What's on My iPod (Touch)

As this otherwise worthless post indicated, I do not have a new iPhone, but I do have a new iPod touch. Like the rest of you (the sane ones, that is) I covet an iPhone, but both options available to me at the moment are really non-starters:

1. Buy a US iPhone and 'unlock' it.

It's simply too much money for a device that could be rendered useless with a firmware upgrade, and frankly, as much as I love the command line, it's all a bit too much work for me.

2. Pick up the UK iPhone on o2 when released in November.

A. 35 quid a month is steep for someone who NEVER uses his phone and who currently pays less than £8/month.

B. The UK and Europe moved their networks from 2g to 3g. The US didn't, really, but instead upgraded to '2.5G' in the form of adding EDGE to the 2G network. The iPhone, as we all know, is not 3g; it's an EDGE device. There are reasons that that sucks, but putting those aside, here's the dealbreaker: there is no viable EDGE network in the UK. o2 is 'bragging' that they have been putting EDGE in place and will have 35% coverage at release. 35% is not a typo; it is, however, unacceptable.

But o2 has done something right compared with AT&T. They have bundled wifi hotspot coverage into their package deal. Even better, the hotspot provider, The Cloud, will give you unlimited access for your iPod touch for less than a fiver a month!

So, until I can experience the glory of the iPhone I picked up an iPod Touch (purchased in dollars - which are worthless, by the way - of course). This gives me a chance to check out the new UI without spending lots of money. And yes, it is all it is hyped to be. And more.

So what's on my iPod Touch?

• a random selection of about 35 albums from my collection
  
• all my contacts and calendars
  
• a bunch of youtube bookmarks
  
• Battlestar Galactica Episode
  
• Deadwood Episode
  
• Brian Manzella's Confessions of a Former Flipper
  
• Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' (the subject of my next blog)