Apple have finally announced the much rumored iPod with video support. It looks ok, at first glance, and I’m itching to get myself one. People who’ve listened to the show for a while will know I’ve been looking for an excuse to upgrade my 3 year old 3rd generation iPod. This is probably the catalyst.

Here are a few thoughts. Firstly, it ain’t widescreen. Does that mean I’ll want to upgrade next year when they release the next version with a better aspect ratio screen? Or does it mean that they’ll upgrade the firmware to handle letter-boxing?

Secondly, is this a massive play for Apple to accelerate adoption of Quicktime? The iPod supports Being an Apple fan I don’t have a problem with this. In fact I’ll always look for the Quicktime encoded video over WMV. I think it’s a much better form of video compression. However, if every person wanting to get there toe into the “Participation Age” starts to use their format, it could quickly become the default standard.

Thirdly, is vodcasting the future of television? It seems reasonable to subscribe to a television series. Heck, if I was in the US I could happily pay $1.99 for Lost to be delivered overnight. Mind you I’d prefer a better resolution. Having said that, if I had a 45 minute commute on the train, then watching it on my iPod might is a great idea. That’ll leave video on demand systems to movies and sporting events.

Fourthly, when’s the Airport Express with video support due? It’s only a matter of time.

Fifthly, why is Mick on all the new iPod adverts?

In the mean time, Apple’s claiming a one to two week wait for the new version to hit stores. Looks like I’ll be whacking down a deposit.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 13th, 2005 at 12:19 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.