Apple iPod touch 16 GB (Old)
from: Apple Computer
Average Rating: 
Sales Rank: 1286
Sales Rank: 1286
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Electronics : Apple iPod touch 16 GB (Old) |
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 Glide through albums with the iPod touch's amazing Cover Flow technology. View iPod touch dimensions. |
 Browse the Web with the included Safari browser. Or fire up a YouTube video and enjoy the show. |
 The iPod touch responds to your movements; turn it sideways and your video is presented in widescreen mode. |
 Incredibly thin at just 8 millimeters. |
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Rating:  - * As perfect as a gizmo gets ... My friends tend to think of me as an early adopter -- meaning I'm usually body-surfing on the first wave of buyers for new products. Still, a product has to meet my needs, solve specific problems, and provide an acceptable level of value. Being "new" isn't near the top of my list of priorities. Before I got my iPod touch, I new it could play music and videos, display photos, and do a few other odds and ends. But I had no idea it could accomplish these tasks in a way that is simultaneously elegant, intuitive, charming, and just plain fun. Sure, we've all seen the commercials on TV, but nothing can prepare you for what you'll experience the first time you hold one in your hands and start listening to music, watching a video, or leafing through a photo album -- all without the need for assistance. But many other folks have already commented on how easy the iPod touch is to use, so I'll focus this review on new ways to use the touch. I now leave my computer at home when I travel. Instead of schlepping a laptop computer through airport security, I take my little iPod touch. With 16 GB of memory, I can easily put about 10 full-length movies on it, plus my entire iTunes library, a few photo albums, and numerous programs (more on those later). What that means is that I can sit back in my straightjacket-like coach seat, plug in my noise-canceling headphones, and watch the movie (or listen to the music) of my choice while babies yowl and drunks bellow their life stories directly into the ears of the poor schlubs sitting next to them. Yeah, it would be better to watch a movie on a larger screen, but at what cost? I've now taken several trips with the iPod touch and found its little 3-1/2 inch screen to be crisp, clear, and very watchable -- even for 2-plus-hour movies. I just set it down on my tray table, and voila ... instant drive-in theater, without the groping. Since this little device features wireless networking, I'm able to send and receive email or access the internet wherever there's a hotspot, which is yet another good reason for leaving your laptop at home. I suppose if I needed to do keyboard-intensive tasks while on the road, I'd find the touch's tiny keyboard inadequate. But what I mostly need to do is email and take a few notes, which the iPod touch is perfectly suited for. I'm a huge fan of internet radio -- specifically Radio Paradise, which I think is probably the best eclectic rock station I've ever heard. In fact, I've been introduced to many new bands through Radio Paradise, then gone out and bought their CDs. But I've always wanted an easy way to capture the internet stream on my iPod. Now I can. Mac users can purchase a fantastic program called TapeDeck, the interface of which looks just like one of those 70s-era shoebox-style cassette decks (hence the name of the program). Want to record an internet stream? Press the Record button on TapeDeck. Two hours (or however long you want) later, just press the Stop button. It creates virtual "tapes" which you can then drag into your iTunes music library, then plop onto your iPod touch (or any other iPod). When I've shown TapeDeck to people, their eyes light up at how simple it is to use. So now when I'm sitting in a crowded airport waiting area, I'll listen to a Radio Paradise stream. The way TapeDeck works with iTunes and my iPod touch is nothing short of a miracle. I would imagine that there's a program out there that provides the capabilities (if not the simplicity) of TapeDeck for you PC users. Finally, there's the (relatively) new iTunes App Store that's available to iPhone and iPod touch users through iTunes. I've got to say, as good as the iPod touch was in version 1, version 2 of the operating system makes it an order of magnitude more powerful. Want a program that shows you good restaurants in your area? It's available in the App Store. Like to play games? There are hundreds waiting for your download. Got a specific idea for a capability you'd like on your new little gizmo? It's probably already there in the App Store. There are more programs than you'd likely be able to use in a lifetime -- and about 25 percent of them are available as a free download. It doesn't get cheaper than free. You can download these programs to your computer or directly to the iPod. Want to know what else is cool? Say you're sitting in a Starbucks, sucking down a hazelnut latte. You hear a great song over their speaker system and wish desperately you could own that song. If you've got an iPod touch, you just press the Starbucks button and ... lo and behold, there's the name of the currently playing song and a list of the last 10 songs Starbucks played. Press the Buy button, and the song is downloaded directly to your touch. The entire process is just stunning in its simplicity and cleverness. Do I have any complaints? Yeah, but it's so minor, I'm embarrassed to even bring it up. My one gripe concerns syncing. Other iPods allow you to simply drag items on and off your iPod through iTunes. The touch (and the iPhone) want you to put a check mark next to items in a list, then press a Sync button. It's a bit confusing (at first) trying to understand which data is going in what direction. On the plus side, say you update your Safari bookmarks or Address Book contacts. Press the Sync button and that new info is automatically transferred to your touch. Brilliant! So that's the yin and yang of syncing. I suppose I'd also like to connect to the internet when wireless hotspots aren't available, but then that's the primary difference between the iPhone and the iPod touch. You won't catch me complaining about the screen or keyboard size because ... well, what do you expect from a device this small? A screen that unfolds to the size of a 42-inch HD TV? No, it is what it is, and what it is is very, very useful. I've now owned my iPod touch for eight months, and I'm still dazzled by its beauty, capabilities, and ridiculous ease of use every time I press the Power button. I've shown it to early adopters and the technologically challenged alike, and all are blown away by it. Is it worth $399? It is if you need a product that will make its various capabilities easier and more fun to use than any other product out there. And it is if you're fed up with lugging a computer around on your trips because you need to stay in touch with email and the internet. I won't say that $399 is a pittance for such a device, since everyone has a unique pain threshold when it comes to discretionary purchases. As for me, now that I've integrated the iPod touch into my lifestyle, I wouldn't want to live without it. And there are very few things I can say that about. Rating: - * Great Product ... I had an IPOD earlier on. So, bought this relying on information that you can upgrade based on previous item. Yet to try that. This product is world of information. As always apple has lived up to my expectations Rating: - * This is simply GREAT!!! ... I was hesitant at first as I never had an "iPod" of any kind before. Needless to say, after I got my iPod Touch, now I am saying how did I ever get by without one? THIS IS A TRULY GREAT MOBILE DEVICE! THis is especially true with the latest firmware upgrade (V2.0) for only 10 bucks and all the new applications available from the Apple iTunes store, many of which are actually pretty good and absolutely FREE! The only thing that would be even better is of course, the iPhone itself. I actually don't need another cell phone, but the Touch would certainly be immensely more "mobile" if I had access to the Internet from anywhere all the time. This is its main limitation. You can only use it wirelessly if you are close to a WAP, or a home network with wifi access. Unfortunately, the places I go when I am out and about do not have (free) public access to the Internet. Not even where I work, and that's a real BUMMER. If I went out to eat a McDonald's everyday, or a Starbucks, that would help solve the problem. Also, there are a lot of new iPhone apps which an iPod Touch user can use too, but without a built in audio output speaker (other than a simple "beeper"), nor a built in camera, some of these programs are less functional. For example, who wants to wear earphones to play a casual video game, or social network without being able to post photos in real time. Nevertheless, the iPod Touch is plenty useful enough for many other applications, even if you are just sitting at home watching TV while check your emails or playing your favorite game during a commercial. You can also use a Touch (with wifi access) to do text messages. Check out a webapp called Meebos.com for that, cause there Apple does not (yet) support a native SMS other than the one built in to the iPhone, but not available on the Touch. AIM is supported as a free app downloadable from the iTunes store, but all my contacts are using Yahoo or Windows Live. Thankfully, Meebos has those two covered. Unless you want to download tons of music and movies, I think 16GB si adequate. However, 100 bucks extra to double the memory capacity is probably worth it to keep everything stored in your Touch without ever having to delete any files to make space for others. Like the iPhone, the Touch's color graphics 3.5" hires touch screen and accelerometer are VERY NICE features! Many of the latest and greatest apps take good advantage of these features. I recommend getting a couple of extra chargers; one for your car or at work to have handy. Under heavy use, the battery will need frequent recharges. After several hours of constant use, it will need to be recharged, but you can still use it while it is recharging. Lastly, the retail marketplace has started selling new release DVD movies with "digital" copies, some of which are compatible with the iPod Touch (and iPhone). These new DVDs usually cost a couple bucks more, but if you want to watch movies on a mobile device (while wearing a set of headphones), you now have that option with certain movies (no HDDVD or BluRay formats though). Definitely a useful, and handy mobile device to have for the 21st century! High Recommended!!! Rating:  - * terrible ... great price. terribly slow shipping, after 2 weeks, it says its been damaged week and half later, i finally get my refund. free shipping = 2 weeks, cmon, id atleast expect ground where its 5-7 Rating: - * Mr. ... I have to recharge the battery evey 4hrs after less than 40 min. talking time, and the WiFi is real slow. I CALL THIS A DESIGN WITH NO COMMON SENSE. Do not buy it yet! Wait until Apple fix the battery major problem first hand. |
The segment on Van Gogh is, as expected, emotional, yet Schama convincingly portrays Van Gogh as not consumed by madness, but fighting off the episodes with painting. Van Gogh painted one of his most evocative works, Wheat Field With Crows, which even his brother, Theo, recognized was about to put his brother on the artistic map. Yet, as Schama points out, within weeks, Van Gogh had killed himself. "Now why would he want to do that?" Schama muses--and then proceeds to narrate the tormented tale of the answer. Along the way, the viewer gains new appreciation for Van Gogh's signature works, including his famous sunflowers. "Technically, these are still lives," Schama says, "but there's nothing still about them... the sunflowers [seem to be] organisms landing violently from a burning sun." If the reenactments of the artists' lives are a bit overdone, it's forgivable, since the cumulative effect, in an hour, is a new appreciation of the work and the man.
Extras include frank and very funny commentaries by Schama and his co-producer, and lots of behind-the-scenes dish on how certain scenes were achieved. The teeming French opera scene in the "David" episode, for instance, was cast using just 20 French extras and then the rest created by CGI--"the scene works better, really, than [the film] King Kong," Schama says with delight. --A.T. Hurley
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Bird has his cake and eats it, too. He and the Pixar wizards send up superhero and James Bond movies while delivering a thrilling, supercool action movie that rivals Spider-Man 2 for 2004's best onscreen thrills. While it's just as funny as the previous Pixar films, The Incredibles has a far wider-ranging emotional palette (it's Pixar's first PG film). Bird takes several jabs, including some juicy commentary on domestic life ("It's not graduation, he's moving from the fourth to fifth grade!").
The animated Parrs look and act a bit like the actors portraying them, Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter. Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee also have a grand old time as, respectively, superhero Frozone and bad guy Syndrome. Nearly stealing the show is Bird himself, voicing the eccentric designer of superhero outfits ("No capes!"), Edna Mode.
Nominated for four Oscars, The Incredibles won for Best Animated Film and, in an unprecedented win for non-live-action films, Sound Editing.
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The Presentation
This two-disc set is (shall we say it?), incredible. The digital-to-digital transfer pops off the screen and the 5.1 Dolby sound will knock the socks off most systems. But like any superhero, it has an Achilles heel. This marks the first Pixar release that doesn't include both the widescreen and full-screen versions in the same DVD set, which was a great bargaining chip for those cinephiles who still want a full-frame presentation for other family members. With a 2.39:1 widescreen ratio (that's big black bars, folks, à la Dr. Zhivago), a few more viewers may decide to go with the full-frame presentation. Fortunately, Pixar reformats their full-frame presentation so the action remains in frame.
The Extras
The most-repeated segments will be the two animated shorts. Newly created for this DVD is the hilarious "Jack-Jack Attack," filling the gap in the film during which the Parr baby is left with the talkative babysitter, Kari. "Boundin'," which played in front of the film theatrically, was created by Pixar character designer Bud Luckey. This easygoing take on a dancing sheep gets better with multiple viewings (be sure to watch the featurette on the short).
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Brad Bird still sounds like a bit of an outsider in his commentary track, recorded before the movie opened. Pixar captain John Lasseter brought him in to shake things up, to make sure the wildly successful studio would not get complacent. And while Bird is certainly likable, he does not exude Lasseter's teddy-bear persona. As one animator states, "He's like strong coffee; I happen to like strong coffee." Besides a resilient stance to be the best, Bird threw in an amazing number of challenges, most of which go unnoticed unless you delve into the 70 minutes of making-of features plus two commentary tracks (Bird with producer John Walker, the other from a dozen animators). We hear about the numerous sets, why you go to "the Spaniards" if you're dealing with animation physics, costume problems (there's a reason why previous Pixar films dealt with single- or uncostumed characters), and horror stories about all that animated hair. Bird's commentary throws out too many names of the animators even after he warns himself not to do so, but it's a lively enough time. The animator commentary is of greatest interest to those interested in the occupation.
There is a 30-minute segment on deleted scenes with temporary vocals and crude drawings, including a new opening (thankfully dropped). The "secret files" contain a "lost" animated short from the superheroes' glory days. This fake cartoon (Frozone and Mr. Incredible are teamed with a pink bunny) wears thin, but play it with the commentary track by the two superheroes and it's another sharp comedy sketch. There are also NSA "files" on the other superheroes alluded to in the film with dossiers and curiously fun sound bits. "Vowellet" is the only footage about the well-known cast (there aren't even any obligatory shots of the cast recording their lines). Author/cast member Sarah Vowell (NPR's This American Life) talks about her first foray into movie voice-overs--daughter Violet--and the unlikelihood of her being a superhero. The feature is unlike anything we've seen on a Disney or Pixar DVD extra, but who else would consider Abe Lincoln an action figure? --Doug Thomas
More Incredibles at Amazon.com
 The Incredibles Toy Store |  CD Soundtrack |  The Art of The Incredibles Book |
 Game Boy Advance |  On VHS |  The Essential Guide Book |
The Pixar Feature Films
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More Animation DVDs
 Favorite Animated Performances |  Previous Animated Oscar Nominees |  If You Like The Incredibles... |
 Our Disney DVD Store |  Looney Tunes Golden Collection |  Walt Disney Treasures |
More Superheroes on DVD
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Also from Filmmaker Brad Bird
 The Iron Giant (Writer/Director) |  "Family Dog" on Amazing Stories (Writer/Director) |  Batteries Not Included (Cowriter) |
 The Simpsons (Director/Consultant) |  King of the Hill (Consultant) |  The Critic (Consultant) |
