An amazing slew of news from Apple yesterday, including an unbelievably sexy ultra thin laptop, the MacBook Air and much needed updates to iPhone software. For innovation and design, Apple must make it hard to work for any other consumer electronics hardware brand.

Part of the string of announcements caught my eye, however, which was an upgrade to the iPod Touch software (which lest we forget is ‘the world’s best Wi-Fi mobile device’).

Egregiously, whereas all future shipments of the device will come with the new version of the firmware fitted as standard, Apple are charging existing users £12.99 to upgrade their software ($19.99 in the States).

I believe I am right in saying that this is a first for an iPod software update, which have always been free in the past.
And it’s not like its a major leap in functionality like the leap from Tiger to Leopard for instance. They’re just adding Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes, all of which are already available on the iPhone, and so should really have been there on the Touch in the first place.

I wonder how people who already have an iPod Touch will react. They are, after all, the most loyal, leading edge consumers of Apple products, but they are hardly being rewarded for their loyalty. The message to them seems to be - never buy an Apple product when it first comes out.

In general it’s interesting to see a challenger brand like Apple start to act more like the establishment, using their undoubted power to add revenue streams in unexpected, and often unpopular places…

Tags: Apple, consumer electronics, iPod