Sign a petition to free the new iPod Touch update and apps
By Jonathan Schlaffer
When Steve Jobs announced at MacWorld that the iPod Touch would be receiving most of the same apps that were present on the iPhone, comments were immediately positive but that soured when he stated it would cost existing iPod Touch owners $20 to upgrade.
You can get the iPod Touch 1.1.3 Firmware from iTunes at no charge but that doesn’t include the new apps so in other words you have to "buy" the Firmware to unlock the new features.
The $20 upgrade includes five new apps for the iPod Touch, Mail, Notes, Stocks, Mail and Maps as well as enabling two customizable home screens as well as being able to drag and drop applications to the dock or remove items from the dock.
iPhone owners have had most of these features from the beginning and when Apple announced the iPod Touch, the company said it would be "missing" some of those features to differentiate it from the iPhone. Surprisingly, this was a mistake as what makes the iPod Touch different from the iPhone is the "phone" part.
Turns out that iPod Touch owners wanted the same features, just without the phone and here we are today. Users of new iPod Touch units get the new Firmware and apps at no cost but existing owners must purchase the upgrade for $20. While not a great sum of money, charging for features that should have been included in the first place is just bad business. Especially when you consider that iPhone users get the Home screen and Dock updates for free.
Apple, as a company, doesn’t seem to care as long as the money comes rolling in and there will be those willing to pay. But some users are up in arms and have formed an online petition to force Apple to release the applications for free. As of this post there are just under 5,000 signatures.
Though it appears that the subscription model being used for the iPhone wasn’t accounting for the iPod Touch and this is a limited way of doing so but I’m not going to say it’s right.
As far as the apps go, they’re nice but they are a royal pain to install. As I said in my initial post about them, either it’s a problem with the early release or Apple doesn’t really want current iPod Touch users to get the new apps. Maybe the company is hoping users get so fed up after having wasted spent $20 that it’s not worth it and will just buy a new iPod Touch.
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January 17th, 2008
I never leave comments… ever, but I had to here. Are you retarded? Super-cheap? What’s the deal? Itunes too hard to run for you? Royal pain in the ass? Jesus… the problem with the internet is that it gives a forum for everyone to whine about everything. Get over it, pick up another shift on your paper route and plop down the dough, dude. Apples is running a company, not your personal gadget library.
January 17th, 2008
Journalism at it’s finest.. Nothing but griping, complaining, and focusing on the negative aspects of things.. $20, big deal. You really want to boycott Apple, just don’t buy any of their products.. But to petition over an optional $20 fee… Come on…
January 17th, 2008
I didn’t say royal pain in the ass… now did I?
Well, let’s see, I paid $20 for the update for the sake of doing some posts on it. Sure, the firmware is easy to install but the apps don’t install right away nor did they install after following Apple’s instructions, as OTHER people have discovered.
I honestly don’t know what the deal is, I wish I had a conclusive answer but I don’t. All I know is what worked for me and that was to restore the iPod, install the new firmware again and the redownload and install the apps… three times, because… the first two times DIDN’T work.
I stand by my statement and I suggest you read my previous post on the matter.
As for having to buy the update, I’d have been fine with that if Apple were making ALL iPod Touch users buy it. But that’s not the case, buyers of the new iPod Touch get the apps and update whereas current owners just get the update and have to pay extra for the apps, does that sound fair to you? If it does, you’re of a different breed of person than I.
January 17th, 2008
I didn’t say royal pain in the ass… now did I?
Well, let’s see, I paid $20 for the update for the sake of doing some posts on it. Sure, the firmware is easy to install but the apps don’t install right away nor did they install after following Apple’s instructions, as OTHER people have discovered.
I honestly don’t know what the deal is, I wish I had a conclusive answer but I don’t. All I know is what worked for me and that was to restore the iPod, install the new firmware again and the redownload and install the apps… three times, because… the first two times DIDN’T work.
I stand by my statement and I suggest you read my previous post on the matter.
As for having to buy the update, I’d have been fine with that if Apple were making ALL iPod Touch users buy it. But that’s not the case, buyers of the new iPod Touch get the apps and update whereas current owners just get the update and have to pay extra for the apps, does that sound fair to you? If it does, you’re of a different breed of person than I.
I did say the apps are nice… *IF* you can get them installed.
January 17th, 2008
I have to agree with the “Some Guy” comment.
No need to get all upset/mad and personal as he did but I agree with the last part, Apple is looking to make money, eventho we the loyal customers get smacked with a £12.99 ($20) bill for downloading features which are already featured on the big brother (Iphone), I’m still willing to pay for the update.
I was looking forward to the Notes app for quite some time now, even considered jailbreaking my ipod touch but decided against it in the end.
Now that I have the notes app I use my Ipod touch as an organzier as well as a video and music player. Email is also a handy app and google maps can be usefull too at times.
In february apple will relaese the SDK for developers anyways, so we will get finally (hopefully) free software from feb/march onwards.
I don’t think it will hurt anyone to spend $20 on some “cool” software, considering this is just a one off payment.
January 17th, 2008
Sure Apple is a business, but I would hope that spending over $400 on their product would secure me at least a few upgrades in firmware and applications. They are in essence punishing the early adopters of their product, and I feel that Apple should be consistent in choosing which Ipod touch owners get these applications included with their purchase. It’s principle, not price.
January 17th, 2008
I already payed lots of money for the ipod the upgrades should be free
January 17th, 2008
lets get this straight…
Update= Should be free… and IS free in this case.. The firmware update 1.1.3 was free…
Upgrade= the actual process of upgrading to something better… In this case more applications. These are never free. Think of it as upgrading your car with better tires. The manufacturer wouldn’t cover that either. But they would cover warranty repairs recalled parts, ect…
The actual firmware update is free… But the OPTIONAL application upgrade is not.. And it’s ONLY $20!!
You already saved money by getting the iPod touch instead of the iPhone. This is WHY the applications on the iPhone is included. iPhone owners are already paying through the nose monthy.
January 17th, 2008
They can try and justify it any way they like its a simple cash grab.
With all new Touches sold after today including the same software for free Apple is spitting on all the loyal customers who were early adopters of the device. This sets a bad precedent for how they allow applications on the iPod Touch platform. With the upcoming ability for 3rd party developers to add their own programs to the Touch next month its only a matter of time Apple asks us to cough up more cash for the privilege of letting us use other developers software (that they made for free) because Jobs forced them to go through iTunes in order to distribute it.
I had never thought about jailbreaking mine until yesterday. Now I have no qualms of hacking the OS to circumvent Apple’s greed
January 18th, 2008
its bullshit
were the ones who paid a fuckload of money to get the ipod touch’s an ipones and now apple wont let us upgrade it for free, apple are stingy pricks, why can’t they do somthing nice for the customers of ipods and iphones for once instead of worring about making extra money, they alredy make a fuckload of money…… WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO NEXT?….MAKE US PAY FOR ITUNES UPDATES…………THIS IS WHY THEY SHOULDNT COMPLAIN WHEN WE JAILBREAK OUR IPOD TOUCHES……THEY SHOULD BE FREE UPDATES…
January 20th, 2008
i agree with tom
we paid $300 for an itouch and nopw thr telling us we have to pay extra 20 for updates that the ppl who buy them now will get 4 free
We should b abble 2 get it 4 free
but wut rilly gets me is that they added those features right aftr christmas where most ppl bought thr itouches
but thats life
not fair at all
January 21st, 2008
I won’t be signing the petition, simply because iphone users pay extra per month and ipod touch users dont
I wont hoever be paying for the update either , sut that is my personal choice, since here in the uk it costs £13 which is about $26 rather than $20…
Stop complainin, if people over here want to
get this they have to pay more
I am hoping that some of the features will be realeased in teh next free update, hawever, i have no idea how apple’s brains work…
O and of course they want money rolling in, if they didn’t they’d be a failed company, and they’re clearly not
January 22nd, 2008
Fuck you Apple
January 24th, 2008
I am severely disappointed that Apple has chosen to charge for the apps that already come with the iPhone and will come with new iPod Touches. While $20 is not an enormous sum, the fact that all us iPod Touch owners paid the same amount for our devices ($400) as iPhone users and now we have to pay a discriminating early adopter ‘tax’ for choosing one device over the other is appalling. These ‘new’ apps did not have to be changed or modified to work on the Touch, they simply have to be installed. Why should we pay for something that others get for free?
January 28th, 2008
I am very disappointed with apple. I bought a Ipod touch 3 days ago, but I cannot do the january upgrade, once I live in Brazil,
1. I need iTunes to upgrade.
2. Brazil do not have a itunes store
3. Itunes stores form other countries do not accept brazilian credit card.
I never had such problem before. I upgraded my Keynote buying it in the US apple online store and everything went smoothly.
Apple do not care about consumers in countries that do not have itunes store, that is for sure!!
I do not care about the new appas, except the MAIL, that I certainly need, and the improvements in the interface. However, I am willing to pay outragius 20 bucks for them. But I CAN T….
January 29th, 2008
I actually paid $20 less for my iPod Touch but I didn’t realize at the time that it was because the new software wasn’t included. So technically it woudln’t be costing me anything extra to get it.
February 1st, 2008
They should just give it to us for free after all we did spend $300.00-$400.00 on it. THIS MAKES NO SENSE!!
February 2nd, 2008
hi.. i already update my 1.1.2 ipod touch to version 1.1.3 . i hope that i can get all the software updates for free. after the installation of 1.1.3 what i found is , my ipod getting ugly with the new home screen and cannot view lyric and many more. i really regret it. furthermore i live in malaysia. a country which have no itunes store.. so buying the $20 software updates is impossible. PLS MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR FREE
February 3rd, 2008
Excuse me Dizzle and Some Guy you got it all twisted. It’s not about the money. I have $20. But guess what- I dont have an iTunes account, and I’m only 16, so I dont have a credit card. I brought mines early. So that means I’m getting punished for buying mines early. Jonathan is right, why should we have to pay beause we dont have an iPhone? Because we dont pay monthly? Well guess what- it’s not a phone! we cannot call people, we rely on wifi to connect to the internet, iPhone has more capabilities, so do not give me that! I would be willing to pay $20 if new iPod owners did too. But they dont, so Apple is giving candy to the kids who came to school late, and detention to the kids who came on time.
February 5th, 2008
I think apple just likes to steal money from us.the apps and new features should be free.
February 5th, 2008
they should be free. Apple is stealing money from us. That can’t be legal.
February 10th, 2008
To make matters worse, if you go to the Apple store and buy a new iPod Touch, for the same price I paid for mine two months ago, you get the software for free.
They should give all people who bought a Touch a $20 iTunes credit.
February 18th, 2008
no u know what it is a pain in the ass because we shouldn’t have to waste our time doing bull shit like this. why come out with a product when its not complete?????? We spen 300-400 dollars on something like that it sould be FREE.
February 22nd, 2008
I am outraged that Apple is charging early buyers of the iPod Touch $20 for a system update that ought to be free.
While I understand Apple’s decision to charge money for the new applications the new $20 “application pack” also includes a SYSTEM UPDATE in the form of the home page editing, web clips, and lyrics features. All of these are updates to the currently existing iPod Touch software and NOT new applications, which means that they ought to be free to all users of the iPod Touch.
Adding insult to injury these applications are all hidden in the 1.1.3 system update, a whopping 104.4mb file that all users must download if they want to fix bugs in the system. These applications can only be used when you pay Apple $20 to “unlock” them, but even if you decide not to buy them they stay on your iPod taking up precious space that could be used for songs, videos, or photos.
Apple is normally wonderful when it comes to providing system support and updates, but having them shaft early adopters and loyal fans like this is offensive and shows that Apple has absolutely no regard for the iPod Touch community.
You can leave Apple direct feedback here:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipodtouch.html
You can also sign this petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/freeappi/petition.html
February 27th, 2008
It really PISS’ me off to pay an extra 12.99 on the £329 i already paided
February 27th, 2008
I can’t belive i have to pay extra it’s a complete rip off
May 20th, 2008
What About Customers I Areas Where There Is No iTunes Store??????
I Am Ready To PAy 20$ For The Update But They Just Wont Let Me!!!!!!!!! -_-
June 23rd, 2008
I think it is bullshit that we have to pay an extra 20 bucks for the update they should give it for free because if you got the old version of the itouch you would have to make an itunes account. It is just a way to scam us and make more money