While many of the predictions for Wednesday's Apple Media event were spot on, one of the most prevalent rumors didn't come true. The new iPod touch did not get a camera. David Pogue interviewed Steve Jobs and asked him why they omitted a camera from the refresh:
Mr. Jobs reiterated what Phil Schiller, the marketing vice president, had said earlier in the onstage presentation: that Apple is really pitching the iPod Touch as a game machine these days. And to do that, you have to make it as inexpensive as possible.
Jobs explained that since marketing the iPod touch as a gaming machine, it's really taken off. Not adding new features such as a camera was seen as a way to drive the price down even further.
In further questioning, Jobs continued to downplay the importance of dedicated ebook readers and reported to Pogue that there shouldn't be any delays in new products due to Jobs' absence.
"There are some things that I'm focusing a lot of attention on right now -- to polish," he said. "No, I don't think we're going to miss a beat. We have some really good stuff coming up."
The interview concludes with Jobs reporting that he "feels great" and acknowledging that he needs to gain some weight and he'd been eating a lot of ice cream to accomplish that.
