$20 for a firmware update?

LonelyBob
Jan 17, 2008 at 7:39 PM
5 comments

Two words, Bad idea.

Apple has released the 1.1.3 firmware update for iPhone users for free, but are charging iPod Touch users for the same feature set.

It's a stupid move to charge for a firmware update. I have an iPod Touch but I certainly won't be paying $20 to get E-mail, Google Maps, a Weather widget, Notepad, and a Stocks widget plus the ability to move the icons around and add bookmarks to the home screen (oooh wow a group of old applications rehashed on the Touch, bookmarks, and arranging the icons, oh let me get my credit card .. umm no Not really.) The 5 apps are the exact same apps that iPhone has had since it was released and charging for the ability to move icons around and add Bookmarks to a new place is really not worth any money in my book. For those people that have unlocked the filesystem (ie. jailbreak) their iPod Touch they could already have the same apps installed a couple months ago.
http://rupertgee.wordpress.com/2007/12/03/install-iphone-apps-into-ipod-touch/

Owners of the iPod Touch have already paid for the actual device hardware that Apple has received a profit margin of it, many users buy music from iTunes that Apple also continually gets a percent of. It's as if some marketing and sales managers had a last minute meeting before the Mac World announcement and hastily decided it was a quick and dirty way for Apple to make more money off of the iPod Touch.
Plus this is only for a minor firmware update. (1.1.2 to 1.1.3) I can't help but think that if Apple wants to charge 20 dollars for a minor update what will they charge for a major update?

- Charging for a new application that is Not yet available is understandable (ie. That is how the mobile games market and Enterprise application developers make money.)

- Charging for a service (webhosting, online storage, etc.) or content (Music, videos, etc.) makes sense.

- Paying for a firmware update does not make sense.

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I'm not saying I am on board with the idea of charging for an upgrade, but don't you think it is quite rare that someone not charge for an upgrade? also, i don't know if i would say this is a minor update. adding email and maps really makes it a different device, don't you think?

[this is good]

I think previous iPod Touch owners (present company included) got robbed. I was able to successfully jailbreak my 1.1.2 version iPod Touch back to 1.1.1 and have apps galore (including the original iPhone apps) that work fine. The best time for the iPhone/iPod Touch will be after Apple SDK is released in late Feb. The only difference between 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 is multilingual support. My jailbroken 8GB iPod Touch is far more functional now, then a shrinkwrapped one from Apple with the current version FW. SDK is bound to change that ...

Hey, just think about - how much money Apple will rip off those on iPod contract... and, have you read latest "login;" magazine from USENIX? if not - open foreword letter from editor - you will have a plenty of fun

Schomer, Actually I think it is quite rare that anybody charges for a firmware update. Let's look at some other popular devices: Sony does not charge for Playstation 3 firmware updates adding new features and bug fixes, Nintendo does not charge for firmware updates for the Wii adding new features and bug fixes, Microsoft does not charge for Xbox 360 firmware updates adding new features and bug fixes, Digital Camera manufacturers do not charge for firmware updates that add new features and fix bugs, PSP firmware updates also at no charge to add new features and fix bugs, mobile phones manufacturers (Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, etc. etc.) do not charge for firmware updates that add new features and fix bugs, the list goes on and on. In fact off the top of my head I can't think of any company that does charge for a firmware update, I wonder why that is .. maybe because the companies or devices that did are no longer around because customers should not need to pay for firmware updates.

I'd call it a minor update, look at the firmware version 1.1.2 to 1.1.3. Let's look at what is being charged for: Bringing old apps from another device (iPhone) that essentially runs the same OS and enabling the ability to arrange your icons and add bookmarks to the icons area are not Major New Features.

As I mentioned in my blog entry, if you want to charge for New Applications that have NOT Been Released Previously that is fine. For example, Games, Business apps (Spreadsheet app, Presentation app, Database apps, etc.) IM clients, etc. An application being sold should be New and not just an old application that was already available for free on the iPhone.

Does adding an E-mail client and Google Maps to the iPod Touch add new functionality? Sure. Is this worth paying $20 for? No.
Let's look at the 5 applications individually.
E-mail is essentially the same application on iPhone that was released 6 months ago, is a 6 month old E-mail client without any major updates worth paying for? No.
Google Maps? No. Sure it's the updated version of Mobile Google Maps with the My Location feature but Google Maps is free to install on every other device that it runs on (S60 devices, Blackberry, Windows mobile, Palm OS), so this certainly shouldn't cost anything to install on iPod Touch.
Stocks Widget from Yahoo? No, this is a simply a webpage that shows Stocks.
Weather Widget also from Yahoo? No, the weather can be checked at any time just fine from the Browser.
Notepad? You're kidding right?

[this is good]

I have to agree with you; it doesn't make sense to charge for it. I think after a time, Apple will drop this idea, as a lot of folks won't be exactly happy about it.

$20 for a firmware update?

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