7/19/2005
Video iPod - Coming Soon?
Is a Video iPod coming soon? People have been speculating about a Video iPod for years. And that speculation reached new levels this week amid reports that Apple has been negotiating for the rights to sell downloadable music videos through its iTunes Music Store.
Could these talks be a precursor to the release of a multimedia version of the iPod? Does Apple have a secret Video iPod project in the works even though Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs has repeatedly denied such rumors?
An article in Monday's Wall Street Journal cites "unnamed entertainment industry executives" and claims that a Video iPod could be announced as soon as this September.
Apple already has the portable music player market locked up pretty tight. A move into online video distribution would broaden Apple's digital entertainment reach and could potentially unlock a new source of revenue for the company.
When Apple first released the iPod, the portable mp3 player market ripe for the picking. It was tiny, fragmented and lacked a central management software companion like iTunes. The portable video player market is currently in a similar state. Handheld video players from iRiver, Creative Technology, Archos, and Sony sell in such small quantities, market researchers don't aggressively track their sales yet. Portable video players tend to get lumped in with mp3 and/or DVD players.
If Apple does release a Video iPod, the bigger question is whether or not people will pay $1 (or more) for music videos that are already available for free from the iTunes Music Store. Also, is the small 1.5-inch square iPod screen ideally suited for video? Probably not. A Video iPod will require a larger screen similar to the Sony PSP. Also, video requires much larger storage capacities. Apple will have a difficult time of both providing adequate storage and keeping the price point below $500.
After music videos, what's next for the "small screen"? Maybe short films, SNL and Conan skits, TV shows and even original content? Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Could these talks be a precursor to the release of a multimedia version of the iPod? Does Apple have a secret Video iPod project in the works even though Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs has repeatedly denied such rumors?An article in Monday's Wall Street Journal cites "unnamed entertainment industry executives" and claims that a Video iPod could be announced as soon as this September.
Apple already has the portable music player market locked up pretty tight. A move into online video distribution would broaden Apple's digital entertainment reach and could potentially unlock a new source of revenue for the company.
When Apple first released the iPod, the portable mp3 player market ripe for the picking. It was tiny, fragmented and lacked a central management software companion like iTunes. The portable video player market is currently in a similar state. Handheld video players from iRiver, Creative Technology, Archos, and Sony sell in such small quantities, market researchers don't aggressively track their sales yet. Portable video players tend to get lumped in with mp3 and/or DVD players.
If Apple does release a Video iPod, the bigger question is whether or not people will pay $1 (or more) for music videos that are already available for free from the iTunes Music Store. Also, is the small 1.5-inch square iPod screen ideally suited for video? Probably not. A Video iPod will require a larger screen similar to the Sony PSP. Also, video requires much larger storage capacities. Apple will have a difficult time of both providing adequate storage and keeping the price point below $500.
After music videos, what's next for the "small screen"? Maybe short films, SNL and Conan skits, TV shows and even original content? Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
permanent link |
7:45 AM
|
MethodShop.com
|
MethodShop.com
I've mentioned it a couple times before, but I'll briefly restate my opinion again: Video iPod? I don't get it. What's the big deal? Watch a film on a 2 inch screen? Why? That would suck.
But something mentioned in that editorial by Robert X. Cringely that I posted about on Friday got me thinking. A wearable video display... now that is an idea. Yes, they're weird, and up to now it's a technology that makes people think Star Trek more than iPod. But, this is what Apple does best - take an existing technology and make it better, make it useful to us, help us assimilate it into our daily lives. If any company could take the wearable video display mainstream, it would be Apple.
So this is what might finally sell me on this concept: A video iPod that includes an Apple-branded (white, of course) wearable video display. People already create their own little reality bubble when rocking out to music, the wearable video device would just be an extension of that same principle. However, it changes the nature of using the iPod from something that is a complimentary experience (listening to music while doing something else) to an immersive experience (watching a film captures your complete attention), so this iPod would be a new and different sort of device in my mind. But iPod + video seems to get a lot of people all aflutter, so maybe there is something to this idea...
But something mentioned in that editorial by Robert X. Cringely that I posted about on Friday got me thinking. A wearable video display... now that is an idea. Yes, they're weird, and up to now it's a technology that makes people think Star Trek more than iPod. But, this is what Apple does best - take an existing technology and make it better, make it useful to us, help us assimilate it into our daily lives. If any company could take the wearable video display mainstream, it would be Apple.
So this is what might finally sell me on this concept: A video iPod that includes an Apple-branded (white, of course) wearable video display. People already create their own little reality bubble when rocking out to music, the wearable video device would just be an extension of that same principle. However, it changes the nature of using the iPod from something that is a complimentary experience (listening to music while doing something else) to an immersive experience (watching a film captures your complete attention), so this iPod would be a new and different sort of device in my mind. But iPod + video seems to get a lot of people all aflutter, so maybe there is something to this idea...
Links to this post:
RSS Subscribe
Email Subscribe
Turkey Bowl is a 3D perspective target game where you celebrate the fall harvest by knocking over turkeys with bowling apples. Here's a hint, the turkeys further away are worth more points. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Has a virus or hard
drive crash wiped out your entire music collection on your computer? No
problem. Here's how to copy music off your iPod or iPhone and back onto your computer.
Bugs tend to freak us out. Mosquitoes, spiders, wasps, centipedes... you name it. If it crawls, bites or buzzes anywhere near our faces, then we squirm, swat and run. But what's worse than a little bug crawling on or biting you? How about a really, really big one? Here are some of the biggest bugs on Earth. Enjoy!. 
Need
something to watch on your iPod or iPhone? Here's a tutorial that
explains how to use a program called Handbrake to rip DVD's
into iPod compatible MPEG-4 video files.
Post a Comment