I am very happy that PC Magazine likes, really likes, the new video iPod. I am not sure why people think watching video on a 2.5-inch color screen is such a big deal, but there you have it. And here you have several iPod-related predictions:
1. The video iPod isn't the product customers want. Not in huge numbers. This won't be the first time Apple has released a loser high-end iPod. Remember, when the Photo iPod was all the rage? It turned out that neat as it sounds, most people don't want to carry huge photo collections around in their pocket. I don't think adding video to a souped-up Photo iPod changes this, especially when very little video will be available for downloading. The video iPod sounds really neat, but won't be a huge seller.
2. The best customer for the video iPod will be someone who needs the large drive capacity, either because they want to carry around a big music collection or because they are using the iPod as a repository for images downloaded straight from a digital camera. If the alternative is carrying a laptop computer around, the iPod is a good choice.
3. The bulk of the market wants an iPod Nano. It's sleek, it's cool, it's not too expensive. And it doesn't overreach.
4. Would-be competitors must understand that Apple is selling a system and an infrastructure. That's why it took three years for the first iPods to become an overnight sensation. Customers choose the iPod for several reasons including the device itself, the iTunes software, the ability to buy music at fair prices online, the hundreds of cool (if repetitive) accessories, and the cachet that comes with the Apple brand. If you want to compete, it's not enough to have a better music player and kinda/sorta links to online services and so-so software. Customers are buying an entire experience and since nobody besides Apple as one to offer, the company is walking away with the MP3 market.
5. The only real threat, in the near-term, to the iPod ecosystem comes from Microsoft and Real getting together and creating a competitive platform that hardware companies can build products for. The hardware companies, for their part, need to create designs that out-iPod-the-iPod in terms of visual appeal and functionality. This is not something Apple's hardware competitors have thus far been capable of doing, though maybe someday. Which is what I've been saying for years.
6. There is an inevitable slowdown ahead. There is a limit to how small a useful iPod can be, mostly due to the screen size, I think. There is likewise an upper limit to the hard drives that most customers need unless video really does become important to iPod customers. These is a limit to how many music players the world needs, especially premium-priced models. Apple is being forced to work harder and harder to create less and less real innovation. Fortunately for Apple, this isn't a battle so much about hardware as it is about services. The real drivers behind the iPod's success were, first, support for Windows users and, second, the iTunes Music Store. Hardware matters, but isn't the only tool Apple has for driving profits off its iPod invention.
In short, I remain underwhelmed by video features, but love the iPod ecosystem as a whole. It's a remarkable invention.
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October 21, 2005 9:44 PM
I agree with David. People really want the iPod nano because it's sleeker and has a bigger capacity. I can't imagine anyone wanting to use an iPod to watch tv shows or music videos. It's just too small of a screen, at least for me. Apple is on to something though. Maybe later on they will come out with a device that isn't necessarily an iPod, but something different--a bigger screen, big capacity, good quality. Now THAT would be something.
October 22, 2005 11:27 AM
Every one has a right to their 2 cents worth and thats about what Courseys is worth and thats a stretch. Just another self appointed expert.
October 22, 2005 11:37 AM
It's an iPod, just an iPod. Smaller than before. Larger capacity. Bigger screen. Costs the same. Oh, and by the way has video capabilities. What's to bitch about?
October 22, 2005 12:06 PM
I have to ditto Ron. As it been repeated by Jobs on many occasions, and I paraphrase, "It's a music play first and foremost." Having the extras doesn't take away from the fact that it's the premier music device on the market, with the best user interface and experience when you take into account the iTMS. The other stuff is nice, and it doesn't get in the way of the music either.
October 22, 2005 12:49 PM
I agree with Ron & Sal, it's a iPod with extra features. It's not called a "Video iPod", just a "iPod".
October 22, 2005 1:00 PM
who are these people that coursey and that other guy (jennifer?) seem to know so much about. surely apple should talk to them rather than just taking shots in the marketing dark. silly apple!
October 22, 2005 1:01 PM
I purchased the original iPod to listen to music on long flights. The next one was 40 gigs to listen to the same amount of music, but also have a portable HD backup on business trips. While the nano is fantastic some consumers will want the extra features available on the larger iPods, which may be their only reason to move up. Now video is another feature, but it's still an iPod.
October 22, 2005 1:22 PM
David is full of B.S the amount of video for the ipod wil only increase. Also people love their TV shows so if it is going to be possible to download their missed episode for 2 bucks they will. Just look at sites like http://www.iPodSites.com and read what is being said in the forums.
October 22, 2005 1:26 PM
What about the extra battery life?? When I first got an mp3 player I passed up the more expensive iPod iwht a 10-12hr battery life for a dell with a 16 hour battery life... great for road trips from home to school which takes... 16 hours. Plus it has bigger hard drives AND is thinner, AND can play video all for the same price! I think people need to give the new iPod some time, if p2p starts to encode stuff for the iPod who cares what Steve Jobs is selling? Sure people arent going to watch a TV show walking down the street but on a long car ride or a plane it could work. If in the near future they can get the screen up to the size of the PSP they could have a real winner. People have spent a whole lot more money than I thought they would on UMD movies. If they inscreased the screen size and sold movies that you could watch on your computer AND iPod who needs the PSP?
October 22, 2005 1:27 PM
Ken Yikic, "These people" are the products of David & Jennifer's own fevered imaginations. They state their own personal position, and imagine since that is what they want, there must be many other right-minded people who agree with them. Since this is a new product and just entering the pipeline, we will have to wait for sales figures to be reported. Though I have seen reports that people are ordering them like crazy on Amazon (though I can't presonally confirm). As for content, the web has already been covered with how to rip DVDs and otherwise convert content to the iPod format. And it has been reported that some p0rn vendors already have their products available to download in compatible format.
October 22, 2005 1:32 PM
Microsoft, Real, and the hardware partners as competition for iPod? Well, let's see. It's been a decades long MS monopoly, which in complicity with the IT industry, PC makers, and more money than God, have only managed to produce an insecure Windows OS and PCs which still feels like beta software and crapware compared to Mac OSX and Macs. Twenty years, and still the Wintel camp has not been able to produce a better product than tiny Apple. What makes anyone think they'll do any better in the media market, where the consumer, and not the IT department, is king? The latest iPod offers more and better features, style, and at a better price point than any other iPod ever made. The 5G iPod will be the best selling iPod in the history of iPods. And there you have it. A few quotes from Kevin Elgan, someone who's actually reviewed the product, at: http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=172303323 "Screen quality is stunning. The display produces a crisp, bright picture that makes it surprisingly enjoyable to watch video on such a small device. After a couple minutes I actually forgot that I was watching it on a small screen." "After connecting it to my TV and enabling the "TV" mode under "Video Settings," I selected an episode of Lost. I was astonished by the high picture quality. The quality was somewhere between DVD and VHS quality, but closer to DVD crispness and clarity and at least as good as watching the shows live."
October 22, 2005 6:30 PM
It's an iPod, just an iPod. Smaller than before. Larger capacity. Bigger screen. Costs the same. Oh, and by the way has video capabilities. What's not to like about it?
October 22, 2005 6:35 PM
The new iPod is an improvement on the already amazingly popular and high quality iPod - even if you never use the video aspect, it doesn't matter, you've got something smaller, lighter, of higher capacity and you've got a bigger screen for the existing features - what the hell is the problem?
October 22, 2005 6:42 PM
I think the thing to remember is there is only one iPod. The new "iPod with video" isn't some seperate product line. As soon as the current batch of videoless iPods are sold out, all new iPods will support video. How can that it not succeed? And if you read PCMag's review carefully, you will see that purely in terms of playing digital music, this is the best player on the market. That includes everything from the interface to the quality of the audio. You could ignore the video features entirely, and this would still dominate the market. That said, I think David is right when he says that most people could be entirely satisfied with the Nano. My bet is most of them will buy the full-fledged iPod anyway.
October 22, 2005 9:44 PM
It really looks like Apple is just making a tentative step in the direction of video. Steve pointed out that it was primarily an audio player with video on top. Who knows what the ultimate goal is. I think Apple wants to get things rolling so they'll be ready when broadband picks up speed.
October 22, 2005 10:09 PM
In about 12 months time there could be as many as 15 million video enabled ipods. When that is the case watch the amount of content produced by both professional media companies and niche amateurs. And a lot of this content will be published/distributed by iTMS either free as video podcasts or pay-per-download without ads - and this is why the TV advertising industry is cr@pping itself. I think apple is right on the money with this one. people who are seeing the video component as too limiting for traditional tv/dvds are not taking into account the new markets and niches that 15 million+ users will open up.
October 22, 2005 11:01 PM
How many of those criticising the 5G iPod have actually seen it in the flesh and watch a downloaded TV show so as to offer a fair yet subjective critique? We're talking immersive experiences here, folks. Put in the headphones and hear much more sonic information than normal TV watching (unless you use a first rate home theatre) and it will make up for the lack of picture size, espcially holding it 18" from your face, cf. across the room. As long as it's disposable TV, picture quality will remain a secondary aspect to the viewing experience. Media content creators will soon enough take the iPod's configuration and limitations into account, and still produce desirable content people will pay for - or advertisers will sponsor. We're shifting paradigms here, which will scare some (FUD quotient to increase) and excite others for the opportunities previously out of reach or out of mind. Trust Apple to bring to fruition something that offers solutions to questions many didn't know to ask.
October 23, 2005 7:39 AM
I think that people are missing an important capability - the video iPod has video out. While it may not be the best for a large screen TV, it would certainly play well on a 7" LCD in an SUV, boat, van, etc. or that small screen you have at the cabin. Instead of dragging DVDs with you - just bring the iPod. As with the music, it's the ubiquitous hardware options that will add to the popularity. And the variety you can load that will make everyone happy.
October 23, 2005 4:13 PM
Hello... Coursey is there anybody there. Underwhelmed. give us a break. It's an ipod... is the ecosystem getting to big for you? The video option is great... what is the problem? ditto dkl he has the idea perfectly.
October 23, 2005 6:32 PM
I don't think anyone, including Coursey, is incorrect ... or correct for that matter. The iPod that happens to play video is a move in a larger game - the game for the media space in our households. The importance of this pawn, the iPod that plays video, is to pound out the technical and DRM glitches for running this kind of service. If Apple can work that out, it creates a secure way for the TV and movie studios to make money from people are unwilling ethically or unsophisticated technologically to download illegally - for under $500 - with out subsidies.
October 23, 2005 11:26 PM
How big would you want the screen to be to be satisfied? If 2.5 inches is not enough, a PSP screen is barely bigger, relative to any "normal" TV screen or computer monitor. For me it can be 2.5 " or 4 ", it's all too small for any serious video viewing anyway, and the 4 inches screen thing won't fit in a pocket. If people don't want a portable video player with a 2.5" screen, they don't care much about a 4" screen either. What did you expect Apple to do? The problems David Coursey mention would only be worsened if Apple decided to release a separate line called the "videoPod" with a big screen dedicated to video playing. That would spell disaster for them because A) it's a niche product and B) it would cannibalize the higher-end iPods market. By the way, the iPod Photo was introduced at the high end of the full size iPods, but the new iPod starts at $299 and covers the low-end of the full-size iPods line. A "perfect" vPod would be a high-end loser, while the new iPod will not. Should have Apple just released the 5G iPods with the older smaller screen and continue to disable video on the iPod, that was already capable of playing video? How many times will we have to repeat that the video aspect of the new iPod is a BONUS. People will still buy it for its music playing abilities first. More and more people are looking to encode their music in a lossless format, and that's a good reason to have more space. Sure the nano is where the market is shifting, because 1000 songs is enough for many, but it started before and doesn't have to do with video, as the mini was the best seller. If anything the video "bonus" is a way to justify the middle-end iPods and will only help to keep sales up. Anyway David, you are a smart guy, but you seem confused by the video iPod... Every problem you mention in this article is exactly what Apple is preventing from happening by releasing this iPod instead of a vPod...
October 24, 2005 5:14 AM
Video may be an extra but it's terrific -- took mine to show a friend at the weekend and the tiny screen was actually pretty viewable. We plugged it into the TV and that was reasonable too, accepting that we were not watching HD. Point is that the whole thing was hugely easier than lugging along a collection of tapes/CDs/DVDs etc.
October 24, 2005 7:22 PM
I think the big problem with the video iPod will be the battery life. If you can't watch a full movie on it, what's the point. It has to last 5-6 hours in video mode before it will be a respectable video player
October 25, 2005 2:22 PM
I'm curious to see what the demand for video is. Listening to audio is great while you're doing something else. How many of these same people will sit and watch a screen? I guess I can only relate to my own circumstances but when I want to watch tv, I'll find a TV. Of course there are people that want one, continued demand will have to be seen. In the meantime I have a widescreen laptop that works great for movies for those long plane rides, and since I have to carry it anyway...
October 25, 2005 2:24 PM
I'd love an iPod but I refuse to install another music client (iTunes) to support another device. Of course it will never happen, but I'm sure Apple would open up a whole new market if the iPod was upgraded to support WMA/WMV formats, and integrate seamlessly with Windows Media Player (like so many other players do). iTunes is free, it's the iPod people pay for, so what harm in opening up the interface to the device?
October 25, 2005 3:06 PM
I agree it's a nice screen and I have one only because I review products for a living but please don't tell me that the Video iPod is the next greatest thing. There have been over 150 new portable video players that I have looked at and this is just another eye candy device that has too many short coming and along with that comes an angry crowd of consumers. You ask what angry crowd? Start with a friend of mine that has been an Apple cult fan since birth... He bought the first iPod and 60GB Photo iPod, then the Nano which he has been happy with all of them but when Jobs released the Video iPod shortly after the Nano that put my friend over the edge! He already had a PSP he was happy with and his iRiver 120 PMP (video, music, photo, and data holder). But that was not what made him mad like me and many other consumers that I know! Think about.. Just follow the iPod madness, bought first iPod for $349, Photo iPod on sale for $389 which is the same as the other iPod but now you can see Photos, next the Nano $300 for a 4GB which is 10% of what his first iPod can hold, and now the Video iPod he refuses to buy because he feels cheated with the price of $349. That is what he paid for the first one!!! Jobs is making his same famous mistakes of coming out with the same product with a slight twist all in a row, just watch and you will see the consumers turn on him and if he doesn't get some more content soon for the video iPod well you can kiss that one good buy.. Good luck Apple against all the other players in the same market that are ahead.
October 25, 2005 3:20 PM
After years of watching from the sidelines I am going to purchase my first MP3 music player. I have been around long enough to remember the first Sony walkman. Boy was that machine thrilling! As I see it, the first, second, and third issues are SOUND QUALITY. I have always been disappointed that the CD format was created created with disc size as the first criteria. The industry decided that about a 5" diameter disc was the most that consumers could handle, then set the sample rate/size to squeeze an album into that amount of real estate. If I now have to settle for "near" CD quality in a portable player, I want to get as "near" as I can. A quick review of encoding formats weeded out MP3 and even WMA, leaving AAC as a practicle best choice, which leads inevitably to an iPOD. Now for the player. The NANO was looking real good, except how can a hand held digital device not have a voice recording feature? What the He;;. Yeah, fourth on the importance list is "Do a LOT of things with one device". So, because of the sound quality boost, the extra features, the ability to put ALL my music in there and have room left for transporting files and camera images, the video iPOD wins. Yes! Is this a great time to be a consumer of electronics or what?
October 25, 2005 3:28 PM
If you think the new iPod is just an eye-candy device with a lot of shortcomings, what do you think of the Moto iPhone? Now that's a stupid implementation of competing technologies, a lackluster phone with few compelling abilities and basically a crippled music player with a hard-wired limitation on songs stored. The new iPods take an acknowledged top-level product and add features while cutting it's weight and size up to 30%. This is innovation, and if the rest of the media business have to catch up to see its value, then so be it.
October 25, 2005 3:50 PM
Let's deconstruct the video part of video iPod. Who wants to be able to carry around video? Those who take a bus or train to work. Most Americans drive to work and can't watch video (we hope) while doing that. Those who are on the road and want to be able to watch while in an airport or on an airplane or want to catch up on a show while at a hotel. Among adults. Two small market segments. One last group. Parents with video enabled vehicles to keep the kids happy on a long drive. Nice way to store up content and feed it into the vehicle video system, except most are RCA enabled for input, not S video enabled which is what is needed for the iPod. In short there just isn't a large video iPod real market right now. But what Apple is offering is a 30 gig iPod at the cost of the 20 gig and it is slimmer. Video is a sideshow to generate more interest in the new better value, better sized iPod. The folks in the niche markets are likely estatic. The people looking to upgrade from a mini may not care about the video except for the gee whiz factor they are being offered an interesting option to upgrade. I personally have a 6 gig mini and I would never switch to a 4 gig nano, but if I were looking to upgrade a slimmer 30 gig iPod would be more attractive than the bulkier 20 gig it replaced.
October 25, 2005 6:07 PM
It seems to me that what's missing in all of these devices is an easy way to move recorded content from your Tivo to the device and have them play. Seems like this would provide content that would make the video playing capabilities really useful.
October 25, 2005 6:30 PM
This reviewer is clueless. Proof is the fact that he thinks the iPod 5G is a good device to offload photos in the field. Mr. Reviewer the only people that need to offload photos in the field are those folks shooting thousands of shoots in RAW. That accumulate gigabytes per shoot. It would take HOURS to offload to an iPod and the iPod DOESN'T SUPPORT THE DISPLAY OF RAW FILES. What a joke. That silly use aside, the iPod 5G kicks ass. It's my first iPod and I LOVE IT. What better to bore friends with than pictures of the kiddies? Videos of the kiddies!!!! Apple will sell a ton of these 5Gs.
October 25, 2005 8:09 PM
Tim, I disagree with your statement that the only people who need to offload are shooting RAW. On recent trips to Hawaii and Italy I shot lots of JPEGs on a new, quality subcompact digicam. Since I only had one 1-Gig SD card, the ability to offload photos and reuse that card would be invaluable. It avoids the need to buy multiple expensive flash memory for trips. It also serves as a back-up of precious pictures even if I owned 3-5 Gigs of flash memory (which I don'tt. Of course the ability to do that without purchasing another adapter would be even better, but Apple seems to be requiring accesories for everything.
October 25, 2005 9:07 PM
Zzzzzzzz.... Huh? Wha? You woke me up for another iPod? So what if it can diplay photo's or video? Four words, kids. It's just an iPod. iPod. A status symbol. A way for young people to flaunt their "wealth", or for those even younger, their parent's "wealth". The average consumer could never reasonably find a way to afford a $300-$500 gadget that plays the music they could play at home just fine. If Apple could only invent something ingenious for the home market. Not everyone runs around everywhere. To be honest, I'm lucky if I leave the house for more than two hours a day. I have never owned an iPod, and probably never will. To me, it's a yuppie status symbol. If it doesn't massively improve the ability of the user to listen to music in the NORMAL way, ie: without headphones; then what's the point? Sure, I might seem like a killjoy, but some people make too much of a big deal over iPod's, or even MacOS vs Windows. Whatever floats your boat. Whatever works. Fandom of a TV show, band, or motion picture(s) is one thing, but fandom over digital music players and/or Computer Operating Systems is rather stupid. It is like I said to some friends, right after a large arguement broke out in a chat room I was visiting: "Arguing over the internet is like competing in the Special Olympics. No matter who wins, you're still retarded."
October 26, 2005 4:53 AM
While I agree with everyone's opinion about the consumer reaction, predictions and user insights, I think that the video Ipod has a market in corporate video that could be tremendous. I run a major projection company and for the road warrior, or the corporate presenter this could be a real solution. All it would need is a more robust assortment of output connectivity, than I am aware of today.
October 27, 2005 5:18 PM
I was expecting a better product this time around. But anyway, the next iPod/ similar device should have the following features: 1. Gaming w/ interface (PSP has been around for a long) 2. Audio w/ Voice recording 3. Photo with larger & sharper LCD 4"+ 4. Interface & applications to upload photos directly from CF or SD cards (No need for PCs) 5. Higher capacity HDD 6. PDA Functionality (e-Mail client, Address Book, Office, etc. & ability to upload GPS applications 7. Bluetooth & wireless 8. Improved Video 9. Cell phone (not so important, atleast to me but bring it on ;) 10. And when you're at it, how about a camera with built-in flash. (Samsung is coming out with 7MP with Zoom capabilities) Now, won't that be something! Dream on... :)
October 27, 2005 5:19 PM
I was expecting a better product this time around. But anyway, the next iPod/ similar device should have the following features: 1. Gaming w/ interface (PSP has been around for a long) 2. Audio w/ Voice recording 3. Photo with larger & sharper LCD 4"+ 4. Interface & applications to upload photos directly from CF or SD cards (No need for PCs) 5. Higher capacity HDD 6. PDA Functionality (e-Mail client, Address Book, Office, etc. & ability to upload GPS applications 7. Bluetooth & wireless 8. Improved Video 9. Cell phone (not so important, atleast to me but bring it on ;) 10. And when you're at it, how about a camera with built-in flash. (Samsung is coming out with 7MP with Zoom capabilities) Now, won't that be something! Dream on... :)
October 29, 2005 10:43 AM
I would like to add the following predictions to yours. The video iPod will be a bigger hit than you predict for the following reasons. 1) Apple will release a portable projector. An excelent companion to the video iPod. 2) The iPod will be able to broadcast video to in car (or minivan) video systems. 3) It can already connect to a TV. Imagine not having to pack dozens of your kids movies when traveling. 4) It is a small piece of the Apple revenue puzzle. I would gladly purchase shows from iTunes if they would only expand their library..I missed commander and chief this week.. :( Peace
November 1, 2005 3:09 PM
I recently purchased a 20g iPod and I love it, but, with only a modest sized CD collection at home, I have already exceeded the capacity of the iPod (it only holds 18.2 gig of music). Now I have to pick and choose what music to carry with me. Do I carry my kid's music in case we plug in on the way to Grandma's house or do I keep my classical. Do I leave Frank Sinatra or the Talking Heads behind? I can not imagine using the Nano and having to refresh and replace music constantly in order to hear my whole collection. After hearing their favorite songs over and over and over again, the NANO users will realize that it's just too much bother and will move up to a larger model. For me? I should have gone straight to the top of the hard drive pile. 20 gig seems so small to me now.
November 7, 2005 9:06 PM
I have a friend who just moved up from his 30g to the new 60g with video and I am about to move up from 20g to the 60g myself. Why? We know from experience iPod is a great music player, we take the Metro on a regular basis and like to travel (now to be able to watch those shows or easily take along movies on trips - not everyone has to travel with a PC like Mr. Baker), and we both have music collections that already pass the 20g mark. I look forward to the day when WiFi or Bluetooth is added as well as possible other features. At that time if the features seem like a big enough jump I might upgrade again. Is this all a yuppy status symbol? Since I skip the SUVs and their huge gas costs, a $399 device that does it best and I use regularly and enjoy greatly is a minimal splurge. And as many have said... smaller size, bigger screen with great picture, longer battery life, the same price, and still does it best. Sounds like a real loser, huh?
January 4, 2006 4:45 AM
I think the ipod nano is the biggest waste of time there is, why pay 300 for a 4g hard disk, when you can pay 500 for a 60g hard disk, i carry all my music around with me, because i feel like listening to something different every day, and i enjoy watching music videos alot. Im going overseas soon, and this hard disk space will be great to backup with my dig camera. I this it iPod video is great. PS its not hard to install vids from your comp onto it, you just need to download a program, ipod media is good, 2 button clicks and done. P.S i have an extensive metal collection, over 250 cds that i keep in my ipod
January 18, 2006 3:42 PM
Who is actually going to use watch videos on the move, there are some commuters, but it is usually so busy on transport, it is too busy to be interested and involved in a film. Why pay alot of money to buy a product which stores movies, when you can just watch it when you get home, in peace. The music side is very good, although why not just buy an Ipod Nano, it is sleek and very stylish. The Video Ipod is just an unnecessary accessory, and it is just for gadget freaks!