At this writing the most popular post on this blog is my write-up on the iPod Touch as a PDA. My iPod Touch has been my PDA for a long while, and I love it … I can easily see why so many people are interested in using one as their PDA.
Of course, the popularity of my post is not the only indicator as to the growing popularity of the Touch. A recent Market Share article notes that iPod Touch usage is growing faster than the iPhone. Another article on the same site shows that both the iPhone and the Touch are starting to show up in the worldwide web browsing stats. In fact, I have taken their worldwide stats and compared them against the stats for Keener Living:
Not surprisingly, the iPod Touch accounts for a higher percentage of traffic here than worldwide. (Also not surprising is the higher percentage of Mac and Linux users.) Note that, when you consider how many web pages there are world wide, and the fact that most iPhone and Touch browsing is done in the US, these stats speak well of the popularity of the Touch and iPhone for browsing.
What accounts for the growing interest in the iPod Touch as a PDA, and, for that matter, for the growing interest in it for various uses?
My thought is that a lot of people who would love to have the iPhone just don’t want to go with AT&T, but they want as much iPhone-like functionality as they can get without switching carriers. The iPod Touch is a great device for such folks. As Apple has made clear in its There’s an app for that commercials, the Touch and the iPhone can do “tons of stuff.” So, no doubt that a lot of folks use their existing phones with their existing carriers, and get iPhone-like benefits by using a Touch.
Your thoughts?