Apple has finally announced its video iPod and Steve Jobs has timed it just right – he had extracted every bit of mileage from the music-only versions of the iPod, and after giving it color, making it thinner, creating a flash version etc, the next step forward had to be the inclusion of video. It is brilliant for two reasons.
1. Content: He has managed to get one major content provider, Disney to provide at least two major current network hits for download. Content has always been the bottleneck for anyone wishing for downloadable video, and this is a great way to ease the content providers into the concept of downloadable shows. I’ll be willing to bet that before the end of next year, most major networks will be available on iTunes.
2. Delivery: iTunes delivers music and low-res network television along with audio/video podcasts for now, but once studios and networks get used to the concept of downloadable video content (with DRM of course), it will be easier to convince them to allow higher resolution(DVD/HDTV)content to be downloaded. Of course, with such high resolution content, the purpose won’t be playback on the iPod, but on your computer or television. iTunes will pave the way for the Netflixes of the future to deliver any video content online.
Caveat: $1.99 may appear cheap enough when you want to watch the episode of Desperate Housewives that you missed last week, but buying each episode that way will turn out to be a lot costlier than buying the entire season on DVD, especially considering the fact that what you download on iTunes is a much lower resolution version than the DVD (plus you can always make DRM free backups of the DVDs you buy) I do not see myself ever buying any of that content for the above reason, but there’s a whole bunch of free content available online legally that you can put on the iPod.
About the video iPod itself, I personally feel that the video is really a bonus. You get a (rated) battery life of 20 hrs and a thinner device with more storage and a larger screen that has all the music playing capabilities of earlier versions and then some. However, if you have tried out video podcasts on iTunes (and there are some really great free podcasts out there), you will see why it’s a cool idea to have a bunch of content that you can watch when you’re stuck in a line, or waiting at the airport. The free content on iTunes alone makes the video part attractive.
There are those who feel that the video iPod is going to be outdated even before it hits the stores, since the gadget of the future is supposedly a Swiss-army device that can work as your cellphone, mp3 player, video player and camera. I certainly do not mind having a camera or an mp3 player on my camera, but I would use those features on a very infrequent basis. The reason is quite simple – My cellphone is an essential device while my iPod is purely for entertainment. I do not want to risk draining my cellphone battery by listening to music or watching video, but I’ll happily drain my iPod battery. Those who plan to listen to music for a long time will certainly use a device other than their cellphones, and the iPod is certainly moving towards incorporating every functionality other than a cellphone.
Now if only they would incorporate a GPS chip and add a mapping application.