Well, I wasn’t quite right, but you’ve got to admit, I was pretty close. I just thought the $299 model would be the new economy size, when it remains the flagship. And I’ve got to say, when you combine the hardware upgrades with the software upgrades–including Exchange compatibility and Mobile Me–it’s a pretty damn compelling product. Update: here’s a good rundown of what’s new, and whether the new stuff is actually an improvement.
Unfortunately, my secret wish–a 3G iPhone with a QWERTY slideout keypad–remains unfulfilled.
But more relevantly, the announcement leaves things kind of insane in the iPod pricing world: you can grab an 8 gig iPhone for $199, but an 8 gig iPod Touch (which is just an iPhone without the GPS or the phone functions–including, critically, cellular data) costs $299. So you’re paying an extra $100 for less functionality. Now, I know, the Touch is much thinner, and probably more importantly, you aren’t gonna have to commit to a year of paying at least $60/month to activate it. But nonetheless, how are you going to explain the intricacies of subsidized cell phone hardware to the average consumer, who doesn’t give a crap about such boring things? Answer: you aren’t. You’re going to lower the price of the iPod Touch so it at least matches the iPhone’s, and you’re going to subsequently sell a billion of them.
So I look forward to that announcement. But I was really expecting it today–the announcement of the iPhone price cut seemed like the right time to reassure consumers that Apple isn’t trying to rip them off (remember how upset you idiots got when they lowered the iPhone price the first time?). If it doesn’t happen soon, I suppose Apple will just save it for October, the better to make lots of money around Christmas.
Follow me on Twitter