Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mr. H 
I understand why people are annoyed, I really do. But none of it explains why anyone should have the
right to
expect extra stuff for free.
You expected the extra apps to be added.
You made the
assumption that they'd be delivered for free. Apple never said that they'd even be delivered, let alone for free. Again, without the guarantee that any functionality will be added to the device, why buy it if it doesn't do all you want it to do?
If you needed the missing stuff, you shouldn't have bought it. And if you could use the touch before without this stuff, why do you all of a sudden have to have it? Most of this just smacks of jealousy and people's desire to "keep up with the Joneses" for the sake of it rather than because of any actual need.
All of this "old iPod touch owners have to pay for the update whilst it's bundled for free with new iPod touches" is not a valid argument. If it was a valid argument, it would be just as valid to be dismayed that new OSes for Macs cost money, whilst they are bundled on new Macs for free.
Yes, OSes cost more to develop, but that's why they cost more.
It's Apple's prerogative to charge what they like, and it's your prerogative to either pay and have the apps, or not pay and not have the apps. That's as far as it goes.
Yes, be pissed off that you have to pay. But don't try and pretend that there's any logical argument that proves that Apple should be obliged to give the applications away for free.
You sir need to look at the facts.
Fact 1: Home Screen Reorganising, Lyrics and WebClips are not Apps.
Fact 2: 3/5 of these "apps" are widgets. Widgets are free on Mac OS X and Windows. And on OS X Mobile iPhone Edition (Yes, that's right, a skew of a skew of an OS)
Fact 3: £199 is a substantial cost for an 8GB Media Player, one which carries with it a certain level of service quality expectation whether Apple likes it or not.
Fact 4: Apple may not have said ahead of time that I'd get new apps, let alone free ones, but they damn sure didn't tell me they would be selling updates to existing software. That sir is the rub.
Fact 5: By including updates to existing software in the App Pack, Apple is forcing users who do not want these apps to buy them for features they themselves (Apple) include on cheaper, and even non-premium products (iPod classic, iPod nano respectively. Both have Home Screen customisation and lyrics support)
Fact 6: There is more to it than simply suggesting that we hold off because these things weren't there. We were basing our buying decisions on then-current information (Not 20/20 hindsight, as you are), which suggested that the Apps on iPhone and not iPod touch were only meant for iPhone. We weighed the pros and cons at that time and decided to buy. Had we known that some of he cons would be rectified, it's possible some of us would have held off.
I bought an iPod touch because I want(/ed) a widescreen video iPod and not a phone. I staved off Jailbreaking it because I had faith that Apple would fix my biggest software quibble - that damn missing icon. Low and behold, 2 ways of fixing this are announced for OS X Mobile 1.1.3
Oh, wait. No. Just the iPhone edition. Wait, what? According to the less attractive new Dock, the two distros of OS X Mobile should be getting closer, not more different. So that makes absolutely zero sense.
But, surely iPod touch's distribution of OS X Mobile should get that functionality too, it's only fair. Oh sure it does.
Well, only if you pay £12.99 for 5 apps you may have already decided you didn't want to pay for.
Are you getting it now? Apple is trying to force me to buy something I already decided I did not want to pay for by bundling something I'm more likely to have wanted with it. For the exact same reason you say we should lay down and let Apple charge the £12.99, that we did not know the iPod touch would get this pack, we have every reason to be outraged.
And I don't give a damn about some half-hearted legal explanation using a redundant interpretation of a law that barely applies. Rule number one of business: don't piss off the people who will form your future revenue model. You know. iTunes Store customers. IE, almost every iPod owner in territories with an iPod Store. People like me.
It's stupid, it makes no sense and it's not cool.