It doesn't matter if the iPhone 4 only costs them $10 to produce, you can't buy one for $10, you buy them for what Apple sells them for... Their actual physical hardware cost is irrelevant and incredibly short sighted to look at because it completely disregards things like Apple recuperating the costs of years of R&D, their antenna labs, the human cost of all of their PhD-level engineers, software development, usability testing, and everything else not included in the raw guesstimates of what iSupply and others determine as the material cost. As far as the camera is concerned, they could have just as easily included no camera... But instead they included a camera that was capable of shooting HD video that fits inside of the incredibly thin profile of the device and all people have to complain about is that the digital zoom is terrible or the photos aren't high resolution enough. If you want to take high quality photos with zoom, use a digital camera, not a MP3 player.
I've got a digital SLR for that - but it doesn't fit in my pocket. And I know digital zoom is crap. As I stated before, they added in a camera that is much worse than a cheap old phone that I'm already carrying with me. Then again, this move is making me more interested in this generation's iPhone - which may be what they've wanted the whole time.
You were throwing out these high figures ($600, $700), and I was just saying that the iPhone 4 probably didn't cost that much to make. I already know employees have to get paid, R&D has to be financed, and so on. I have no problem with the iPhone 4 other than AT&T. Because of Apple's track record, we've come to expect high quality products and consistency from them. They shouldn't have even listed the photo camera as a feature if they were just going to throw some crappy one in there. It's misleading, especially to those who don't understand megapixel counts. However, like I said in my OP, I'm mostly satisfied with my iTouch 4G. The HD video is fine, the high res display makes text easier to see, I've found a lot of uses for the microphone, and I can play Dodonpachi. It's mostly good.
$600-700 is accurate though, grey market value on Ebay is even higher. I guess I don't see how the manufacturing costs are relevant at all. How is the camera feature misleading? It takes photos does it not? Apple doesn't hide the fact that it's a VGA camera. It's not their fault if someone goes out and makes a completely uninformed $300 purchase of an iPod touch expecting it to replace their full fledged digital camera is it?
I think you may have identified the point of this thread. Opinions from fellow TA members about a device that could help one be more informed about a purchase... I'll stop now. I've got licenses to transfer, software to install and frogs to breed.
Yeah, the worst photos ever... VGA?! What the hells that? I know what VGA is, but would most people? Lol. Good point. But a lot of folks just trust Apple. And when they see "camera", they probably expect the camera will at least be able to take decent pictures. But it doesn't.
My ipod just got it didn't think it would actually arrive until the fedex estimated date of the 21st!
This is a funny thread because nobody actually posts their first impressions. I find my iPod 4G is a lot like my iPod 3G. The screen is definitely better, but the 3G screen was already good enough. The camera may be useful because people won't know you're taking pictures. Same thing with the voice recording. Mostly, the only thing different is the amazing screen. And the battery is stronger than my old one.
Completely satisfied with my purchase. Retina clearly improves what functions with it, the camera is nifty, Id rather have that then no camera at all. I also think my music sounds better, may just be me though.
I can see why Apple didn't bother with a better camera. The camera they put in the 4th gen Touch is probably cheap, but it will probably increase sales somewhat. I hear people say stuff like "did you hear about the new iPod Touch, it has a camera!". A lot of people don't even care about camera quality, just the fact that it has a camera will be a selling point for a lot of people.
I'm one of those people. I'm not a professional photographer, so I don't need 20 plus Megapixels to enjoy looking at the pictures I've taken. Just having the ability to take pictures with my iPod, crappy or not, is awesome! *Checked the tracking status of my iPod 4G this morning and discovered this message: "THE PACKAGE WAS LEFT IN A UPS FACILITY / DELIVERY RESCHEDULED". I nearly cried
Seriously WTF is wrong with you people? The camera does not take completely terrible photos, in fact, it takes better photos than my Nokia N97 (5MP) Megapixels are not everything, so stop bitchin' and shuuut uuup!
A picture of a cup and my iPod case taken with my iTouch 4G in a bright room. [click to enlarge] If you think this shot looks fine, okay. But others may not agree.
yeah it sucks.. about all its good for is one of them magic shots.. you know first to see a accident or something, maybe a crime in action. where it would be enough.. but really.. its pretty sad.. its weird how it takes decent video tho. i guess jobs figure everyone would just take video.. i still think its the same camera that was used in the ipod that is no longer.. the nano i guess had it.. and he was just using what was left over for that.. next year he will have to update the camera and if he dose, id like a flash too. (however, even with crappy camera im still going to get the gen 4 ipod and giving my old gen 2 ipod away.. next week they should be in local stores ) now will he enlarge the case.. hope so and while he dose put a bigger battery in it. im ok with the thickness of the ipod classic jobs.. chris.
The iPod touch has the potential to be a very powerful pocket computer, but Apple 1) Doesn't want to create a device that could dip too much into the sales of the iPhone 4, and 2) I don't think they want to give us too much at once. I bet the iPod touch 5G will have 512mb of ram, an 8mp camera, and so on. It's all apart of their master plan to keep us buying new iPod touches each year. Next year I'll likely do the same thing I did this year - sell my old iTouch, and go out and buy a new one.
yeah, i may try that next year. selling it instead of giving it away.. i really just could not see trying to sell a gen 2.. its way out dated now. heh. so gen 5 gets bigger camera larger battery.. gen 6 gets a flash and more ram. and maybe one day we will all get more hard drive space! im just happy the new ipod has a mic in it.. and from the videos iv seen.. its a pretty good one too.. chris.
