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The Video iPod is on its Way
An iPod Speculator writes "Is Apple developing a Video iPod? Recent contracts and software releases suggest that a video enabled iPod is forthcoming. If so, what kind of features will it have? I offer some insight into why video is the next step for the iPod and how it might come about in this article."
We could already find this exact same speculation in comments on earlier slashdot stories, too. News? Hardly.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
I tend to agree with some of the previous /. posts on this topic. Video makes no sense on a portable iPod device. The iPod is a natual extension to what people already do. Video is not a natural extension.
Y'know, Apple's learned the form factor lesson from the Newton. The Newton was brilliant, but its form factor embodied a middle of the road compromise that pleased nobody. It was too big for a PIM, to small for a do your serious work on. The clamshell variant (the eMate), however, was the forerunners of the iBooks, which simply scaled it up to the minimum size and specs needed to be a fully functional computer.
A video playback device in the current iPod form factor is a complete joke -- at best a novelty. However, an iBook sized playback device is plausible, however. If Apple goes that way, look for an innovative approach for how the device functions as part of the users' systems. This is where Apple succeeds and other fail: itunes store -- itunes/Mac -- iPod.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Awaiting the arrival of As Seen on TV and his liberal use of "we" in 5... 4...
didn't As Seen On TV already spell out how Apple understands that portable video is retarded (which it is).
I disagree with all of those that think the video iPod is not a natural extension. Here are just a few reasons:
* Plug a couple into the car to let a couple kids that can't agree on a movie watch whatever they want.
* Use it to demo videos to clients. (Send an entire iPod to a client as a promotional gift with the new commercial that you created for them. Admittedly this is 0.0005% of the market!)
* Take a movie over to a friends house -- just plug your iPod into the RCA jacks and play the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.
* Last, but certainly not least for Slashdot geeks, take porn with you everywhere!
iPod Photo is a half a step away from iPodVideo. Natural extension -- like putting on comfy slippers after having worn around sandals all day.
It could also be a *huge* market. Not that competitors have ever swayed Apple, but xBox, Sony Playstation Portal (or whatever it's called), and now cell phones will have video capabilities of different sorts. Apple has a strong track record with music and can bring that expertise to video.
I have recently posted a link to this article on Slashdot.org and if the traffic from the link becomes too high for my web server, I will have to take my site down (or face penalty from Comcast, which equals $$$ that I don't have). So if anyone is willing to mirror this for me, send me a message and I will email you the article to mirror.
The Video iPod is on its Way
by Jason Taylor
05.14.2005
When the iPod was introduced by Apple in 2001, it revolutionized the way that people listened to music. They no longer had to carry multiple CDs around with them or worry about running out of space in their flash-based MP3 player. The iPod allowed users to store 1200 songs on one device, which is more songs than most people own, and allowed them to access their music through an innovative "click-wheel" interface. Since its introduction, the iPod has become the number one selling hard drive MP3 player in the world, grabbing 90% of the hard drive based MP3 player market. As time went on, the capacity of the iPod increased to 10 GB (2500 songs), then 15 GB (3000 songs), 20, 30, 40, and now 60 GB (15,000 songs). Excited about what Apple had done for music, people awaited the next big innovation from Apple: video.
In the past year, there have been many requests, rumors, and pundit analyses of an iPod that could play videos and an iTunes like service to support it, but Apple has remained firm on their stance that selling videos to play on the iPod is a bad idea. They believe that the screen is too small, the battery life is too short, and the downloads are too large to provide a positive video experience on the iPod. It would make no sense to sell movies to view on an iPod or even a new video playing device for that matter, because the user experience would be sub-par (even devices with larger screens, such as portable DVD players offer a poor movie experience). Yet many recent actions by Apple are suggesting something different. They suggest not only that Apple is open to releasing a video iPod, but that they are actually developing one.
A Small Update to iTunes
The most recent video-related hint came on May 9, 2005 when Apple released iTunes 4.8. The update boasted few new features, most of which fell under the category of "music store related features" and not much else. Once installed, users began noticing that one of the new features of iTunes was that it could now play and manage videos. They also noticed that the iTunes Music Store was now offering videos and PDFs for download as album extras. What is Apple doing with these new features? Why include videos in the music store and in iTunes if users have no way to play or view them except through their computer? These new iTunes Music Store features could simply be extras designed to keep people coming to iTunes instead of using another online music service such as Napster or Yahoo Music, but Apple has never been very worried about other stores in the past because the iPod doesn't work with them anyway*. So if that isn't the case, is Apple just creating a more robust music experience for its users, or is it preparing its music infrastructure for a new product, a video iPod, perhaps?
Enter the Video iPod
Though Apple's recent additions to iTunes and the music store could be unrelated to new iPod models, I believe that Apple is preparing for a robust update to its best selling product. Critics and pundits have been predicting the future of the iPod since its release and lately have been saying that that future would involve video capabilities. Apple has remained firm in their resolve not to release a video capable iPod because of the mediocre viewing and purchasing experience that such a product would have. But what it didn't play movies? What about short videos? Just imagine: you go to the iTunes Music Store and download the latest album from your favorite artist, complete with behind the scenes video interviews and a few music videos, as well as a PDF file full of pictures and extra info about the album (if you reall
...will it have a stopwatch !?
...we'll all suddenly proclaim it the best thing EVAR and praise Apple and say "Jobs R0x!"...
Comon... We *will* do this... Just like "solid state mp3 players iz t3h sux" until Shuffle came out (even Jobs said this - more or less) and then "solid state MP3 with no screen r0x0r$!"
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While on the plane with my game boy advance, I've ben asked multiple times "can you watch movies with it". Granted the clamshell game boy looks like a small portable dvd player. I thought the screen was too small, but people seem to think it would be a good idea.
We will see how well PSP does well with movies, from there anything can happen.
Now I can watch my pr0n on my way to work on the city bus!
So would it make sense for colour screen iPods to support the same?
Give us support for more Audio formats. Namely Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, MPC and the like. Official support for this in iTunes and on the iPod is definately possible with the new generation of chips making their way into the new iPod's. For example, the iPod shuffle (please slap me if I am wrong) features the next processor up from the one used in the Rio Karma, which supports a plethora of audio formats which includes Ogg Vorbis and FLAC.
:D I understand that Ogg support was not possible before due to the sheer lack of horsepower to process the Vorbis streams, but now?! Please Apple, its the only thing holding me back from buying an iPod :)
:)
A question I always had tho, is Ogg support out the question due to Licensing Issues?! I always guessed not due to the fact that the Rio Karma has done it
Surely it wouldn't take them that long to code Vorbis support?!
Anyway, back to work.
Jan
Jan
I didn't read the article because I won't want to give this guy yet more free hits for his advertisers, but I suspect the article boils down to: OMFG IPODZ R TEH BESTEST I 3 VIDEOZ!!~!
My only hope here is that it drives the price of a 40 gig ipod to under $100 so I'll be able to even think about the possibility of some day buying one.
Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
Is Apple developing a Video iPod?
No.
Next question.
What's all this "we" stuff you are talking about?
I preferred HD-based players (especially the iPod) before the Shuffle came out, and I still do.
Other people are fine with the Shuffle.
Don't mistake multiple people posting different things for a collective mind disagreeing with itself.
People are showing pictures from iPod on TV, so why not video?
There is a spark in every single flame bait point.
The fact the iTMS is suddenly selling music videos is clearly not ground breaking. It is, at most, a curiousity. Some folks will download some videos simple to see how it works. (I probably will.) For Apple, however, its a public beta of their video distribution channels. Its important that they test out their distribution chain end to end. This is a lot easier with 3 minute music videos rather than all 12 hours of LOTR. The iPod isn't going away any time soon, but clearly in several years, the cell will absorb these functionalities. (Cell phone outfits are already planning (announced?) cell phones with hard drives.)
What's more likely is a home entertainment device, probably tagged with the iPod moniker -- iPod TV if you will. Imagine a small (probably white) box that you sit next to your TV. Plug in a couple cables and {poof!} you can see all the media on your mac. It'll probably have ethernet as well as Airport Extreme. It'll be zero-conf and automagically find your mac via Bonjour/Rendzvous/whatever. A lot of this functionality is available on your TiVo today, at least music and photos. iPod TV will likely provide similiar functionality plus video. On the mac side, iTunes will expand to encompass video as well, managing video playlists and libraries, all exported to the iPodTV. iTMS being able to deliver video content over the internet is the last piece to this puzzle. Jobs has got to annouce something at WWDC.
Oh, and BTW, bluetooth on the iPod is stupid for syncing. There's just not enough bandwidth. Airport and Bonjour could do the job though. That's not entirely crazy.
Hey, I learned some things from his article.
*The iMac had no way to write data. I was under the impression it had a hard drive and USB and network ports (and later firewire)...but this article has told me the truth.
* Apple crippled the 12" powerbook by giving it a severely undeprowered CPU. I had thought the 12" had a 15% slower CPU since it had less surface area for cooling. But apparently the real reason was to severely cripple the G4.
* The iPod Photo cannot actually take photos. Apple gives us a misleading product name, once again!
Luckily, we now know the truth about apple's evil ways of crippling their products thanks to this article...
This is probably the worst thing I've ever seen passed as news on /.
/. readers as news.
I've seen plenty of people complaining about Advertisements for people's new sites or products being posted as news stories, and I winced at that review of the Battery Sticker that gave mobile phones longer battery life, but this is an all time low.
This article is so ridiculously retarded and bereft of any insight, it is not even an educated guess, or any kind of intelligent prediction. Someone using 3 appleinsider links as his sources and also stupid enough to postulate erroneously on the capabilities of the current iPod photo chip's power even though those data are available on the net with a little digging, does not deserve to have his drivel served up to
Having said that, this quote made me laugh,
Their strategy is to release a bare minimum and upgrade if they absolutely have to. This is a major, major flaw of Apple and you can find examples of it over and over in their history (iMac with no way to write data, 12" Powerbook severely underpowered at 867 MHz, iPod photo that cannot actually take photos)
what an idiot.
There are already such devices on the market that play video.
Lots of people are speculating about the "iPod Video", even though Jobs and others have pointed out that while music is a "background" to daily taskes, watching a video is an action that few want to commit 2+ hrs to on a 2" screen.
But, I propose that the latest itteration of the iMac G5 is the perfect "iPod Video". Here's why:
- G5 processor can decode H.264
- Upgraded graphics cards in the iMac line can now handily manage HD video
- Beefy 1GB Eithernet can get content (from the iMovie Video Store?) in a flash (too bad Cable/DSL lines can't fill that but it's atleast faster than a USB2 iPod connection)
- BTO options for internal 400 GB at 7200 rpm means no HD lag or filled drives
- External Firewire drives and the Dual layer DVD burners in the iMac G5 allow for archiving large video libraries
- 17" and 20" flat screen options also have VESA mounts for dramatic display opportunities
- standard bluetooth means wireless keyboards and pointers from the sofa
- add an Eye TV 1080i tuner and you have a great PVR
Even if Apple introduced an "iPod Video", I am not in the market. But with an iMovie Video Store, an iMac G5, cable/ADSL modem, and a stack of dual layer media, I am in the market to dispose of my Blockbuster membership card.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
hmm.. I'll wait until the Video iPod Shuffle comes out.
It would further acceptance of the format, increase competition among players (reducing prices), and would probably add credibility to the longevity of iPod (not to mention UMD).
Marques Johansson
What Jobs said was that itty-bitty flash players that had something like 32 MB of RAM in them sucked. And they did. That's why the iPod Shuffle has a gigabyte of RAM. Nobody ever said flash absolutely sucks. If they had, they would have been stupid. What they said was that players that are too small and too hard to use sucked.
Not only is the article total speculation, the title is worded in a manner that makes it sound like a video iPod is coming, and the proof is below. The link goes to some kid's blog site with his wish list and some links to mac rumor sites.
I have no problem with some speculation of what's coming next, but this isn't 'news', so let's not label it as such.
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If As Seen on TV is to be believed there were two key points he made.
1) the continous run life of an ipod disk is measured in hours. mp3 and tiny photo loads are quick and played from cache. Movie playing would be real time streaming from disk and would kill it.
2) watch the airport express.
3) video is immersive and people dont do it on the GO (aside from cars which again are sedentary)
The key I think is 2. As Cringley observed, the mac mini does not need an optical audio jack because it's on the airport express. And the mac mini does not need the HDTV horse power since that too can be offloaded to a custom $20 chip. Thus the mac mini is the internet download appliance and storage center. the processing power will be be custom and hence the need for a standard.
But I think there is an even more important reason to offload the decoding to hardware. DRM. forget what you feel about DRM and just ask what would be the best way to do it.
You dont want to do it on a custom reconfigurable computer. Because as we have seen repeatedly this means that you can intercept the digital decode step and rip a perfect copy with no DRM.
Microsoft is trying to use paladium and now Janus to move the decode step out to a remote piece of trusted hardware closer to the delivery point, and most importantly away from the compute program.
an airport express like device would serve.
The trouble in implementing a real airport express would be the badnwidth needed. Can wireless support real time video streams. It certainly cant if the video stream is uncompressed. thus if it is to work it has to be sent compressed. so once again we are led back to the decoding at the airport express not at the computer.
so I suspect all the clues about some modular video device are really about a new airport express module and not a video ipod
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
As I mentioned:
- G5 processor can decode H.264 - didn't say other processors could not, only that the G5 can.
- 1 GB Either is much faster than cable and adsl today - but 1 GB either would be great for playing a movie off your own home file server if you have a network.
- "dramatic display" refers to the VESA mount - not the 17"/20" screens.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
But I give him credit, he got it past the slashdot editors.
That takes about as much effort as getting something past a fat, drunken old man lazily reclining in a bean bag chair whilst watching a porno and listening to Yani.
Simmer down folks. Just because it may have the word "iPod" in the name doesn't mean it's going to have a tiny 1.5" screen. Hell, the iPod Shuffle doesn't even have a screen, yet it still says "iPod". What better way to capitalize on an amazingly successful brand name...use the term "iPod". Use the marketing muscle, the brand awareness, and put out a small video device that all Mac-heads, all trendy people, all geeks, and all consumers will want because "it's an iPod that plays video".
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
I am fully on board with your insighful comments.
I don't care what component in my AV arsenal is delivering the media - my wife cares even less.
If Apple intros a remote that can logically control the devices and allow a PowerMac or iMac in the office to deliver H.264 HD to a flatscreen in the Den while being controled via an Apple Bluetooth remote or what-have-you, then Apple will have a major leg up in the "digital hub" realm.
And why not? the pieces are all coming together. G5's with H.264 in QuickTime 7, Dual-layer DVD for archiving, VESA mounts on iMacs....
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
Saying "Apple will never..." is a stretching excersize for fitting your foot in your mouth. For example:
This was just before MWSF05 where, a year after Steve Jobs had "explained" why flash MP3 players were retarded, Apple introduced both the Mac mini and the iPod Shuffle. No, friend, I don't believe that there's anything Jobs or any other Apple spokesman could say that they wouldn't take back once they figure out a way to make it cool.
I'd imagine they will call it either iPod AV, and the new airport express will be called Airport Express HD...
It would fit with iChat AV and iMovie HD....
have you people never flown in coach class on a plane? hold your 2" ipod up and compare the size of the screen to the relative size of the closest airplane video screen. chances are the sizes are comparable if you're sitting more then 2 rows away from the plane screen.... and yet you don't complain about the size of that?
Very interesting, perhaps even insightful! The remote you describe fits the news of the tablet patent from last week. Another thing I've pointed out on a few threads is how well most of the OS X GUI works out of the box for high color (24 bit) but relatively low resolution displays (like a TV). Two more pieces of the puzzle fall into place!
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!
Those tiny screens you put on eyeglasses are ready for public consumption? Those ones I saw military usage etc.
;)
Yes, you understood what I predict
BTW, why does iTunes have fullscreen video playback and "contains unpublished work from Dolby labs" ?
Archos beat Apple to the bunch with their excellent Gmini400 video player with its 2.1" color screen. It plays DivX/XviD encoded AVI files which can be ripped off DVDs. Its 20G HD has space for about 25-30 full-length movies. Plus, it has composite video out in case you want to plug it in a TV or projector.
AND it has a compact flash card slot for saving/viewing digital camera images. Like the iPod Photo, but more useful.
AND it can record audio via the built-in mic
AND it's an MP3 Jukebox of course, which displays the album art while you listen.
AND it can play(relatively lame) Mophun games.
AND it actually fits nicely in your shirt pocket.
AND it retails for less than the iPod Photo.
Oh well, I guess if they charged a few hundred dollars more for it and stuck an Apple sticker on the case it might get them noticed.
(insert witty/esoteric/dumb quote here)
Video iPod + Boring Class = Happy Student Sitting in the Back of the Room
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