Although there was some excitement over Apple’s addition of previously-unsupported features to the iPod touch (such as mobile Mail), that excitement ended right around the time Steve Jobs said that the upgrade would cost $20. Some are paying it anyway, but others aren’t. And unfortunately, the upgrade hasn’t gone smoothly for those that aren’t. “Huh?” It turns out that iTunes’ “friendly” offer to upgrade is actually preventing users from managing their iPod touches if they don’t elect to fork over $20.

In the past, iTunes would helpfully display the upgrade screen whenever an iPod touch was plugged in, but users were able to dismiss the sales pitch. Something has changed, though, and the iTunes Store seems to be hungry for fat stacks of cash. Users attempting to get away from the upgrade screen are finding that it’s inescapable. Even worse, users cannot manage their iPod touches due to the persistent upgrade screen, meaning no syncing until you feed the iTunes Store a twenty.

Jeez – does anyone at Apple have any feet left, after all the shooting themselves in the foot they’ve been doing over recent months?  First the iPhone price cut, the closed garden attitude to applications on the iPhone, then the absurd policy of charging existing iPod Touch users $20 to add 5 basic apps to the device while new buyers don’t pay anything, and now iTunes basically rolls over and plays dead if you don’t choose to fork out that $20 for an entirely optional update!

I really feel sorry for Touch owners, and I’m surprised that Apple hasn’t been forced to backtrack on the stupid $20 charge for the new apps.  Hope they at least get this major cockup with iTunes sorted out soon.  See the Infinite Loop link below for some suggested workarounds for this issue if you’re affected by it …

Via: Infinite Loop