[IxDA Discuss] the new iPod

[Dave Chiu]

> Assuming that your ISP's webmail client (a) isn't Flash based, (b)
> works well with Safari on that size screen, and (c) is worth anything
> to start with.

Doesn't everyone use gmail? =)

> But at the same time, the underlying architecture is presumably very
> similar to the iPhone and the widgets already exists there, so their
> absence on the iPod Touch seems notable.

I think you're right in that the architecture is the same. However,  
the iPod touch is an iPod, and the iPhone is an iPhone. They are two  
different products. Aside from the browser on the iPod touch, the  
asynchronous options (calendar, address book) are exactly the same as  
on every other iPod I've owned. And the browser is probably there as  
a side effect of enabling the WiFi music store and the Starbucks  
collaboration (and not because Apple really really wanted to include  
a browser on the iPod) simply because they provide revenue streams  
and a browser alone does not (unless you purchase your next Macbook  
using your iPod touch).

I'd also venture that weather and stocks are not available on the  
iPod touch because we tend to want real-time information. And with  
the iPhone, yes, you are constantly getting updates over the WiFi or  
data connection. However, you are not guaranteed the same with the  
iPod touch, because it delivers content only via WiFi. Personally, if  
I'm going to receive stock quotes, I want them to be of the 5-minute  
delayed kind and not the "2 hours ago I was in a WiFi zone and my  
iPod partially updated while I was getting my coffee" kind.

A compromise might be similar to the Starbucks approach: the options  
for weather and stocks appear when you're within range of a WiFi  
network, otherwise they are absent from the interface.

At least that's my reading of the Apple tea-leaves.

Dave