Apple iPod Touch first impressions: hands on, Starbucks, capacity and all

It was the most eagerly anticipated announcement from Apple since the iPhone and, though the Internet leaks tended to be accurate, there were plenty of surprises in store. The biggest one was probably the appearance and full set of features for the iPod Touch.

First impressions are that it's ambitious and very clever. An iPhone without the phone and now at the same price since the unprecedented $200 price-cut for Christmas? Brilliant. Now you can get the vast majority of the benefits of having an iPhone event if you're not in an AT&T coverage area... oh yeah, and if you're not in the States. Plus many people just don't want or need most smartphone capabilities, so they can stick to having a small phone and have this ultra-thin entertainment hub to carry around with them wherever they go.

But somewhere along the way, the ambition seemed to take a tumble. Wouldn't we have been just as happy with, say, a 12mm thick iPod (still the thinnest by far), but at least double the highest capacity?

Let's not even bother with the 8GB; I'm no muso and that doesn't even fit my collection. Plus I have barely any images or video on my iPod at present but with a gorgeous 3.5" screen like that on the iPod Touch I would probably relocate at least all my photos (and there are many) onto my 'pod. 16GB also seems a might parsimonious; I know, I know, us journos are never happy, but if there's going to be any stumbling block to sales - and I'll concede it won't be much of one - capacity is going to be it.

The Starbucks feature is also of no interest to me whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, I like the odd Starbucks Chai Latte and I was quite excited about the idea when I heard about it last night, but I quickly realised - away from the heart-pumping slickness and excitement generated by the most adept PR machine in the technology world - that I wouldn't really bother with it. The majority of my collection is ripped from mine or another's CDs or downloaded (generally legally!) from non-iTunes sources. Apple kindly gave us each £15 to spend in iTunes and I will use that, but I still tend to be a little Luddite in my music buying and although the general societal trend is accelerating in an online direction I think there will still be people like me slightly lagging behind. Besides which, I'm simply not in a Starbucks often enough (a couple of times a month, maybe) to be jumping up and down over this. And of course I'm writing all this assuming that it will ever actually be available in the UK - and that's a pretty big if.

But back to the hands on. How did it feel to use and what were the really interesting features? It was a dream to use, slick, smooth and responsive. My favourite feature was Safari; I could surf straight to Shiny Shiny and use the "pinch" manouevre (put your thumb and forefinger together then slide them apart against the screen) to zoom in and read the hasty liveblogging of minutes before. A complex, fine-print screen like the New York Times website (Steve Jobs's favourite example) is rendered easily. Definitely good news for those who like nifty gadgets but might not have the good eyesight needed to use many of them. You can zoom into video and pictures too.

The built in YouTube feature was obviously going to be many an Apple fanboy's wet dream and hey, who am I to argue with them? It was the icing on the cake that Apple are so spectacularly good at.

Best of all is the iPhone style scrolling up and down through the playlists. Turn to the side and the "accelerometer" goes into Cover Flow. Cover Flow is pretty but not that useful to me; being able to scroll up and down quickly without getting RSI fiddling with the scroll wheel and trying to get quickly from Zero 7 to Air... THAT'S useful.

Obviously my impressions were coloured by Steve Jobs's presentation, that of the Apple representatives demonstrating the products and my own very quickly formed impressions while I held it in the palm of my hand. The sooner I can get my hands on one to form a full assessment, the better. Hear that, Apple?

Alex Roumbas is Deputy Editor of Shiny Shiny and is thinking "Bill who?".