“Wow! A video iPod. I can’t wait to get my hands on one. Bet you feel the same way. (Apple is betting on that, too.) I’m afraid, however, that after the initial coolness factor wears off, the video iPod will wind up in the same dresser drawer as the Zvue, the Zen and other portable video devices that have come and gone over the years,” Gary Krakow writes for MSNBC.
“TV is basically free already. Yes, people pay monthly fees for cable and satellite services, but for the most part, millions still watch network TV shows every night. Some record them on VCRs. Others record shows on DVRs (digital video recorder) like TiVo, etc. Still others are content to wait for a rerun to catch a show they’ve missed,” Krakow writes.
Krakow writes, “Apple and ABC are betting that you’re willing to pay. If you miss an ABC show you’ll be able to buy that episode for $1.99 the next day. I’m not saying that there isn’t some video people will pay for — the music fans who flock to iTunes may very well be willing to pay for special programming such as music videos, movie shorts and even movies, plus items they can’t watch anywhere else for any price. But the TV shows they could watch for free the day before?”
“Which brings me to what I think was Apple’s more interesting announcement: The new iMac comes with a remote control — and the ability to let you control what you’re listening or watching to from across the room. I think that’s the next step for home computers,” Krakow writes.
Full article here.
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I bought a TV episode that day to play on my computer.
I travel a lot and miss my favorite shows. Even though I have Tivo, I will gladly pay 2 bucks to watch the shows on my laptop the next day. It’s a price point where I could care less.
I have yet to see any iPods in the dresser drawer. The video iPod is just that, a fully functioning iPod that can now play videos. It can only get more use than any other previous Pod, not less.
Music was great to listen to, Podcasts increased the amount of interesting content, and now videos and TV shows will add to this. It’s all good.
wow, and if the coolness of playing videos is just a novelty, I’ll be stuck with….
a full funtioning iPod with 60 gigs, and a bigger display that’s thinner than the current 20 gig (let alone my 2G 20 gig) with better battery life and all the other goodies that have been made to the firmware since my 3 year old ipod.
Wow, for some reason, I don’t see that spending much time in my dresser drawer.
Podcasting, with and without video. That’s the future of content, or at least a major part of this. Porn will help fuel the industry as it did with video tape sales and rentals… now we truely have porable devices that can be ‘easily’ controlled with one hand (hmmm).
It may go in the dresser draw, next to your socks and underware – yup, an essential device to carry around your media, in all forms.
IMHO – Jb
This guy doesn’t have a clue. It’s the SAME IPOD that millions have been buying, only now there’s this extra feature that plays video. It’s not the “Video iPod”, it’s just the iPod, now with the ability to play video. It still does everything the prior iPods do, but just a little more. He’d have a point if Apple introduced a dedicated device soley for watching video, but it’s not. It’s still the best Digital Audio Player on the market.
Here’s a clue. It’s an iPod. It plays tunes. Oh yes, it also will play video.
The plan is to get a few million iPods out there with video capability in them also, then approach the content people with some major clout in your back pocket.
Sigh. Some writers just don’t get it. This is an iPod that ALSO does video. I have an iPod photo. Only 1% of the time do I use it to show vacation pictures to my family. Doesn’t mean it sits in the dresser drawer the other 99% of the time cos it also has my entire music collection and hours of Italian lessons, which I listen to every day during my two hour commute.
That said, I’m delighted it does photos, even though I seldom use it to bore my family.
Moron. It’s an iPod, just like the millions of other iPods people use to listen to music, only it also does video and costs the same. What’s not to like?
Personally, I have zero interest in the video thing, and if Apple were charging a premium for it, I wouldn’t buy one. But, since the functionality is essentially free and the new iPod’s still shirt-pocket-size, I’ll gladly pick one up when I outgrow my 10GB 2nd-gen iPod. And, who knows, maybe I’ll use the video thing after all. Kind of a no-risk try-before-you-buy situation.
As a professional photographer shooting digital, I do wish they’d make one with a CF card reader built-in. The bigger color screen would be really nice for viewing photos.
HOW STUPID ARE THESE PEOPLE!?! the iPod plays MUSIC and video. if i had one of these babies i’d still be bopping to my tunes at work and in my car. and yet the sites are rife with these morons saying that this little novelty will kill the iPod, or lose its charm, etc. no, it won’t, Krakow. it’s a music player that does video. if it did video exclusively, then you’d have a point. since that’s not the case, you have no valid point, and have no reason to publish this FUD except to keep the cash flowing from M$ and their affiliates into your pockets.
MDN: “free,” as in “hey Krakow, get a clue. they’re FREE.”
This guy has evidently forgotten DVD sales aren’t exactly zero, esp. those box sets of various series. You can watch those for free too, and we do, but we also buy them up on DVD too (I’m speaking generally here.)
People buy heaps more DVDs compared to VHS tapes, so we’re in that frame of mind now… and if you do miss a show for whatever reason, its now available the very next day – instead of months later when either the cable company decides to replay it, or it gets released on DVD (ignoring bittorrent for now).
I think it’s a brilliant idea. That said, the 320×240 resolution is more a hinderance than the actual concept.
He as also forgotten that this is basically media for the disposable generation…. those who have the ready cash for frivolous things like this.
This guy has no vision. He is confusing what he might/might not do with what millions of other people might/might not do.
How many iPods must be sold before people like this say, hey Apple may be on to something…
well, you could record series from TV in MPEG-4 and then put the series on your ipod… free and no need to buy a vcr… of course apple would loose out on some profit, but at least this way the theory of put it away in your drawer wont happen… and they would continue to sell sell sell
OK, now repeat after me…
It’s not a video iPod, it’s an iPod that can – amongst all its other capabilities – play video.
Is it me, or are people becoming more stupid by the year – maybe they put something in the water, or maybe as we drink more Starbucks we’re ingesting some drug that reduces your ability to comprehend simple facts.
Or then again, maybe in-breeding is becoming more fashionable…and a pre-requisite for anybody working for MSFT or one of its affiliate entities.
Maybe Apple should sell the EXACT iPod without the video functionality so it will stay out of the drawer. Huh, huh?
Idiot…The iPod has been evolving since it’s original release.
First: contacts and calendar
Second: Photos
Third: Podcast support
Now: Video
With each release, sales have INCREASED. I don’t think adding video support will relegate the iPod to a drawer.
(feel free to add to or correct my timeline)
OK. So I’m not watching a video. I can still listen to the music just like always. Why would I leave it in the drawer?
His views are without logic. But then he writes for MS-NBC. Case closed.
Consider the source. Did you honestly expect Microsoft TV to say “Go buy Apple stuff?”
Note to Krakow.
It is still an iPod Dummy! The same as the iPod photo it replaces, except it now has video capability. It is smaller, has a larger screen and is available in black. All at no increase in price. Now why do you think it would wind up in the dresser drawer? This has to be one of the dumber articles I have seen in a long time. I wonder if your only purpose is to create controversy.
MICRO SOFT NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY
In other news, apple.com’s website writes disparaging things about Windows. Film at 11.
I’m sorry, Mr. Anonymous First Poster, the phrase is not: “I could care less.” The correct phrase is “I could not care less.” Unless of course, you meant that you could care less, in which case your post would be drivel.
MW: reason, as in there is a reason for grammar; it helps to make sense of that nonsense coming out of your mouth.
Yeah, agreed. It’s “MS”NBC. He would not be permitted to say anything positive about an iPod. Poor sap…
Bill: Hey Uncle Fester, tell some nutcrack at MSNBC to write FUD about that new iPod. We do own part of MSNBC don’t we?
And by the way, did anyone fix the $@#%$ remote control, I promess O’Brian I would get that Home Media thing working.
I am curious, though, about one effect. Are there a number of average consumers out there that will make the same mistake that this writer and others have made, that is, view the iPod now as the vPod, when it remains the iPod with a new functionality? If writers are getting confused, could the average joe think he’s buying the wrong thing?
That’s been my concern and the main reason I liked the Eminem ad… though I dislike the guy and his form of “music” it was a compelling piece of advertising and didn’t mention the video at all. Also, I like the slogan of “Watch your music,” to emphasize the music element. But is this enough?
Can Krakow really be as big an idiot as his column makes him out to be? More than half the posters here stated the obvious: it’s an iPod with video capabilities. Just like my iPod Photo, and similar to “Mac user since 1984,” I use it for music 98+% of the time, and once in a while, I use the photo capability. Still doesn’t sit in a dresser drawer.
Anybody get this guy’s email address yet?
I think apple will make out ok, especially if more networks sign on. I don’t watch TV that often, less than 7 hours a week, and my schedule constantly shifts especially during prime time. There are times that a program I wish to watch comes on at the same time slot as another program on another network that I wish to watch. Now I have a DVR and a VCR the DVR is a snap to program but the VCR is not as simple. My DVR is also first generation 20 hour low res capacity. I can’t set it over the internet like some of the newer ones. My point is many times I miss programs due to scheduling conflicts . I would gladly pay 2 bucks to have a chance to get a network program. Apple should also approach PBS many time I miss shows like Alan Alda’s science program and Nature and National Geographic. This would help boost PBS revenues so that maybe they can stop begging and put on better production values during their scheduled recruitment of funds.
What a dunce. Doesn’t he realize that 28 million iPods have already been sold on their music-playing merits alone, and so will millions of these? It’s not a “video iPod” — it’s an iPod. Oh, by the way, it plays video too. If Apple had radically redesigned the form factor to allow for a decent sized screen and charged a premium for it, then he’d have a point. But as many people have pointed out, the video is just a freebie. Don’t like it? Don’t use it.
Once more content comes out, the video aspect will be less of a novelty. Content providers can experiment with the medium because they know people will buy them to play music. Imagine, for instance, a Rick Steves travel video customized for iPod use. Rick walks you through the Louvre; follow along on screen and listen to his commentary on the headphones. I’d pay for something like that.