Om Malik points to the video iPod breaking news. People immediately start with the "I'll never watch Lord of the Rings on a little screen" talk.
It seems like it is pretty easy for people to fall into the pointless "but this is different than how it's always been" complaint.
The delivery system (RSS?), the player (iPod), the players (AOL?!, Yahoollywood?), all point toward a a different kind of content than we've all been used to...just as home recording studios + the Internet resulted in, among other things, mash-ups, Dangermouse, the resurgence of "singles", the resurgence of cover songs, the Long Tail of CD Baby,etc. so too will all these developments around video result in different rules of consumption, different types of video content, different...different!
If one's only comment regarding a video iPod is "no one will watch a feature film on it"...then you don't understand what's really being discussed.
The content and consumption rules will evolve as the tools and systems evolve.
Plus...I will be very very surprised if the only thing Jobs announces with the player is that now you can buy music videos for $2.99. I will be surprised if that is the extent of the business innovation committment that he would be making. I'm not saying I have the slightest clue what the "something else" might be...but there has to be a something else. I think there will be a collective consumer ho-hum to purchasing MTV videos. Nothing even approaching the windfall of the iTunes store.
Link: Om Malik’s Broadband Blog » Apple will do a video iPod.
Of course, you're right. This reaches far, far beyond watching features or music videos on a tiny screen. Video tours, directions, video notes, lectures, news clips (breaking news), and on, and on. I wonder if they will be WiMax enabled so you're always up to date with your video podcasts?
Posted by: Marlin May | July 28, 2005 at 07:50 AM