New product announcements by Apple are generally followed by collective appreciation. While the latest Apple iPod announcement wowed many with the new lineup, it also immediately generated a fair amount of disgruntled muttering and complaints over the sharp iPhone price drop. Things don’t seem to be getting better.
Apple has just released a new firmware update for the 3G iPod nano and the iPod Classic. It fixes a number of bug fixes but Apple provides few details as to what those bugs are. You can get the new update through iTunes. There are also complaints that the iPod Classic does not sound as good as the 5.5G iPod.
Meanwhile, the iPod touch is collecting some less than stellar reviews, especially for its display. Some reviews and customers who have managed to get their hands on some are reporting issues like very dark screens, inverted blacks and dead pixels (Note that others have reported no such issues so there may be a bad batch of early units out there). Gizmodo and others have posted a comparison of the iPhone and touch screens. The removal of some of the functionality found on the iPhone is also raising some questions. For example, why can’t you create a new calendar event on your touch?
Some reviewers, like iLounge and The Washington Post, are suggesting that while the iPod touch is in many ways an impressive product, it might be better to wait for Apple to work out some of the first generation kinks.
Now I have to decide whether or not to cancel my iPod touch order now…