So it is the much mooted and debated video iPod. That surprised me, given that in several recent interviews Steve Jobs has basically poo-pooed the entire idea of video on the iPod. “I don’t get it.” he had said. And it genuinely seemed like he didn’t grok the concept of video on a portable device. It looks like someone changed his mind - and Apple have put serious planning into this, already with deals to show big TV shows like Desperate Housewives and Lost on the new iTunes.
This whole video in iTunes thing ties quite nicely into FrontRow - a new bit of software which will get bundled with today’s other Apple release: the G5 iMac. This would explain why the supply lines to Apple retailers have been drying up recently… FrontRow, with built-in iSight camera, and handy remote control gives you an out of the box multimedia experience. It’ll play the content you download from iTunes on it’s lovely display, while you sit back and relax using the very cute, very simple remote control.
It’s nice kit, as always, but the jury’s out on the appeal of video on the move. Apple have brought down the price and launched legal content that people will want, but do you want to watch TV on a 2.5″ screen? Outside of the “cool” factor with which to wow your friends, how often are you going to want to sit down and watch Lost on a tiny screen, when you can stick it on your 42″ plasma when you get home?
I suppose there are commuters who would love to sit on the train and catch up with the TV they missed - the fact that iTunes will sync TV shows to your iPod the day after the show airs just as automagically as with PodCasts is very cool. But then attention to detail like that is Apple’s hallmark.
The iPod can’t compete with the Archos and it’s ilk in terms of screen size - and a hacked PSP has a far better screen for watching video - but in creating a legal market for downloadable TV shows Apple have raised the bar for every other player in the media space, on portable devices and in the home. If I can download legal copies of my favourite shows for a couple of dollars, I’ll do that rather than fight with a BitTorrent client to download a file of dubious provenance. Of course the likelihood is that Apple will be forced to restrict video downloads to certain territories, so a UK iTunes member won’t be able to download this weeks Lost, for example. That isn’t Apple’s fault though, and until the media publishers realise that they can’t control how small the (virtual) world has become people will still “steal” television to get round idiotic territorial controls.
Next step: agreements with Tivo and other PVR manufacturers to transfer TV shows from Tivo to the iPod. Again, that’ll take huge negotiations with publishers and rights owners - and while the lawyers get rich off that some bright geek in open source land will write a script that does it for you… just wait!
Typical, could have waited more than a month before updating the iMac.