Well, we now know. The iPod with video isn't bigger, but now it has games. The iPod nano comes in aluminum with colors and a higher top end. The shuffle got smaller, and everyone's got better ear buds.
I was disappointed at first about the iPod with video - why isn't it bigger? But with iTV, I think Apple isn't aiming at watching movies on the iPod, but rather on the high definition TVs. The iPod is more of a storage device when it comes to movies.
Movies at higher definition, but not HIGH definition - I think they are avoiding what in my opinion is a mistake for Amazon. Amazon does offer high definition, but at a download time that most people really don't want to be bothered with! Later, when broadband speeds increase, it will make sense to download high definition content, but it may not be ready yet.
What do you think??
3 comments:
Gents,
I guess I am confused as to why then would you want to store movies on an iPod for simply the purpose of storing. It strikes me as odd. If I am going to use iTV, then I would think I would want to use a home device for storing the movies - like a Mac Mini. No?
The other things - the Shuffle and Nano are pretty cool, I think. And, they did make the iPod Video have a much brighter screen and battery life, so that's pretty good.
I wonder if the larger screen iPod was simply not ready yet.
-Le
You know, I'm wondering if they are even planning a true video iPod that's larger - would it be large enough? It wouldn't compete with an actual TV, and the larger it gets, the less portable it is, and that's the whole point of the iPod. It's possible they're planning a different kind of device that's not devoted to playing video as the primary purpose. I think the iPod is a storage device of sorts, but it is still truly a music player at heart!
I like that they upgraded all the iPods at once. Getting ready for the Holiday buying season. The biggest benefit is the much longer battery life. Up to 24hrs, unbelievable. Plus you need more battery life for video. Now its up to 6 hrs.
I agree that the iPod is primarily intended as a music player. All of the other stuff are just secondary perks. Movies, pictures, and now games. There are better devices for all of these but as a whole add value to the iPod itself. They don't want to mess with the portability of the iPod, which has got to be a big selling point.
As for iTV, I think the idea was to store the files on your computer and wirelessly trasfer the date to the iTV device and into the TV for viewing. I am sure you would control it all through iTV. The movies are sure to have DRP on it which limits what devices you can use it on, just like the music. But I think the holy grail is the almost instant rental market. Download and watch and don't worry about returns or late fees. I am sure Netflix is also looking into this. At 640x480 it is about 65% of the resolution of DVD and about twice regular TV. Which I think works better for rentals than owning.
Hopefully the iPhone will be released from the Apple labs real soon.
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