iPod Touch Owners Protest $20 Upgrade

Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:04AM EST

See Comments (38)

The Macworld crowd cheered when Steve Jobs announced that the iPod Touch was getting a set of new apps: Mail, Maps, Weather, Notes, and Stocks. Then, the lead balloon: the upgrade will cost $20. Now there's an online petition calling for Apple to drop the charge, and thousands of Touch owners have signed on.

TUAW found the online petition on Wednesday, complete with about 600 signatures; as of Thursday morning, close to 4,500 users were on board, many of them peeved that the five apps will come pre-installed—for free—on new Touches. "Why should I have to pay 20 bucks when I was an early adopter," complains one Thomas Hedrick. "Now you give away those apps for free—four months later! Come on."

It's hard to argue with the guy. Back when the Wi-Fi-enabled iPod Touch was first released, I wondered why it came with the iPhone's Safari, YouTube, calendar, contacts, and clock widgets, but skimped on such essentials as mail, maps, weather, and other widgets included in the new update. After all, both the iPhone and the Touch run on the same basic platform, and the Touch has Wi-Fi, so why not? Now Apple seems to have (finally) come to the same conclusion, but charging early adopters $20 to get what they should have gotten in the first place—and what new Touch owners will get for free? Pretty weak.

Related:
Pod touch owners rally to get new apps for free [TUAW]

Comments on iPod Touch Owners Protest $20 Upgrade

Post a Comment

Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

  • 1 Posted by matt_archbold2002 on Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:27AM EST Report Abuse

    More complaints from early adopters. They bought the product as is, and thats that. If apple wants to charge for an upgrade (or update), let them.

  • 3 Posted by momofhiagirl on Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:37PM EST Report Abuse

    I'm really glade I waited to get the Touch, I just new that they would be upgrading it with the new software. Like post number 2 stated "never buy 1st gen product" just like with the new mac air watch it'll have some of the things people want more USB ports and fire wire ect.

  • 4 Posted by rubenarthe on Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:26PM EST Report Abuse

    At least you can get the upgrade. In many many countries where there is not an iTunes Store, there is no way to buy and get the upgrade. I would pay for it if I could.

  • 5 Posted by rogueist on Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:46PM EST Report Abuse

    I am surprised that so FEW people have complained about this... Personally I would not even touch an iPod Touch until these new updates are on EVERY iPod Touch the stores are selling - I'm not going to spend an additional $20 to put on a SOFTWARE UPGRADE. Robbery...

More Posts: First Prev 1 2 3 Next Last

Post a Comment

Sign In to Post a Comment

 

Sign In to see your profile information, saved products and more...

Register Sign In

My Favorite Gadgets

 



Quick Compare See All Favorite Gadgets
 

Recent Activity

 

Recently Viewed

on | off on | off
 

Recent Searches

on | off on | off
 
 
 

Also on Yahoo! Tech

Computers Home Office Wi-Fi & Networking Phones & PDAs Cameras & Camcorders TV & Home Theater Portable Audio
 

Site Map | Tour | Subscribe to Yahoo! Tech

Question and Answer content at Yahoo! Tech is written by Yahoo! users at Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo! does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any Yahoo! Answers content. For more information, read the Full Disclaimer.

Opinions expressed by the Advisors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo! receives no compensation from any manufacturer or distributor nor does it compensate any Advisor for the coverage of any product or service in any Advisor's content.