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So… in order to get functionality that probably should have been included with the iPod touch to begin with… you’re going to charge me $20 for it. Are you out of your effing gourd, Apple?

This is in bad form, especially considering this product is only around four months old, and today’s update was software only and available for free to people who buy the iPod touch today.

I can only hope that the decision to charge for these wasn’t Apple’s idea. After all, if you had an iPod that could almost everything the iPhone could, what motivation would people have to get get the iPhone?

Last week, the ESV Bible Blog posted about reading the ESV on your iPod, so I gave it a try. Only the New Testament is available at the moment. This is a great resource if you’re wanting to do some light reading or need to look up a verse while you’re on the go. There’s two versions available… one for the iPod nano and one for the iPod video. I’d highly recommend checking it out!

If you use Outlook 2007, Google Calendar and iTunes and own an iPod - this tip might be helpful to the two of you. It’s not really anything new… but I didn’t think Outlook would share calendars that it’s subscribed to… Fortunately, it does.

1. In Google Calendar go to Settings > Calendars. Choose a Calendar from those available to you. This will bring you to a Calendar Details screen.
2. At the very bottom, you’ll see options for Public and Private Addresses for calendars. Right-click on the iCal button and copy the link location.
3. Paste the link location into your browser’s address bar.
4. Replace http:// with webcal://
5. Hit enter.
6. This should bring you into Outlook 2007 where you can subscribe to your Google Calendar.
7. Your Google Calendar should now be available in Outlook!
8. Open iTunes and plug your iPod into your computer.
9. If your iPod supports it, your iPod settings will have a Contacts tab available to you.
10. Under Calendar, select Sync calendars from Microsoft Outlook. If you don’t use Outlook’s calendar - choose ‘Selected calendars:’ and choose your Google Calendar(s) from the list.
11. Hit apply… now every time you sync your iPod, you’ll pull down your calendars as well!

This tip would probably work similarly on the Mac by using Apple’s iCal app.

UPDATE: If you’re looking for a solution to sync Google Calendar with Outlook 2003, there’s an app called gSyncit you might be interested in… More info here.

Wow. Apple released the iPod shuffle in multiple colors today. I still love my little silver shuffle, though, I can’t lie… these colors are mesmerizing. Add to that, the fact you get the new headphones with these… Man… I love the color switcher they built into the site to play off the different colors.

Will we see an orange iPod nano soon? Or a RED iPod shuffle?

I’ve had a few people mention to me that they were considering a Zune. I won’t lie: I’m an Apple fanboy and I have never understood why someone would want one until today.

The Zune is to the iPod as the Mac is to a PC. Make sense? I’ll try to explain…

For years, Macs have played second fiddle to PC. Macs account for anywhere from 3-5% of the market (depending on who you talk to). They’re considered premium machines… and up until recently, they have been more expensive than PCs.

The iPod has had success in dominating their market for five years now. Figures show the iPod having a 65-70% share of the MP3 player market… They’re hugely successful now, and everyone and their mother has one. That’s part of the problem. What has made the iPod successful - their desirability - will be what sustains a counter-market that won’t get one because “all the cool kids have one”.

That’s where the Zune could succeed. I spoke with two non-technical people today and one owned a Zune and the other was seriously considering getting one. Why? “Because everyone has an iPod these days and I don’t want to be like other people.” When I heard that, it caught me a little off guard. I was thinking to myself, that the iPod has a great interface, works seamlessly with iTunes, etc… These people don’t know what they’re missing out on… But it’s not about any of that stuff. Sometimes people care about price. Sometimes people care about features, ease of use, etc. But sometimes, people just care that it’s different.

Let’s face it, the iPod has become something the masses want…and lot’s of people own them. Heck, I used to own five up until last week.

The desire to want something different is what drives the accessories market, I suppose, and that’s a fact we can’t lose sight of.

iPod Killer it’s not. It’s not revolutionary enough to take the iPod’s place in the market, but if it could be positioned as the anti-Ipod, it might do alright. As for me? I’ll stick to my iPod video, until there’s a compelling enough reason for me to make the switch.

John Gruber had a lot of interesting stuff to note aboot yesterday’s Apple Special Event:

• The new iPods do not support FireWire. Not just no FireWire cables in the box; no FireWire, period. Such is the price of smaller and thinner, I suppose.
• Highest capacity iPod is still 60 GB. There certainly exists a market of people who want larger capacity iPods (I know at least four people personally who can’t fit their entire libraries on a 60 GB drive … and I don’t have many friends), but I don’t think Apple sees this as a significant selling point. Thinner and lighter seems to be what Apple thinks will sell … and judging by the Nano’s popularity, they’re almost certainly right.

Keep reading…