iPod Touch 4th generation - first week

I admit it:  I succumbed to Apple and purchased the latest iPod Touch recently.  Why?  My 3-year-old WM phone is extremely unreliable (i.e. flaky) and the battery life is poor.  Why not an Android phone?  The best Android 2.2 devices are still limited in Canada at this time and I didn't want to compromise.  Why not an iPhone 4 then?  I still think the iPhone will have certain hardware and software limitations, which Android devices don't have, and for the features that iPhone is currently the leader, an Android device will soon come out that will surpass.  Also, I did not want to commit to an associated 3-year data/voice contract to subsidize a new smartphone's cost, at this time.

My retail buying experience was poor, with the local Apple stores sold out of the 8 GB model and their staff telling me to come in when none would be available by the time I arrived.  At the suggestion of store staff, I purchased online from Apple which I should not have done:  Seems that Costco recently started to sell the 4th generation iPod Touch and there it is a couple dollars cheaper and comes with Costco's 90-day return policy for electronics.  However, delivery from the Apple online store was prompt, the device arriving in a few business days after my order.   

This is the second Apple product I've purchased (first being an Mac Mini, which was returned).  Again the packaging is like gift wrap rather than the industrial-style sealed plastic bags other electronics come in (like when you are buying frozen fish).  Immediately on powering the device, I didn't like that the connection to iTunes is required before proceeding further.

Make no mistake, in general I find the slick user interface light-years beyond the WM 6 user interface.  Some might call it eye candy but much of the UI magic provides important cues to the user and the navigation is intuitive.  However, I have some criticism: 

• hardware lacks a four-way navigation control.  Most of the time this is not something missed but essentially it forces the user to have both hands free to use the device.  Situations where alternative hardware navigation controls would be handy [ ;-) ]:  if you're on a bus holding onto a handle, or have a drink in your hand at a party, or carrying a baby!  I don't expect Apple to ever add this as Apple aims to have a minimalistic hardware design outwardly
• Quicktime launched in Safari is a less touch-friendly media player than The Core Pocket Media Player (TCPMP) 
• In comparision to my old WM device, I'm very surprised to find that iOS is slow to suggest words (for auto-completion) while the user types  
• There should be an Undo or confirmation in the default Mail program to prevent unwittingly Trashing mail; sure, you can pull it back out of Trash but it's just too easy to accidentally hit the Trash icon

Some bugs I found in the first week of using device and corresponding fixes:

• Summary list of mail items is present (including preview text) but mail content stops appearing when go to a mail item
• Configure to sync multiple Google calendars but sync doesn't appear to work even after killing the Calendar process and re-starting.  Fix:  Search for a calendar item you know exists and it seems to kick-start the sync or refresh process