iPod touch: holding steady

It will surprise few that I have not yet given Apple $10 for the privilege of upgrading my iPod touch (“iPt”) firmware from 1.1.5 to 2.x.

Update: A month after posting this, I took the plunge. Version 2.2 came with some nice little improvements. I still miss my shell, but at least I have an SSH app!

At first, I resisted out of attachment to the open source software I had installed via Cydia – with no supported “upgrade” process per se, I would have had to reinstall all my packages manually. Then I saw that my core uses of the iPt (email, web browsing, audio, calendar, contacts) all used the Apple software, so I leaned toward the upgrade.

I tried to find out what I would actually be getting, besides the obvious access to the App Store. (I ruled out the App Store as a factor because I still wanted to go open source for third-party additions when the time came.) So I asked many people, online and in person, what benefits the upgrade offered besides the App Store. This was less than satisfying.

On average the answers boiled down to 1) “The App Store is awesome!”, 2) “More stable!”, and 3) “Fewer dropped calls!” Given that I wasn’t asking about the App Store, have had no stability problems, and don’t have an iPhone, this left me uninspired, and I decided to wait.

What am I waiting for? Not sure. Maybe a future 2.x version that delivers something that I want. Or Apple support for Cydia or similar. While I’m dreaming, I suppose I could wish for it to be free too.