger (bbm). the bbm is only available with the data package.

he may not want to switch to the iphone if he is.
 
I use iPod touch to get on bladeforums for about 12 hours a day so it is fancy.
 
My son has one and the web browser is really great,faster than most laptops I have seen.
I am wanting one myself.
 
Well, it sounds like it would be fun for him. He is in computer game programming at college, so its right up his alley. I think it would be unwieldy to carry both an iPod touch and a phone so maybe I will continue to look into the phone thing.

Other than the monthly fee, is there a downside to the iPhone v. iPod Touch?
 
Shann said:
Well, it sounds like it would be fun for him. He is in computer game programming at college, so its right up his alley. I think it would be unwieldy to carry both an iPod touch and a phone so maybe I will continue to look into the phone thing.

Other than the monthly fee, is there a downside to the iPhone v. iPod Touch?
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Iphone is thicker then the ipod touch, but thats about it. Also the iphone costs less upfront then an ipod touch, when you sign a 2yr contract.
 
You can get a version of the ipod touch with 64GB memory but the iphone has a maximum of 32GB memory.
 
My advice would be the phone. I have one (only 8 gigs). It does everthing I need it to do including making calls. If I am away from a computer I have little trouble making this thing do whatever I need it to. Now I want an iPad. All this despite my distaste for Apple products in general. + 1 for the phone. I still use my 30 gig IPod for my music though.
 
I'm not sure why everyone is telling you that the iTouch is more expensive than the iPhone. Everyone of my crew use the iTouch as a phone, calling internationally for little or no cost. Skype, Google, Yahoo, and other apps allow voice calls on the iTouch. We even do video calls. Skype is $2.95 a month, Yahoo pay by the minute (about 0.01 cent a minute at last count), and Google is free to calls within the USA.

Why does anyone buy a phone anymore?

All this plus the ability to email, text, listen to music, watch a movie, play a game, read a book, etc...
 
The newest model has both a built-in mic and camera....
I have the older one, but it's great fun. Music device (mine currently has over 600 songs) drawing tablet, web browser, etc.
I work at a university, so there's free WiFi everywhere... No need to pay for phone service.
 
eisman said:
I'm not sure why everyone is telling you that the iTouch is more expensive than the iPhone. Everyone of my crew use the iTouch as a phone, calling internationally for little or no cost. Skype, Google, Yahoo, and other apps allow voice calls on the iTouch. We even do video calls. Skype is $2.95 a month, Yahoo pay by the minute (about 0.01 cent a minute at last count), and Google is free to calls within the USA.

Why does anyone buy a phone anymore?

All this plus the ability to email, text, listen to music, watch a movie, play a game, read a book, etc...
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what do you plan to do in an emergency if there's no free wifi available where you are? ex. car breaks down, car crash, medical emergency etc etc
 
If he already has a cell phone, I'd go with the Ipod Touch. I received one from my girlfriend this past Christmas, and I love it. Like someone else mentioned, it's quick to load most pages, and many major websites have a mobile version so you can still access their content. As far as the Iphone goes, I don't know how much you pay now, but the cheapest plan I could come up with (voice, data, etc) was still around $100.
 
what do you plan to do in an emergency if there's no free wifi available where you are? ex. car breaks down, car crash, medical emergency etc etc
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Probably the same thing I'd do back before there were cell phones; take care of it the best I can. The reality of the situation is this - if you have cell phone coverage you probably have net coverage.

Now I travel worldwide, and have not had a problem using this method in over a year, and that's calling internationally from multiple countries that are not as connected as the USA. The guys I know who really worry about that all have a mobile hotspot (picked up here in SWA and good worldwide); they cost about $200 a year for a highspeed connection.

If you really worry about such a thing I'd suggest you look at your lifestyle; are you really going places where this could be a problem? For most people that's not true.

Cell phones today are what landlines were 10 years ago. Most people have them because it's a habit and/or how they are trained. I believe "sheeple" is the term most used here?
 
hybridbanana said:
What's his current phone?
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I don't know. It about a year old. Its not a Droid or Iphone. Its some kind of decent but not high end phone with a little slide out keyboard for typing.

We have Verizon, so I'd never looked at an Iphone before. One of my partners has one and he loves it. I definately don't want to spend more money than needed, but my Son probably would stop carrying his cell phone and only use the Itouch for texting and then I'd never be able to get a hold of him.
 
Shann said:
I don't know. It about a year old. Its not a Droid or Iphone. Its some kind of decent but not high end phone with a little slide out keyboard for typing.

We have Verizon, so I'd never looked at an Iphone before. One of my partners has one and he loves it. I definately don't want to spend more money than needed, but my Son probably would stop carrying his cell phone and only use the Itouch for texting and then I'd never be able to get a hold of him.
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If he had an iPod Touch, he wouldn't disregard his phone. He'd probably carry both with him. (Being a tech-savy 24 year old myself). If you got him the phone, yes the handset will be cheaper, but then you're still paying for a phone contract. The iPhone would be a nicer product to have over the iPod Touch. If you're ok with it, maybe ask him which he'd rather have?
 
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