So the iPod Touch firmware update (version 1.1.3) was announced at the Stevenote this evening (proper time). For some reason it took a little over two hours to download, and then it didn't appear to offer any new features apart from a new search button in Safari, which booted the bookmark button down onto the bottom bar. Not even any wiggling icons.
Now, I made a bit of a tit of myself over at the Macalope's place (mostly because it's late and the bit about the AppleTV didn't register), but the question still remains, why are AppleTV owners getting a fancy new system update for free? while iPod Touch users have to pay? And it's not like we're just paying for the five applications. If we were then it would surely have been easier for Apple to wait and make them available through the iPhone app store once it's up and running. But it's not the apps that we're buying, it an unlock for the features of 1.1.3. The download you purchase takes a second to download, and once it's run you've got new features outside the five apps, like being able to rearrange the home page.
The argument, of course, is that earnings from the AppleTV, like those for the iPhone, are booked over a number of years. Sorry, but this just doesn't wash. The AppleTV has been on sale for almost a year now, but until today (or until the date in the future when the software upgrade is made) you have not been able to purchase items from the iTunes Store through it, meaning that there was absolutely no basis for Apple's accountants to book those earnings as subscription-based. The iPod Touch, however, has been able to download from the iTunes store since day one, so if either of these devices should be eligible for free updates, it should be the iPod.
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