Nobody really has to upgrade, it’s just that people seem to want to upgrade anyway, maybe every other year.

@Dan, it’s not so simple as you say, the Touches were dropped in price too. I reallydon’t think Apple had to do that, because it’s such a deal compared to the iPhone, the advertised iPhone price is really a subsidized price, not that those complaining about the “high” Touch prices care to admit that.

I have to confess that I’m a relatively recent convert to Apple. I haven’t gone all the way yet, and I’m not sure that I will end up buying a Mac because of all the exclusive PC software that I need to use, but I WAS won over by ‘the dark side’ (or maybe I should say ‘the white side’) to get an iPhone.

I am SO impressed with the iPhone, it’s simply light years ahead of any other phone I’ve ever used. I LOVE how I can see a FULL web page, not some crappy little pocket PC ‘optimized’ version that only displays one corner of a site, if you’re lucky. I’m also impressed with the fact that it doesn’t need a 300 page manual – come to think of it, it doesn’t need ANY manual.

Bearing in mind that I’m a ‘stif upper lip’ Brit who finds it hard to heap praise on anything, my comments should be taken as an endorsement of epic proportions. Now that we have an iPod AND phone in one combined device, it’s clear that mankind has taken the biggest leap forward since the fake moon landings…

In all seriousness, the integration of the iPhone/iPod with iTunes is iMazing. It’s SOOOO easy to download and watch or listen to ANY type of content.

I resisted the iPod and iPhone for the longest time but now I realize that resistance is futile, and I wish I’d been converted sooner. Any minor niggles that are talked about in tech blogs are just that, they’re trivial in the grand scheme of things.

Of course, this latest batch of pods that Apple has cooked up will further enhance their hold on the mp3 player market. Microsoft should just surrender the Zune immediately, apologize profusely to all users, and give them a voucher for a free iPod…

I love your blog Lisa. ;)

Andrew

This is great for a lot of people who go off-network frequently and would like access to their digital media.

But there’s an increasing number of people who are on-network for a substantial amount of time. And when we’re off-network we aren’t using our portable devices. We’re enjoying being off-network. For example …

When I’m at work I have a decent enough pipe I can use to stream some video and all of my audio from my home server. When I’m at the gym I have a WiFi connection I could use to stream audio … if my iPhone supported it.

I think Apple (and other companies) should move towards a more network-centric model that combines both streaming and caching. Synchronizing and mirroring is a pain in the ass. Let me just stream my content from home and I’ll be happy. The iPhone has all the parts necessary – a processor for decoding, a wifi transceiver for the intertube beams, and a display for playback.

As for the iTouch being redundant, I disagree. Call me uncool but I don’t want an all-in-one gadget like the iPhone. I just want to play music without the potential of being contacted.