Let me tell you about my iPod Touch

This is not a story about how cool the iPod Touch is.  This is a story about how I acquired my iPod Touch and how I will try to acquire electronic gadgets in the future.

For those who do not know, an iPod Touch is basically an iPhone without the phone.  The iPod Touch has all the same software applications as the iPhone and allows you to surf the Internet via any standard wi-fi connection.  My iPod Touch allow me to check my e-mail, read my RSS Feeds and is perhaps the best small-form-factor mobile Internet browser available.  Safari (the iPod Touch Internet Browser), does an incredible job making the Internet readable on such a small device.

…the iPod Touch is cool.  And that is why I did not want to buy one.  I hate getting sucked into buying “cool” products only to find out that they are useless.  I’d rather be productive than cool.  I have an aversion to cool products because;

1. They are typically outrageously priced.
2. The functionality does not live up to the media hype and my expectations.
3. The “cool factor” wears off after a couple of days.

So this time I did things a little different.  Rather than put out $300 for a brand new un-me-tested iPod Touch, I waited.  I waited for my son to get one!  And he did.  He got one for his birthday.  Turns out that after a few weeks, the “cool factor” wore off and he used his iPod Touch to only listen to music.  Heck, you could get a $50 iPod Shuffle for that!

So I made a deal with the boy.  I get to use his iPod Touch for 2 weeks and if I like it, I give him $150 bucks to purchase a different iPod model to listen to his music.  It turns out that the 2 week try-before-you-buy time is exactly what I needed.   I found that I used it every day.  I found that it has a great Internet browser.  I found that it interfaces nicely with Gmail.  I found that it syncs my calendar and contacts with Microsoft Outlook.  I found that I love it!

So, I made the purchase from my son.  Next time I want something “cool”, I hope to do a 2 week try-before-you-buy to ensure I “need” that cool new product.  Anyone looking to unload a MacBook Air?