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No Video iPod Coming?
Fuzzball963 writes "ThinkSecret is reporting that a video iPod is not going to be released on Oct.12th. Instead, the announcement will be an 80 GB update to the iPod, along with size improvements on the color models. The analysts seem to say that the video iPod is in development, but that lack of a licensing agreement between Apple and the studios has made it a no-go for now." From the article: "While a video-capable iPod remains in development, without the agreements nor infrastructure in place to deliver movies to customers through a store-like interface, Apple sees little value in releasing such an iPod at this time. Apple insiders have also said executives see consumers needing the capability to easily import the DVD movies they own to a usable format (similar to the encoding functionality provided for audio CDs with iTunes) in order for a video iPod to be truly successful. The complexity to date of accomplishing such a feat has meant only a minority of computer users have dabbled with watching full-length movies on their computer, with most of those having acquired the content through file sharing services."
Granted, it is not as easy as ripping a CD, but if anyone can streamline this into a single-step process(to the end-user anyway), it would be Apple.
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It's going to be a VIDEO iPod. Did anyone notice that free music videos on iTMS, which used to be updated lots haven't since June? Perhaps apple isn't giving them away because they want to sell them now!
I very much doubt they will launch with movies. If they do it will be limited. They will simply market it as an added extra similar to album art on the color iPods.
If it can be connected to any TV.
I mean imagine, you could go visit a friend, and bring your movie/porn collection...
So, I think the lack of a Video iPod is no great loss. What Apple are missing out on is a decent iPod-style phone. According to The Register, the Motorola ROKR iTunes phone isn't shifting in any significant quantity.
Up until the iPod nano, I would have disagreed. But now I agree. You already have the screen, input device and battery. Include a mic, radio antenna and basic SMS/MMS and you have a working phone that isn't too big. Just include a little bit of sane battery management (that is, not let the pod drain the phone beyond a certain threshold). With the relatively large battery for a phone they might even catch a niche market for people who want extra long life. In other words I'd much rather have an iPod with phone than a phone with iPod. The ROKR is going about it in a completely wrong way, at least to my tastes.
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Think of it as a bonus for people doing video production. I'm not talking about playing video on an iPod, but rather people who want to carry video data from one place to another.
Networking geeks have an old saying: "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes." It takes a little more than three minutes to send a gigabyte of data through a T3, assuming ideal transfer conditions. By that standard, 80GB would take 240 minutes, or six hours. If we assume an average walking rate of 4mph for the average person, a pair of sneakers and an 80gig iPod would have better bandwidth than a T3 out to a range of about 20 miles, including the time necessary to load and unload the data via FireWire (@ 100MB/sec).
Video people already like FireWire. Apple won a Clio for it a few years ago, because it gave video production companies a way to move large chunks of data around easily. Directors have come to love the idea that they can buy a Powerbook and a copy of Final Cut Pro for about the price of one day's postprocessing fees, and have immediate feedback to what they're shooting.
For those people, the iPod is an inexpensive, ultra-portable data storage module. You could fill a briefcase with the things for a few thousand dollars and have more than enough space to carry the raw footage for an entire movie around with you.
The same general idea works for photographers and musicians. It's easy to accumulate 80 gigs of high-quality, first-pass data when you're in the content creation business, and an iPod gives you a convenient way to stick all that information into your pocket and carry it wherever you need to go.
Apple already knows that the sweet spot for actual music storage is about 5 gigs. They have a whole line of products for people who just want a straightforward music player. The higher-capacity models are for people who want to carry data.