Rotten Apples

Sat, 19 January 2008

I just got off the phone after having a chat with a friend of mine who works for Microsoft, who told me some rather disturbing news. The Windows XP service pack 3 is coming out soon, but surprise, surprise - it will cost me $49. Even worse, the Vista service pack 1 will cost $59. I couldn’t believe it, what a bunch of loonies.

Apple would never do such a thing to its own users. Would they? Hell yes!

iPod touch, code named ‘wallet touch’, is the product we’re all talking about. When released last year it was delivered in a crippled state, some of the functions of the iPhone, such as notes and stocks, were not there. Nobody was overly upset about anything else, but the lack of Notes was inexcusable.

The fact that I had to use the Contacts to take notes was a pathetic workaround. I had two options, to jail break my iPod, or to wait for Apple to release an update that will address this. I opted for the latter and as it turned out Apple realised their own mistake and rectified it. The only problem is - I have to pay for it.

Some will say - “You don’t get the Leopard for free when you have a 6 months old Mac with Tiger…” This is not the same, this is not the operating system upgrade, this is a minor update with addition of some functionality that is already available on another product (iPhone), and that was supposed to be on the iPod in the first place.

This is something that Apple screwed up to begin with and now they want the users to pay $20 to have the update. This is the same update that will be included for free on all new iPods from now on, that will be sold for the same price I had to pay for mine just a few months ago.

Shame on you Apple! This is a spineless, blatant rip-off of its loyal user base.

Oh by the way, the thing about the Microsoft charging for the service packs - I was only joking. Of course, Microsoft would never do that to their users. Would they? Of course not.

Stumble it!

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Category Posted in Apple, iPod and iPhone

8 Responses to “Rotten Apples”

  1. Jesse said: Sat, 19 January 2008 at 11:01

    Charging for a service pack? I’ll believe it when I see it.

  2. Henry said: Sun, 20 January 2008 at 00:54

    I really agree with you on this one. Apple really let their loyal user base down this time. I guess they were probably motivated by the fact that iPod Touch/iPhone apps are coming and probably won’t be free, so they felt like charging for these 5 “new” apps for the Touch as well. But since they come with a system update, I really think they shouldn’t charge for them. It is like an improvement of an Apple system, which, historically, has always (I guess - I’m taking a big shot on this one) been free. This just doesn’t feel like Apple. Oh well.

  3. Brandon Martinez said: Sun, 20 January 2008 at 03:10

    I agree that Apple shouldn’t charge for the iPod touch, but comparing it to a service pack doesn’t really work. The $20 is for additional apps and stuff, not for 1.1.3 (i have two iPod touches, one with the app package and one without, and both upgrade to 1.1.3). You don’t have to pay the $20, and maybe if you wait, the fee will go away (at least by 1.1.4). Besides, your iPod is probably Jailbroken anyway ;)

  4. Michael said: Wed, 23 January 2008 at 02:01

    I don’t agree with you. It is only an iPod and Apple never promised Weather, Email, Stocks etc. on it. So, that software is a bonus.

    I have an iPhone myself, and when Apple would bring software for it which would have the same impact, let’s say a full navigator, I would buy it right away!!! :-)

  5. tayker said: Wed, 23 January 2008 at 21:44

    Apple also charged $20 for a 802.11n update.

  6. Roger said: Wed, 23 January 2008 at 22:04

    I disagree with you. The charge is for additional applications. A service pack is designed to improve core functionality and to fix technical issues.

    Apple have always stated that the iPod Touch is not a PDA. However they unlocked the calendar function a while ago for free. These additional apps are not fundamental to the future operation of the iPod Touch.

    However this functionality has been among the advertised features of the iPhone since launch and as such should continue to be provided and improved for free.

  7. yuquan said: Fri, 1 February 2008 at 11:35

    you guys need to know that even though they charge 20 bucks for the new update, the new ipod touches are lowered by 20 dollars as well, making it the same exact price as you would buy it without the programs at all. my take is that they just need to that through as a form of legit document for some sort.

    also the NEW ipod touches comes now WITH the new softwares at $299 and $399. so you don’t even need to do a software update.

    the only bad part was how the people who bought it in the beginning and have to pay for the software update no matter what. if i bought it at the very beginning, i’d be pissed and bummed out to pay 20 bucks for software

  8. Brian said: Thu, 14 February 2008 at 02:56

    Sarbanes-Oxley, folks. The iPod touch is not a subscription-based device. You can argue the finer points of the exact price, but the motivation is reasonably clear.

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