“Apple’s new iPod with video, video-enhanced iTunes, and living room-ready computer will create a legal market for video downloads. In addition to music videos and TV shows from ABC, look for independent film producers, individuals with video podcasts, and content owners seeking a legal download channel to jump into Apple’s video marketplace,” Ted Schadler and Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research write for CNET News.
“Forrester spoke this week with Apple executives Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue about the companies latest products and services. Three years ago, Apple transformed music distribution with iPod and iTunes. Now it is doing the same for video by releasing new hardware, both portable and desktop, new software, and content distribution,” Schadler and Bernoff write.
iTunes 6 “shakes up video distribution” and creates “a new syndication venue for television–distribution to computers and music players.” Of the iPod with video capabilities, Schrader and Bernoff write, “While Apple is not the first company offering a portable video player or a legal download service–Microsoft got there first with partners CinemaNow, TiVo, Creative, Samsung and Zvue–Apple does it better.” Of iMac G5 with Front Row, “Apple has created a PC that belongs in the living room–sleek, flat, and whisper quiet, with a 10-foot interface for regular people. The only thing missing is a TV tuner and a program guide to let the iMac function as a digital video recorder.” And, finally, regarding Apple’s iTunes video podcast capability, “Apple’s podcast downloads will usher in the start of the video Internet.”
Full article here.
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Apple has not “transformed” music distribution, just opened up a new channel, which is growing, but it’s still in the minority.
Apple has also opened up a new video distribution channel, but right now, it’s pretty limited. Compare: When iTMS first opened, there were (1) 200,000 songs backed by all hte major labels: EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Bros. (2) You could truly “own” the music DRM-free if you burned your purchased song to a CD, and (3) it used a high-quality compression format.
Those were 3 pretty important boxes to tick, and so far, Apple’s foray into video doesn’t tick any of them. I’ll get excited when it does.
What is just simply amazing in all this is how a company labelled as “beleagured” a few years ago is now the blazing the trail in the new information age. This is the video age, and while others like Microsoft have had the chance to capture the market, Apple is the de-facto leader with every new initiative. Band width will be constrained given the barrage of video podcasts that will be unleashed. Truly Wayne’s World for the world rather than your local public access cable station.
How grateful are idiots like Middlebronfman going to be when the music contracts are re-negotiated when he has sold thousands of Madonna video’s at $2 a pop via the iTunes “media” store?
MW: attack