The iPod touch was introduced on September 5, 2007. In the video below, it’s almost painful to watch all of the iPhone features we now take for granted, particularly the iPod interface. I got a chuckle when I heard the crowd applaud for Wi-Fi, something we really take for granted these days with iCloud on the horizon. But the iPod touch was finally the non-contract iDevice which would introduce thousands of people to the iPhone OS. It lacked a speaker, and was a now-chunky 8mm in thickness and came in 8 GB and 16 GB configurations at its introduction.
The videos below are from “The Beat Goes On” event, and besides the touch hardware, Steve Jobs also made a point to add to the touch two iPhone OS apps (remember this was before the advent of the App Store): Safari and YouTube. This, plus the addition of Wi-Fi built-in with an easy method for joining networks, made the touch very much like a pocket computer. Of course, now we regard it more an iOS device than an iPod.
In fact, I’ve been told by retail employees who worked during the iPhone OS 2.0 update, which introduced apps but required a computer to sync with, that numerous customers came in complaining that their iPod touch was their main computer. This will of course be remedied for current hardware capable of running iOS 5, which will introduce over-the-air updates. For many people, simple browsing, email and access to YouTube was worth the $299 for the diminutive device.
I still have a first-generation iPod touch and use it. How about you?
The iPod touch was introduced today, way back in 2007 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.