iPod brings joy at every Touch

I don't believe that technology automatically improves my quality of life. I take black and white photographs on film and I don't use a mobile phone.

But occasionally a piece of technology appears that provides the promised benefits. I recently bought an iPod Touch and it is one of the few gadgets that brings me pleasure every time I pick it up - it is so beautifully designed it begs to be played with. It was ideal for a family holiday to Canada.

When you travel long haul with young kids, every piece of discretionary luggage has to serve a purpose, and preferably more than one. As Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice-president of Worldwide Product Marketing says: "You get a great iPod, a great pocket computer with the industry's best mobile web browser and a great game player, all in this super-thin beautiful enclosure."

To get the most out of the iPod Touch you need to enter Apple's world of applications (apps). There are more than 75,000 apps available via iTunes, many free, ranging from the inane and predictably puerile (Alien Splat) to the fundamentally useful and just plain fun. A map of Vancouver? There are three available. The kids getting fractious and needing some diversion? A game of Yahtzee sorts them out.

The web browser may or may not be the industry's best but it did everything I asked of it. What's the time of high tide on the west coast of Vancouver Island? Log on and find out. Need to check your emails? You can either check via webmail or have your messages pushed straight to the device. You can also manage calendars and organise contacts.

The screen is small for reading web pages or emails, but you can zoom in or out on any part of the page; not only does it look sexy but stroke it and it gets bigger. You can even choose between landscape or portrait view by turning the device 90 degrees.

There is a touch-screen keyboard that allows you to compose emails, make notes or navigate the web. This is small and results in some missed keystrokes but it is a small price to pay if you consider what it is you are doing from a palm- sized piece of technology.

The downside to getting the most out of this device is the need for a reliable Wi-Fi connection. Surfing the web, sending emails, downloading the latest news or using the "your location" function requires you to be connected to the web via Wi-Fi. We had no difficulties with this in North America, where everywhere we stayed was Wi-Fi enabled (as were most public places) but it is more of an issue in the back blocks of New Zealand or Vietnam.

If you can set the device up with all the apps you require before you leave home and are not too worried about instant access to your emails then an iPod Touch is ideal. But if you require instantaneous electronic communication, a device that can be connected to the internet via a phone line may serve you better.

For the purposes of my family an iPod Touch provides the best single piece of communication and entertainment technology available. But, be warned, it is so slinky, smooth and sexy you might find that your wife has run off with it.

iPod Touch:

8GB: $349

32GB: $519

64GB: $699

from apple.co.nz