Apple have just released their all new range of iPods, and apart from the usual changes to the models that have seen a little bit more memory, and a slightly bigger screen installed, the biggest change this year is the introduction of the new iPod Touch.

This new device looks almost exactly like one of Apple’s highly sought after iPhones, but costs $300 less! It has more memory (16GB) and the same sized touch screen as the phone, and can even connect wirelessly to the Internet, making it a perfect portable browser, but you don’t need to pay a hefty monthly subscription fee to a mobile phone company to own it.

If anything, the iPod touch, which is a beautiful looking device, is the most confusing thing that Apple has ever done. Why would I want to pay nearly $600 + subscription for the iPhone, when I could buy an iPod touch for half that price, upload more music to it, and generally get the same experience of the web?

I’m a long time fan of Apple, I write on a MacBook, and was on the waiting list for an iPhone as soon as they released it here, but now I’m off that list, and I’m going to get a Nokia phone instead. I’m going to get the Touch, and Apple are going to earn less money from me than they would have done otherwise.

Very few people on the list for iPhone care about the ability to make calls on it, they want it because it is shiny and funky and you can browse the web through a touch screen. I can do all that on the iPod Touch, and I will. Steve Jobs called it the eighth wonder of the world when he launched it. He exaggerated, iPod touch is great, but it underlines a bit of a lack of understanding about his customer base. It will be an enormous success, and make the company millions over the next couple of years, but it is going to massively eat into the profits that they would have earned from iPhone.