Apple of my eye

When we’re recruiting for editorial positions on Shopper we always ask candidates to first send us a short piece on their favourite gadget. Inevitably, most people choose their iPod, although most also fail to convey exactly why it’s so brilliant.

As regular readers of this blog will know, there’s something of a divide in the Shopper office between those that love Apple and those who don’t. I’m currently sitting on the fence, partly because I’ve recently spent actual money on an iPod Touch.

I have many gadgets, but the Touch is without doubt my favourite. Previously, I was a big PDA fan, but eagerly awaited the day that someone brought out one with a decent operating system. Palm started well, but quickly dropped the ball, while Microsoft started badly and never improved.

When the original iPhone arrived, I couldn’t quite believe how good it was. Unlike Microsoft, Apple had clearly sat down and put itself in the shoes of a user. Put simply, everything works just as you’d want it to work. There’s no need for an instruction manual because you need only use your intuition. Want to skip to the next photo? Just drag your finger. Photo the wrong way round? Just turn the Touch 90° and the image now fits.

Plus, as far as I’m concerned, Safari is the only mobile browser that actually lets you use the ‘real’ internet, and not a special cut-down version. The multi-touch interface makes it incredibly fast to zoom in and look at the part of a page you want, and it makes light work of keeping multiple pages open at once. It’s a similar story with music and video playback, with a slick, responsive interface at all times. Some may hate the on-screen keyboard, but even if you make mistakes, they’re often automatically corrected without you even realising you’ve made a typo.

The worst part of the iPhone, of course, was the cost. Luckily, the Touch is almost identical, but without the phone functions, and monthly contract. The real draw of the Touch for me was the ability to ‘jailbreak’ it and install a multitude of free applications, making it nearly as versatile as any PDA I’ve owned. With firmware 2.0, though, the App Store meant I could get free applications through an official channel, and although most apps cost money, they’re also sensibly priced at between 60p and a few pounds.

Being a commuter, I love the ability to instantly check on tube and train status – all you need is a public WiFi hotspot, and there are plenty around. When there isn’t, there are other apps that make the life of the Touch user more pleasant, such as offline website readers, games and puzzles.

I’m under no illusions that there are flaws with the Touch – the non-replaceable battery being the biggest – but it remains my favourite, and is sure to be for some time to come.