Steve Jobs: Why The iPod Touch Doesn’t Have a Camera
8:04 pm, September 9th, 2009, Leander Kahney
Why doesn’t the new iPod touch have a camera? And why can’t the nano take still pictures? Steve Jobs gave David Pogue of the New York Times some answers…
… apparently customers don’t want a camera in their iPod touch, Jobs said. It’s a cheap gaming device, and Apple wanted to concentrate on getting the price down to the magic $200 price point rather than stuffing distractions like cameras into it.
And the nano is just too small for the tricky sensors required to take still shots and auto focus, Jobs said.
Pogue: You put a camcorder on the iPod Nano. Why not on the iPod Touch?
Steve: Originally, we weren’t exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine. Because a lot of the games were free on the store. Customers started to tell us, “You don’t know what you’ve got here — it’s a great game machine, with the multitouch screen, the accelerometer, and so on.”We started to market it that way, and it just took off. And now what we really see is it’s the lowest-cost way to the App Store, and that’s the big draw. So what we were focused on is just reducing the price to $199. We don’t need to add new stuff — we need to get the price down where everyone can afford it.
Pogue: How come the Nano can now record video, but can’t take stills?
Steve: The sensors for doing video are fairly thin. The sensors for doing a still camera, at much higher pixel resolution — and we’d really like to have autofocus — they are just way too thick to ever fit inside the Nano.
This strikes us as unconvincing. Look at the outcry about the touch’s lack of a camera. The one thing customers were looking forward to was a camera. And if Apple can stuff a camera inside the nano, which starts at $149, why can’t put a similar camera in a $199 touch without raising the price?
Same goes for the still camera in the nano. If Apple can jam an auto-focusing still camera into the iPhone 3GS — which isn’t exactly a big fat brick — how come similar hardware couldn’t be included in the nano?
Answer: It’s all about product differentiation. If the touch has a camera, who is going to buy the nano, or the iPhone for that matter? And if the nano has a still camera, who’s going to buy the touch? As Jobs said in his first answer to Pogue, it’s all about marketing the devices.
Posted by Leander Kahney in Apple, Hardware, News, Steve Jobs, iPod, iPod Touch | Comment on this article
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It’s quite simple, people will buy the touch without the camera. Period.
Matt, on September 9th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I would have liked a cam in it but something that you have never experienced you will never miss.
Any way saves me spending money that i can use buying an iTablet once they are revealed at CES early next year.
mmmark, on September 9th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Maybe there should be some differences between iPhone and iPod touch. Steve Jobs is right, if they add the camera, iPod would become an iPhone without the Phone! And then many ppl will go for iPod touch! And that’s bad for the company, I think.
Ali, on September 9th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Steve Jobs and Co. didn’t ask me if I wanted a camera in the iPod Touch. I would love to have a camera in my Touch. I would than have a reason to shop for some of the apps that deal with pictures and picture taking. I love the games, but taking pictures with the same device would be enjoyable as well.
Hey Steve ask a few more people next time you take an iPod Touch user survey.
garyk, on September 9th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
I really want for the iPod touch to have a camara. Alot of people are real upset about the touch without a camara. and Can someone tell me when does the iPod nano touch come out?
felipe, on September 9th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Not sure why people keep saying that it would canibalize the iPhone (if the iTouch had a camera). It’s not like it’s so vital I’ll pay a really expensive voice+data plan for a camera.
To me the point of the iPhone is the phone. I just don’t understand the argument the iPhone would suffer. You’ll spend what, 2k$ in a three year contract (in Canada) for camera and GPS?
If someone could explain me that, I would be grateful
Thanks
Alexis, on September 9th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I would enjoy a camera in my iTouch. I dislike the game-focus, in fact, I bought the iTouch to replace my PDA. I use my iTouch for the calendar, address book, and mail most frequently. I have 30 GB of space and still 3/4 free space because the majority of apps are games that I do not want to waste my time with. However, I’m ok with the new iTouch not having a camera, only because if it did I’d want it and my iTouch is under a year old lol.
KellyM, on September 9th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” -Jobs
This upgrade round to the iPod Touch was simply uninspired and driven by marketing. Apple has stopped playing offense in this realm. There’s no denying they have the lead and a good price-point, but I’d prefer and was willing to pay the original $229 for a 16GB version with camera. Now I’ll be playing the waiting game for “something new.”
Josh, on September 9th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Bah humbug! I don’t believe anything but their own iTouch was a threat to the IPhone. I have a 3g that AT&T won’t let me upgrade. [I paid cash for it by the way they didn't finance it in any way. ] My plan was to dump my iPhone and buy the new iTouch with a camera. That would have filled my needs. That would have made me happy.
I hate dealing with AT&T. They suck. They still haven’t come up with tethering and mms. Why pay outrageous fees when I can have a pay as you go at T-Mobile and I don’t get e-mails demanding a data plan?
The cart got in front of the horse and Apple knows it and that is why there is no camera on the itouch. All that game playing stuff mentioned is bullshit excuse. Yes it is a great game player but come-on. Why wouldn’t you want a camera on a game player? You can take pictures of yourself and use them as avatars, incorporate it into game playing,etc, etc…
I call foul. Must be the meds.
I will now dump the iPhone and look at Androids. I certainly won’t buy an iTouch because they added a measly 32 gigs? That is so lame. They cut the price because of the economy not to do anybody a favor.
I am still waiting for the “Rock-n-Roll”. Nora Jones isn’t – this wasn’t.
hardenstuhl, on September 9th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
hell yeah…go get them…I have a good friend that was dying for the new ipod touch to have the camera…and I watched as his hopes and dreams were crushed…
well I don’t know how dramatic it really was…but he was mad as hell…I have an iphone so I was happy with the products…but I do find it hard to believe that they couldn’t do it…on either product…they are apple…they do stuff every single day that others could never imagine…
but I do have to say the new iTunes is Da Bomb…gotta love it…next step is folders for apps…yeah…and the widescreen iTunes store is sweet and all the changes are great…love it
but I am sorry for those of you like my friend that really really really really wanted the new touch to have the camera…I feel your pain…because the 3GS is sweet…and I love it…
Alexis, on September 9th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Remember when Steve Jobs stood there with that knowing grin and declared the iPod Touch to be “our funnest iPod ever?” The “funnest” ad for it featured gaming, gaming, and more gaming.
Funnest isn’t a word, and the iPod Touch isn’t a gaming device. Funnest has fun in it, and the iPod Touch has gaming in it, but that’s as far as it goes.
Customers didn’t tell Apple the iPod Touch was a gaming device – Apple told its customers. It’s meant as a distraction to keep them from having to actually inovate since the iPod Touch has zero competition.
Also, adding a camera and a mic to the Touch wouldn’t cannibalize iPhone sales. Even if both devices were essentially identical, the Touch is still dependent on wifi for its communications features whereas the iPhone is fully functional more-or-less anywhere.
Darcy Fitzpatrick, on September 9th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
i was dieing to get the touch with camera. i was going to buy it the firdt day it came out. and no i dont really use my ipod for games. i use it for music, and show people that i get the best. but the only apps i use are like facts. and i only have like 5 apps. and 1000 songs. i 9/10 of the times use it to hear music. and 1/10 to read something or go on the internet. if it had the camera i would have used it more
d, on September 9th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
“If the touch has a camera, who is going to buy the nano, or the iPhone for that matter?”
Is this author serious? He really thinks that if the Touch had a camera, nobody would buy the iPhone?
He has some problems in the “logical deduction” department. Here’s a clue: The iPhone is a mobile phone. Folks who want a mobile phone will not choose the Touch, even if it has a camera. Folks who want a mobile phone will buy the iPhone instead.
Thank God this guy is just a journalist. He needs to be kept far away from business decisions.
David Westebbe, on September 10th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Forget the camera; what I really want is a Touch with a GPS! If they can fit it inside an iPhone, it can’t be that hard to put one in the Touch also.
Serge, on September 10th, 2009 at 10:13 am
In a similar vein, when Leander writes, ‘If Apple can jam an auto-focusing still camera into the iPhone 3GS — which isn’t exactly a big fat brick — how come similar hardware couldn’t be included in the nano?’, he seems to neglect the significant difference in thickness between the Touch, at 8.5mm, and the Nano, whose depth is only 0.2mm…
Julian Delphiki, on September 10th, 2009 at 10:19 am
First off, I never play games on my iPod Touch. I don’t like it as a gaming platform.
Secondly, I carry around a video camera, a cell phone, and a still camera. I can’t afford the iPhone data plan, so I use my Touch to make calls with Skype at free WiFi locations. So, I’m still stuck with a video camera and a still camera.
What I am considering, now that Apple doesn’t want to provide me with the prouduct I want, is purchasing an unlocked iPhone on eBay and using my T-Mobile prepaid sim to make regular telephone calls. That would provide me with all the features of a Touch plus cell phone service and a camera at fraction of the cost of an iPhone with a multi-year service contract.
I would have preferred to have purchased what I wanted from Apple, but it is just a little more difficult for me to put together the device I want the way I want it.
Max
Max Lent, on September 10th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I don’t use the touch for gaming at all. I use for all of the other useful apps that are on it and a camera would have been a great addition. I’m worried about this “it’s a gaming device” mentality.
Lloyd Aldrin, on September 10th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Apple starts to disappoint me on their decisions. It seems that earning money is getting more and more obviously important for them.
Which wouldn’t be a problem if I could feel that they had one thing in mind: Making great products and giving their customers only the very best.
Panos, on September 11th, 2009 at 3:17 am
Maybe,There will be something special which is coming soon!
yuanpeipei, on September 11th, 2009 at 11:29 am
people still are going to buy iphone even
if you put a camra on the touch because
we cant talk on the touch and you only can get on the internet
if you have wifi… so they should put a camra on a touch!!!
jonathan cruz, on November 9th, 2009 at 9:55 am
I want a camera in the itouch. I bought this for my art business and was told that it has a camera, but I think he was tired and thought he was talking about the iphone. Anyway I really was disappointed when I opened it up and there was not a camera.
I am planning on taking it back. I use verizon and don’t want the the iphone.
Samantha, on December 26th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I bought the ipod touch for my 6 year old for christmas. He was ALWAYS using my iphone to listen to music and take pictures of anything and everything, what a perfect gift (he is not a gamer). I just assumed the touch would have a camera, how could it not! It wasn’t until he’d been using it for a day that he finally said “Mom, I can’t take pictures with this” I couldn’t believe it! What a disappointment, and I’ve never been disappointed with my iphone or anything apple. My 6 year old does not need a phone, I thought this would be the perfect thing for him, it seems that unless you love video games, there is no cool new pocket device for you. I think it’s sad that apple would say they wanted to go the gaming route, aren’t there enough portable gaming systems out there? I saw this as a way to support his love of music and photography, guess not, his brother has filled it with free farting and tazer games and he is back to using my iphone.
Kate, on January 21st, 2010 at 8:43 am
Lack of a camera is a deal killer for me. I have been looking at the 32Gb, but lack of a camera prevents me from using apps that I want that work on the iPhone. I do not have an iPhone or Nano and no plans to buy either.
brody, on January 27th, 2010 at 2:08 am
hey steve just so you know, everyone is selling there nanos to get a itouch so even without a camera, the nano will probably be extinct soon so the only one that will be left is the shuffle and touch so i suggest adding a camera for just more money cause it would probably be a better deal for you in the long run.
stu, on February 28th, 2010 at 12:33 pm