iPod Touch part 1: The Hardware
I bought the smallest (8Gb) iPod Touch in duty free while travelling back from London, getting it at about £160. Immediately the salesdroid wanted to cross sell me a leather case for £25 which covered the entire thing with a flap on the front. I inclined, but did buy one of these silicone covers which cling to the case. He also tried to sell me some screen protectors, which appear to be bits of cling film at exhorbitant prices. Presumably invented by the same people who do the ink jet cartridges, the most expensive fluid you can buy. Putting aside the natural inclination to sell high-margin accessories, this acceptance of cases tells you something about the hardware - it’s perceived as being fragile or scratchable or something. Which is strange, because it clearly isn’t.
So I take out my little box - it is tiny but beautiful, like a perfume box rather than an electronics product.
Opening the box, out comes a sliver of glass and chromed something. It’s much thinner than an iPhone, in fact it’s skinny. It’s slightly too thin for its width, I’d say. Curiously my first reaction was that it looks like a very small flat-panel TV!
Next observation is that the edge of the frame into which the mineral glass on the front sits is quite rough. It’s not smooth all round, which was surprising. You can grate your finger on it.
Clearly the form factor has been determined by the iPhone as you could clip a good centimetre off the top without affecting useful screen size. And it’s wide. I’ve tried holding it like I would hold a phone, and it’s too wide.
Next curiousity is the black corner on the back of the case. That’s odd, since it breaks the smooth chromed finish.
Then I was pleased to see what looks like an on/off switch at the top. As I’ve said before, the absence of some way of turning off the iPod has always perturbed me. Well, I was pleased to find this power switch until I discovered that it appears to turn just the screen on and off. This is the first of many bits of mystery meat affordance that spoils the user experience. More of that part 2 on the software. No doubt the fan boys will say “ah yes, that’s the dingleflibber, you must know what that was for.” Well, I didn’t, and I don’t mind admitting it. Make it obvious or label it.
Working down the way, the mineral glass screen radiates solidity and antiscratchiness, great job.
Then there’s this strange button recesssed into the surface. It has a small square on it. What’s that do?
And finally, a couple of sensible sockets in the bottom. It plugged directly into my iPod-to-hifi stand, and headphones plug straight in, no silliness with non-standard connectors.
What’s curious is that almost everyone I’ve seen with one thinks that their iPod Touch looks gorgeous - it does - but immediately feel compelled to put it in some kind of cover. I find it easier to hold in the silicone thing, and find myself nervously slipping it back on after use in the stand where it doesn’t fit when covered.
This rush to cover the iPod is irrational, but I think it comes from the fact that the screen is flush with the surface. My Nokia N95’s screen is slightly recessed, and I have no concerns about damaging it. Maybe the desire to cover it is because both the glass and the chromed case show finger marks very easily, but they don’t interfere with viewing. Whatever the cause, it’s a source of curiosity.
