[Tichy]

I have heard that they exclude the oldest iPhone from OS 4, and I thought iPod Touch would be on the same technical level as the oldest iPhones.

Why does Apple exclude the old iPhones?

[ugh]

The current iPod touch is on the same level as the 3GS, maybe even a bit faster. It has the same amount of RAM and the CPU might be a bit better.

iPods are released yearly so there is no reason why they shouldn’t be just as fast and have just as much RAM as iPhones. It’s right, though, that the oldest iPod touch (from 2007) won’t get the update. 2nd and 3rd generation iPod touches will but 2nd generation iPod touches won’t get multitasking (just like their brother, the 2nd generation iPhone aka iPhone 3G).

[fh]

AFAIK it's a combination of the hardware not being good enough, and Apple not really trying to optimize for those devices (they'd be happy if you bought a new one). The iPod Touch went through several iterations, just like the iPhone; the latest iPod Touch is actually a bit higher specced than the latest iPhone.

[Tichy]

I didn't know that there are still updates to the iPod Touch.

Would be interested in sales numbers of iPods since the iPhone emerged.

Granted, I bought one, but only as a development device because the iPhone is too expensive.