Who Needs Video?
Who Needs Video?
Who Needs Video?
29 Jul 2004 — 7 Comments
What a joke.
Don't get me wrong... Portable video could be a good thing. Of course that all depends on Digital Rights Management and the MPAA getting their act together. However...
Portable video devices will not—I repeat, will not—kill the iPod. In fact, they will be blessed if they so much as come close to being adopted by 10 percent of those owning iPods. The 600-pound gorilla is still in the room... who is going to watch video on a 3 inch screen?
Sure, tech-heavy Japan will love the thing. But I'm sick and tired of some pundit going off about the death of the iPod. (Who pays these guys?)
Let's review: The iPod is a raving success to due its size, portability, practicality and ease of use. Oh yeah, and it's a fashion icon. You can listen to you favorite tunes just about anywhere. You can go jogging with your iPod. You can bike with your iPod. You can snowboard with your iPod. You can even sleep with your iPod if you want to. It goes wherever you want it to go, and remains useful.
Add to the fact that it's a Hollywood darling—every Louis Vuitton handbag needs one (let's not forget that tapping the female market share is a true measure of greatness)—and you've got a recipe for success.
Now let's look at portable video: You can watch your favorite movies—at least the ones that you legally or illegally were able to copy to your device—on the bus. Or on the plane. Or on the Metra from Wheaton to Oak Park. Or, as one "industry expert" suggested, "while waiting for the doctor."
Excuse me?
If you're waiting for your doctor with your portable video device in hand, I can already tell you what his diagnosis will be: You need more excercise. As if we needed more television in our lives. Holla?
Does this not bring back memory of the overweight fan at the baseball game with his portable TV and rabbit ears strung out all over the place? Or how about this week's tragic "DVD Traffic Death"?
So basically, you're telling me that a mass of humanity is going to go out and buy portable media devices and kill the iPod... uh-huh.
What'll be next? "Consumers abandon iPod because new device will also make coffee?" Most people don't want a bunch of crap features they won't use. They want a simple interface that plays the music they want, when they want.
No doubt, portable video technology is sweet, but its mass-appeal practicality is not. Holding a Portable Media Center does not say, "I am cool." It says "I am a nerdlanger."
So to all those "Industry Experts" out there: Lie down before you hurt yourselves. The iPod is not going away.
Alex says
I totally agree with you. A person would look really stupid staring at a small screen watching a movie in the park or something.
Jim Amos says
Generally speaking, I dislike mostly everything pundits try to tell us. I mean, who are these people anyway? Isn't 'pundit' just a name for an underqualified journalist?
David House says
Add to the fact that media on the iPod is superb quality, as if you were at home, whereas the visuals are crammed into three inches? Three inches? That's a step down from my 27-inch widescreen TV!
Jon says
Okay, Joshwa...time to post another post...
=^)
Rob Mientjes says
I read something else about this a while ago. Most important part is, in my opinion, that you can always listen to some music, but while jogging/bicycling/driving your car/walking the dog, you just can't watch a movie. It's not easy. Who reads a (comic)book while walking (and != nerd)?
Exactly. It just doesn't Work.
Gedeon says
I think everyone is missing an important point in this discussion. While an iPod like video *Player* per say might not be an iPod killer, a video transport device would be something that I for one, would want instantly. If the iPod could allow me to bring TV shows to the office and trade with others for viewing at home later that night, on my TiVo say, I'd buy one without hesitation. Video will be important, but not in the same fashion as portable music ala the iPod. Just my 2¢.
Jon says
I've got myself an Archos AV340 because I wanted something more than just an iPod. With this, I've got a 40Gb harddrive, an mp3 player, realtime mp3 recorder, built-in microphone, realtime XviD/DivX encoding for movies, I can connect it to my TV and use it like a Tivo (with the additional bonus of being able to burn what I've recorded to cd/dvd), plus a 3.3 megapixel camera, and a digital video camera coming at the end of the month.
All for around the same price as an iPod. Yes, it's heavier, larger etc etc, but it does everything I want it to, and that's why I bought it. I couldn't care less who buys what - I bought this because I wanted it, and I think the iPod is vastly overpriced for what it does (play music) and looks "cheap" (too plastic-looking for me).
Just my two penn'rth ;-)