More Rumblings on Apple Video iPod

Chris Holland writes "Beyond the WSJ Story, Om Malik gives us inside information obtained by Business 2.0 Magazine about the Apple Video iPod. 'Steve Jobs has spoken with Disney President and soon-to-be CEO Bob Iger about ways to license various Disney content for a video iPod, according to an internal Disney email I have obtained. That could include anything from clips from ESPN and ABC News to short cartoons.' "

Comments

No adequate thing as earplugs for video

[derphilipp]

I don't like these tiny videoplayers - there is no adequate thing for video like an earplug for audio. The only thing where it comes handy if you can connect a TV or a Display to it.

Re:No adequate thing as earplugs for video

[JWW]

On another thread it was stated that the archos video player had this problem. No one knows about the iPod. The marketability of this product goes waaay up if you can plug it into the tv (even if its limited to svideo output).

Output to a TV could spell the difference between this being a successful product and a total flop.

Is there demand?

[illtron]

While I occasionally see gadget-obsessed teenagers whining for something like this, I really wonder if there's any real demand.

If the iPod has the raw power to play video, I see no reason why Apple shouldn't put the software on it to do so. At the same time, I think that a lot of companies and people are overestimating the appeal of watching pirated movies on a 2-inch screen.

On the other hand, video podcasts would be nice.

On the other other hand, if Apple expects anybody to actually watch video (not just as a novelty), they're going to have to rethink the external interface of the iPod. You can't have a good sized screen and the vertical orientation of the device like it is now. There will have to be some big changes, and I really wonder if Jobs is willing to do that.

Re:Is there demand?

[wootest]

I'm personally concerned, more than the size of the screen, battery life (every full-size iPod provides "up to" 5 hours of "slideshows with music") and acquiring content, about the hard drive. Will these smaller hard drives hold up to the high activity over time? Even with efficient codecs like H.264, DivX or XviD or what have you, most clips would probably be big enough to not fit in cache, which would mean, performance-wise, kicking the HD in the fucking nuts.

Movies are Shared Experiences

[reporter]

Movies are shared experiences. Most people watch movies as a group so that they can laugh together or cry together, at each entertaining scene that unfolds on their television or the silver screen.

When the video cassette recorder (VCR) became popular and economical, theater owners issued dire warnings that the end of the theater was at hand. These warnings were wrong. People go to the theater for reasons beyond just viewing the latest movie. People patronize the theater for social reasons; it is a place to enjoy a shared experience with your friends.

For this reason, the video iPod will not rival the success of the audio iPod. Music is something that many people enjoy by themselves. Witness all the cars equipped with stereos: the lone occupant of the car listens to music on her way to and from work.

The only exception to the above reasoning is pornography. Many people do, indeed, watch pornographic movies alone.

Here's an idea. To spur sales of the video iPod, Apple could offer 10 free jars of Vaselino for each purchase of a video iPod.

Re:Movies are Shared Experiences

[LutzWalsh]

I disagree... I hat watching movies/tv-series with company, I'd rather watch them my self, and I know I'm not the only one.

Re:Movies are Shared Experiences

[bleaknik]

I think that portable video players and their providers are (generally speaking) missing a huge potential market.

The iTunes music store (iMovie music store?) should start selling shorter video clips. I'm not talking about music videos, instead I'm talking more like an episodes of Family Guy, the Simpsons, Frasier, Seinfeld, etc. [insert any 30 minute sitcom into this cookie cutter mold]. People are willing to pay $40 for a full season of many of these shows on DVD. Seasons typical consist of 26 or so episodes, so if these were to be sold at $2 a pop, and money could still be made. Of course, this fills the (perceived) needs of many--they get to watch their favorite shows at their leisure, when and where they want. And if Apple were to post those shows the night the episode is aired, people would eat it up.

Hell, the thing that pissed me off about Enterprise (I'm not starting a flame about said show) was that they kept moving it around... Wednesdays, Thursdays (I think), and then Fridays. Wednesdays and Thursdays I could watch it... but Fridays I was always busy. /shrug. (Assuming I didn't know about bittorrent...) If I missed an episode, I could have just pulled open the Apple store, copy it to my iPod, and watch it at my convenience.

This sort of content could easily fill your iPod, and it could revolutionize the TV show distribution business. I see a potential market for this swiss army knife of media players being huge, especially if coupled with a successful, intuitive piece of software that Apple has been known to deliver (not trying to start a more different flame, but iTunes is one of the most intuitive media player's I've used).

But then again, maybe i'm just fantasizing.

Subscription Service

[Lord Phaeton]

Although I don't see the sale of music videos taking off, I can see a subscription based service doing well. If apple were to create something akin to Avantgo, where people could set preferences of the type of content they would like to receive I think it would be well received. One could sync their Ipod before going to work and watch News/Entertainment clips on the subway/bus.

Who said video is for an iPod?

[amichalo]

What I don't get is how these analysts are making the leap that because Apple is negotiating video content, it must be for the iPod.

OS X Tiger shipped with Quicktime 7, and H.264 which delivers awesome HD video. Slap a beefier processor in the Mac mini that can keep up and you have yourself an Apple DVR.

MP3s. AAC. Music Videos. Disney Cartoons. The Matrix Reloaded Again For The Second Time. What have you. It will play it all.

So enough of this "Apple selling video = iPod Video" nonsense.

Re:Music videos are the new mp3? I think not.

[LanMan04]

Did you think people would pay $2 or $3 for a 20 second, polyphonic ringtone? Never underestimate the public's need to consume media.

Re:Music videos are the new mp3? I think not.

[bokmann]

I have given up all hope of trying to predict this stuff afterlearning that ringtones... RINGTONES!!!! are a 3 BILLION+ industry per year.

Dear Apple

[PinkX]

I've become a very loyal customer in the last 2 years. From being a lifetime PC (Linux) user I've completly made the switch, by getting an iBook G4 first and a Powerbook later. I've since then migrated all of the PCs of my small company to Mac computers, and I constantly predicate about the digital lifestyle that you promote.

However, I'd like to request you that please, please, PLEASE add gapless playing to the iPod. How good can it be to listen to the Dark Side Of The Moon (or any other Pink Floyd album for that matter) if there is a frickin' gap between every track, cutting out all the inspiration of such masterpieces. I don't mind if it's added as a global option or as some sort of metadata hack for each track, I want gapless playing on my iPod (and iTunes too).

I can't stress enough how important this feature is for me as for many other users, I think it's by far the most requested one (even than OGG playback!)

Truly yours, a happy but desperate customer.

Other People's Movies

[GuitarNeophyte]

You know how we've all grown to hate when we're in public places and people are sitting there, talking loudly on their cellphones?

Now, we're going to get to the point where we're sitting in public places and see all these little video screens, playing video that we can barely make out enough to know what it is, but just enough to have a shiney spot in the corner of our eye that's distracting and making it so that we can't concentrate. Marvelous.

Luke
----
Help your boss understand what you're talking about: Send them to ChristianNerds.com . We teach computers in a form so basic, even your boss will understand.

Re:Other People's Movies

[hunterx11]

Photon infringers make such a loud point about theft being an inaccurate term not because they are truly concerned with correct use of language, but because they want to justify their own photon infringement. Photon infringement may not actually deprive the original owner of their photons, but if not for infringement, people would go out and buy their own photons. Personally, I look forward to the MPAA filing lawsuits against these photocriminals.

Re:The best thing about the iPod...

[AaronLawrence]

Why are you spamming for your site, with a signature that I can't switch off? Please don't. thanks.

Who said anything about a 2" screen? - 16x9

[infofreako]

It seems a lot of folks are making the presumption that the current iPod screen would just become color for a video iPod - is that based on anything beyond the photo iPod?

Turn your iPod sideways and flip it over to the nice chome area. I don't have mine in front of me, but I'd guess you could get a 5"-6" 16x9 screen there. Has everyone noticed Apple's dedication to HDTV protocols with iMovie, iDVD, Final Cut Pro, etc. ? Somehow it would be contrary to their mission to give a video iPod a 4X3 when everything else there doing is designed for the future (16x9).

just my 10.

-pjc

Re:Music videos are the new mp3? I think not.

[bleaknik]

No, but I guess that's why my phone supports Bluetooth... Stupid Ignorant people who feed the corporate machine by paying lots of money for overpriced MIDIs........................

Re:Enough

[blonde rser]

There are many, many good news aggregators out there now, people who want to have aggregated news feeds WILL USE A NEWS AGGREGATOR. Slashdot should be original news.

But couldn't I just as easily say "There are many, many good original news feeds out there now, people who want to have original news WILL USE AN ORIGINAL NEWS FEED. Slashdot should be news aggregator."

Admittedly I haven't used slashdot for as long as you have but in my recollection it hasn't changed considerably over the years. And it's not like the name "slashdot" suggests it should be anything else than what it is. It's always seemed to me that slashdot's mission is simply to post stories for discussion that the editors would like to post. Yes that is an incredibly narcissistic mission but it turns about people have shown up in the 1,000's to discuss these stories. Just because slashdot is popular it "should" have to change what it does?

Re:The best thing about the iPod...

[nmx]

Teach Aunt Martha about the computer the eay way: Send her to ChristianNerds.com, the Free Online Computer Encyclopedia (written in normal-people-speak)

Apparently your idea of "normal-people-speak" is baby talk and misinformation. Apparently, the motherboard of a computer goes inside the CPU and a biological virus is an "inivisible being that gets passed on from one person to another." Also, all the information stored in a computer's memory is software; there's no such thing as data.

Wow.