iPod new iPod Touch user, under-whelmed by web

[Virgil-TB2]

Hi,

Since new models are (possibly) coming out soon, all the iPods at my local computer store have been heavily discounted so ... I bought my first iPod touch on a lark (because I don't really need one), for about a hundred bucks off the sticker price.

While it's an excellent iPod - perhaps the best I have ever used - and getting email on it is very cool as well, I am surprised at how awful the web experience is on it so far. It's almost like a dirty secret that you don't find out until you actually get one and try to use it.

The pages load very, very, slowly even though it's on the same network as my other computer sitting on the same desktop. I know the desktop has more power, but the limiting factor in terms of speed, for loading a web page is hardly processing power.

Once you do get them loaded, by far the majority of web pages are completely unreadable tiny blurs at first glance. Sure you can zoom in, but then you are paging around some ugly website looking at things through the "moving keyhole." Granted, the last time I tried the mobile web (on an iPAQ), it was similarly awful and had the similar feel of looking at things through a tiny hole in a fence, but I was shocked to find the iPod not much better even though many years have passed since the iPAQ.

It seems ironic to me that the main selling feature of the iPhone and the iPod Touch is the mobile internet, yet it really sucks quite badly for most uses. Internet enabled Widgets like the Stock app, and the Weather app, and any web application made specifically for iPhone/iPod touch are far more useable.

I'd be interested to know how others find the mobile iPhone/iPod web experience. Of course it's *better* than all the other mobiles out there, but that's not a high bar is it? Do people really find the web useful on these things? (and by that I mean the web itself, not "web apps.")

.

 

[digitalnicotine]

I'm not overly impressed by the web surfing option on my Touch, but I don't use it for much either. I mainly use the mail, weather, stock widgets, and once in a while, the web, when I want to check something without turning on a computer. I didn't expect it to be more than it is, because after all, it fits in my pocket, and I don't have better than 20/20 vision.

Basically, what I'm saying is that you're expectations are premature. Perhaps when OLED screens can be folded out for browsing, and tucked away again to store in your pocket, browsing on handheld devices will be up to par. But for now, you have to choose between the handheld sized device, or the easy viewing of a laptop or more. I don't know why you expected to get a full/readable view of a regular webpage with the Touch screen size though. I don't think anything was misleading about this, if you thought about it.

 

[Virgil-TB2]

I'm not overly impressed by the web surfing option on my Touch, but I don't use it for much either. .... I don't think anything was misleading about this, if you thought about it.

You are right of course. It's not like I felt misled and when you think about it, it could hardly be any other way as you say.

I just feel a bit let down after buying into the hype I guess. Not rational, but there it is.

I also thought it useful for anyone considering buying one of these things to get a dose of reality *before* they shell out the money. If you are thinking as I was, of buying an iPhone *only* for the mobile web for instance, then you probably should not be buying one.

.

 

[bmb012]

I always surf the web on my iPhone over WiFi... have you tried using it sideways...? Sites are far more readable like that... and most web sites are made in columns, double click on the text you're actually reading, you don't need all that sidebar stuff taking up pixels.

 

[Wolfpup]

I don't know that it would be particularly useful for me, and the virtual keyboard seemed AWFUL to me, but when a friend showed me his things seemed to load extremely fast. Seemed basically comparable to a computer. I wonder if it's something with the wireless network?

He even had PDFs stored on a server with a bookmark to them, and they came up right away too.

 

[11800506]

For the sites that I go on, I find the iPod touch actually quite useable for internet browsing. I think it all really depends what sites you go on, since some are better for mobile browsing than others. And also, I find my internet connection - while not as fast at rendering pages on my laptop - is actually pretty fast.

 

[LizKat]

I like Reuters mobile for news on iPhone or iPod touch.