iPod Touch firmware 1.1.3 declared a waste of time
January 18, 2008 on 10:11 pm | In Gadgetry |The latest iPod Touch firmware was released after MacWorld, along with an update to iTunes, so I upgraded both the other day. iTunes first: a hefty 64Mb if memory serves, which required a reboot of the laptop after installation. Then I plugged in the Touch, and iTunes notified me of the 1.1.3 firmware update. 165Mb? Jeez! What do they put in these things, that’s obscene. Maybe they forgot to compress it or something.
Anyway, after a couple of hours the update had downloaded, and I watched anxiously while the iPod rebooted itself. Luckily, all seemed to go well, and I was left looking at the new home screen… which looks pretty much the same as the old one to be honest. The dock area at the bottom now has a different background, and some of the icons have been swapped around (I’m pretty certain YouTube was second on the first row before the update). And er, that’s pretty much it. When watching videos, you can now access a ‘Chapter Stops’ screen to jump directly to a particular chapter without having to scan through them sequentially or use the scrubber. I can’t see any other visible changes, and none of the bugs I mentioned previously have been fixed (albums with same name glitch; compilation artists showing up in main artists list). Also, you still can’t select a 12-hour clock if you use the London time zone.
So all in all 1.1.3 is basically a waste of time for those of us not prepared to fork out the $20 (£13) for those five applets that iPhone users already have and that should have been in the Touch from the beginning. Thanks Apple, but no thanks. Of course, they’re under no obligation to provide the applets for free, but c’mon, this is basically the same code that’s already been written for the iPhone and given away gratis. I think it says it all that the ability to view lyrics is part of the paid January Software Upgrade rather than being part of the firmware update. Miserable b’stards.
But the most annoying part of all this? Every single time I connect my iPod Touch to the computer now, iTunes displays that damn page about the January Software Upgrade, and there doesn’t seem to be a way of stopping it from doing so. Sure, you can click the ‘Bug Me Later’ button, but that’s only a temporary solution. Stop forcing this update down my throat Apple: I’m just trying to sync my iPod, for crying out loud.
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The maps applet is a curiosity (though very nicely done), the stocks applet of no use to someone like me, the notes applet is pointless until they give us a nice way of moving them between the iPod and the host computer, but the mail applet….
Got it up and running with my .Mac mail account in seconds (although you can do it with gmail and a bunch of others, as well as manually configuring a pop3 type account). It’s of slightly less use than it might be by virtue of the device only having wifi connectivity, but there you go. I was quite taken with it, to be honest.
The charging $20 is very annoying, but I’d have to say that although the price point is painful, Apple apparently /do/ have to charge *something* for the update. Everyone tore this to bits last year (with the wi-fi update to type-n capabilities, which was a tiny software driver change that they charged a couple of bucks for). It’s got something to do with Sarbanes-Oxley and the American accounting system, I didn’t really understand it (or appreciate how this could be different to a software update for a security patch or a bug fix) but apparently it’s the way it is.
iPhone users are effectively on a subscription and so there aren’t any accounting difficulties in giving them an update for free, but…. sucks, I know. And why it couldn’t just be $5, £5 whatever - £13 does seem a bit steep for a few additional icons of limited use.
There’s something going on with your iTunes if it’s keeping-on about the software update… once done, you shouldn’t be nagged again. Dunno if it’s a PC/Mac difference with iTunes, or if you’ve encountered a problem… but I’m not seeing that issue so I’m puzzled.
Anyway, glad to see you updating the site again old hoss! Hope you and the family are well.
Comment by Rob Uttley — 19 January 2008 #
£13 isn’t that much money: it’s more the principle, and the fact I didn’t think any of the applets would be particularly useful for me. You need internet access for most of them for starters, and the only time I have Wi-Fi access is at home when I could just as easily use the laptop. I can see the point on the iPhone which basically has an always-on connection, but not on the iPod.
Also, I think this Sarbanes-Oxley thing is a load of crap, a convenient smokescreen. So viewing lyrics is part of the paid update because it’s an entirely new feature, whereas accessing chapter stops visually is part of the firmware because… it’s an entirely new feature?! No, I don’t buy it. Literally, in this case.
iTunes is still bugging me to update. Probably doesn’t for you because you actually paid for and installed the upgrade! :O)
Comment by Steve — 19 January 2008 #