Two years ago, about this time of year, I spent £450 of saved cash on two little devices. The first was a iPod 5th Gen (the first one with video). The second was a Palm TX (a WiFi PDA). One could access a the internet (badly), the other could (just about) play video. I sold the Palm after three months and the iPod has been with me ever since. Both devices where good for what they where designed for, but not great for what I was after.
Back to the crazy world of today, where we have these two items in one. An iPod Touch. If only this product was around two years ago. This iPod is just what is needed in a Web 2.0 world. Although there is no camera, it does seem like a device which was designed for Facebook and Digg.
Coveflow works great. I don’t use it often, but I am glad its there. Safari is quick and simple. I just wish though that it would feature Flash and better AJAX support. All the other apps (Calender, Address Book, WiFi Store, ect), I don’t often use, so I can’t really judge.
Hacking it was simple. Jailbreakme.com worked perfectly! I now have Python, Vi and Apache on it. I don’t know why I need a web server on my iPod, but its nice its there. The only problem I’ve had is my iPod not syncing after being jailbroken. Error -18. I use a Mac, so I restored my iPod on a Windows PC. I re-broke it, then tried to sync it. It now works. Small problem easily sorted!
Also, with OpenSSH added to my Unix Music Box, I installed a varritiy of iPhone apps (Mobile Mail, Google Maps and Mobile Notes). I don’t know why Apple removed these from the iPod, but it works perfectly with them added.
I love my iPod, I just wish it was more open than Apple tries to make it. Its BSD in your pocket Steve, accept it. If you need a new iPod or way to get onto the net, get this one. If you need all of your media on a portable device, and don’t mind it being as thick as a brick, get a Classic.
Nice review, thanks! What is the internet process? Im not too familiar with wifi - do you have to get a voucher for the wifi hotspots or something? How does that all work?
The WiFi will work with any available WiFi hotspot. If, for example, you want to use a hotel’s WiFi, you connect to the iPod and then access the network via Safari. Just like you would with a laptop. I think iPhone has free access to a series of nationwide WiFi hotspots called “The Cloud”.
So is it really just free internet? Or is it always limited?
WiFi is just an extention to a broadband connection which allows wireless networking. Files and the Internet can be shared online. Its like a wireless ethernet.
Some people forget (probs about 1/3) leave their WiFi wide open. Just hop onto their network, free Internet and access to their files.
Got a bit more than I bargened for about 2 years ago when on my neighbours network. Don’t want to go onto that here. Perhaps in the future. Lets just say it was more than just “personal images”.
Oh right, sorry for being a total numpty about that!
Haha, thats funny! There was a story on xkcd about wifi hopping - it quickly digressed into an amusing tale, dont know if you saw it …
http://xkcd.com/341/