The iPod touch is about $3000 cheaper than the iPhone, and that's probably why it's important.

(In Canada, you probably pay $80-$90/month locked to a three year contract, which is around $3000)

Because so many people in the market for iTouches don't own a cell phone?

I agree that the cost is the reason, but saying that it's $3k cheaper is seriously misrepresenting things. The marginal cost of getting an Android phone over a normal one is $30/month for the data plan, so $720 in America and I guess $1080 if you're in Canada (that sucks, btw). And then you can probably subtract $50 or $100 or so because you'd probbly pay a bit more for an unsubsidized iTouch-oid than for the subsidized phone.

For me, it's relevant because I'd like to learn how to build apps for WebOS and Windows Phone 7, but I make my living developing iPhone apps, and I'm not about to sign a 2 year contract with another cell phone provider for the privilege of building for a platform that may never amount to anything.

You can buy a non-contract device at a small discount via the developer program. http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/developer-phones.html

Cheaper for developers... not users. I might not switch away from iPhone for my personal use, but if I could pick up a palm for a few hundred bucks, I might write an app for one. As a mobile developer, you have to dest on-device and the price of supporting many devices can add up quickly.

> What Palm really needs (and what I really wish it had) is a non-phone device carrying WebOS

With Palm's recent acquisition by HP, and HP's subsequent cancellation of its Windows Mobile 7 tablet, that just might happen.

edit: It's happening. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/20/hp-tablet-webos-hp-...

or, after redirecting, http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/19/hp-confirms-webos-tablet-...

I agree. Android as well. Android is doing pretty well, but I have a lot of friends (in high school/college) that really want Android devices, but can't/won't pay the $30/month for data. Many of them have iTouches instead, and would love a an Android iTouch-like-device as their next mp3 player.

As I've said before, the problem is: Who is going to sell that device to the customer?

Google has no direct-to-consumer sales worth talking about. Phone carriers sell Android phones because they make money on the contracts; without the contracts they have little incentive to stock, market, or sell an Android equivalent of the iPod Touch. So who's going to step up to compete with the Apple Stores and the iTunes installed base? The same electronics companies that blew their years-long headstart in the personal music player business?

I think Palm really, really needs an unlocked, 4-band GSM phone that's not world-proof. The US may be a huge market, but the rest of the world would like the possibility of buying press and pixies. And I am sure Palm wants to sell phones.

When I read the headline, my mind processed it as "Chrome OS 2.0 will include node.js", and I was super-excited.

Then I read it again.

WebOS isn't an interesting platform right now, and I think you've discovered a big reason.