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Video iPod, I Love You
赫赫 发表于 2005-11-04 00:14:38
Wildstrom
The content-sharing deal with Disney could mark a new era for digital media, as Apple's competitors struggle to play catch-up
Wildstrom is Technology & You columnist for BusinessWeek
Nearly everyone who has had a chance to use Apple's newest, video-enabled iPod has fallen in love at first sight, myself included. Like the original music player of 2001, the new iPod does things that others have done before, but it does them vastly better. How is it that Apple manages to stay so far out front in the hotly competitive field of digital entertainment?
I think there is actually a surprisingly simple answer: Apple Computer's (AAPL) products and services are designed with the single overarching concern of delivering a great consumer experience. I'm a big believer in digital video in all its forms, but my experience with download services and portable players has been mostly awful.
BIGGER SELECTION SOON.
Until the iPod, the most sophisticated products were players from Creative Labs (CREAF), Samsung, and others built to Microsoft's Portable Media Center (PMC) design. There are two ways to get video into a PMC: You can record TV shows yourself with a TiVo (TIVO) or Media Center PC, or you can subscribe to one of several services that offer second-tier content. For example, Comedy Central offers several programs for the PMC, but not the popular South Park and The Daily Show. There is no single place to buy content. And the process of getting the video from your PC to the portable player isn't terribly intuitive. No wonder sales of these products are minuscule.
After the music iPod came out, buyers had to wait a year and a half before the iTunes Music Store began selling downloads. Now the video content is available from the get-go. The iTunes Store offers hundreds of music videos, movie trailers, a bit of original Pixar Animation Studios (PIXR) content, and -- most important -- five top-rated TV shows from ABC and the Disney Channel available for download the day after they air.
Getting these shows requires two simple steps: You download the video to the iTunes software in your PC or Mac, then you transfer it from the computer to the iPod. And while the initial content is limited, it won't stay that way for long. Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice-president for iPod marketing, says Disney (DIS) is the only player right now simply because it is the only studio Apple told in advance about the video iPod.
Lovely as the new iPod is, keep in mind that it is still a device small enough to slip easily into a pocket. That means you're watching TV on a 2.5-inch display while holding the player in one hand -- not the world's greatest viewing experience. But watching video is not limited to that tiny screen. You can watch iTunes video on your PC or Mac. And with an optional cable, you can connect the iPod to a TV and watch on a big screen.
SOWING THE SEEDS.
The iTunes video is 320x240 pixels, about a quarter of the information in a DVD-quality image. When I connected the iPod to 19- and 27-in. standard TVs, the picture looked about as good as a broadcast. It was grainy and fuzzy on a 32-in. high-definition liquid-crystal display -- but that's just for now. Over time, as network connections get faster and studios grow comfortable with the idea of high-quality downloads, high-resolution versions will become available.
Perhaps most important, Apple has again done consumers a service by playing the trailblazer, persuading a top-tier studio to provide good content despite its fears of piracy and disruption to its distribution model. Competitors, especially Microsoft (MSFT), won't just back off while Apple locks up the video market, but they face a big challenge.
In digital entertainment, with so many irons in the fire, Microsoft has been unable to duplicate Apple's single-minded focus on consumers. The software giant's partners, mainly engineering-driven Asian manufacturers, design great hardware. But so far they haven't been able to match Apple's user-friendliness. Looks like Apple could be in for a good video ride.
READER COMMENTS
Nickname: john
Review: Apple knows how to build a classy and stylish product. I only wish they showed the same class when dealing with their loyal customers. The new, lovely iPod comes without a standard power charger. For something that costs Apple less than , you have to shell out another . Am I supposed to carry my laptop along just so I can charge the iPod over its USB port? This is the height of cheapness Mr. Jobs.
Date reviewed: Nov 1, 2005 7:03 PM
Nickname: iPoddi
Review: The music industry isn't having as good a time as the Hollywood boys. How many studios have supported QuickTime format? So the video download game isn't starting yet. No doubt Apple has done a wonderful job in product design and the whole concept of iTunes. Competitiors are also not sitting dead for another walk-over by Jobs. 2006 is the interesting year to watch the real fight by the heavyweights. Whoever is able to convince Hollywood with their foolproof DRM (digital rights management) with greater penetration and deliver the iTune-like download service, will be the true winner in this game. Don't rule out Microsoft's chances as yet.
Date reviewed: Nov 1, 2005 3:14 PM
Nickname: Mojo
Review: There seems to be a tremendous opportunity for TiVO here. You can currently get video off of TiVO and to an iPod now, but it takes several manual steps to do so. If TiVO added some software to facilitate the downloading to iPod, I think they could quickly re-corner their market, since they are already computer-enabled.
The satellite-brand DVR's don't have a computer connection/interface, hence they would be way behind the curve. In a nutshell, many TiVO owners would buy an iPod, and many iPod owners would buy a TiVO. Win-win all around. Us New York City commuters would use this feature often!
Date reviewed: Oct 31, 2005 8:00 PM
Nickname: Christie
Review: I love my Video iPod!
Date reviewed: Oct 30, 2005 11:27 PM
Nickname: videopete
Review: To get a video on the iPod I use Quicktime 7 Pro (29.99 upgrade to free player) and save it to iPod or MP4 format. Worked well on my video iPod.
Date reviewed: Oct 30, 2005 9:06 PM
Nickname: jbillo
Review: I know right!!! i only have a 15" LCD flatscreen. Nothing beats the slimness and versatility of TV, Video, Svideo, VGA and all that in one. Plus easy to carry and small. It can go just about anywhere. Car? I've loved my Shuffle--it works great with my Kenwood system. The sound quality is perfect. All out of the smallest of the iPod family. Maybe soon enough I'll have the video iPod mounted to the dash. Maybe with the svideo or video out hook up I could have the LCD TV in the hatch of my Saturn SW2 and have full quality movies and TV shows. Apple keeps me on the edge. Been a Mac person well before they got big. Iust wish I would of bought stock. I'd be rich I tell ya.
Date reviewed: Oct 29, 2005 11:36 PM
My comment:
作为苹果的簇拥，这篇文章说出了几个关键的点。从用户角度出发，方便的不得了，体现在每一个贴心的细节。只有用过，只要用过，就会爱上苹果，鄙视微软。也许Mac由于兼容性的问题好多人都不选择它，毕竟在全球苹果电脑只有5%的市场占有率，但它已经全面强占了mp3市场，85%的市场占有率，很in。容量有人说太多了，用不了，256MB足够了。要用发展的眼光看问题，至少4G。
会不会有些疯狂？ipod mini还没有冷下来，还在盈利，马上推出ipod nano全面取代mini, mini停售。Ipod video趁势上市，虽然可以下载的内容还不太丰富，相信会很快补上的。
Apple的产品从外观就能看出来，是件艺术品，仿佛也透露出了企业经营时那种时隐时现的肆意独行的自恋情绪。Jobs说过：“看看，在没有微软垄断的市场，我们能做得多么好！”
The content-sharing deal with Disney could mark a new era for digital media, as Apple's competitors struggle to play catch-up
Wildstrom is Technology & You columnist for BusinessWeek
Nearly everyone who has had a chance to use Apple's newest, video-enabled iPod has fallen in love at first sight, myself included. Like the original music player of 2001, the new iPod does things that others have done before, but it does them vastly better. How is it that Apple manages to stay so far out front in the hotly competitive field of digital entertainment?
I think there is actually a surprisingly simple answer: Apple Computer's (AAPL) products and services are designed with the single overarching concern of delivering a great consumer experience. I'm a big believer in digital video in all its forms, but my experience with download services and portable players has been mostly awful.
BIGGER SELECTION SOON.
Until the iPod, the most sophisticated products were players from Creative Labs (CREAF), Samsung, and others built to Microsoft's Portable Media Center (PMC) design. There are two ways to get video into a PMC: You can record TV shows yourself with a TiVo (TIVO) or Media Center PC, or you can subscribe to one of several services that offer second-tier content. For example, Comedy Central offers several programs for the PMC, but not the popular South Park and The Daily Show. There is no single place to buy content. And the process of getting the video from your PC to the portable player isn't terribly intuitive. No wonder sales of these products are minuscule.
After the music iPod came out, buyers had to wait a year and a half before the iTunes Music Store began selling downloads. Now the video content is available from the get-go. The iTunes Store offers hundreds of music videos, movie trailers, a bit of original Pixar Animation Studios (PIXR) content, and -- most important -- five top-rated TV shows from ABC and the Disney Channel available for download the day after they air.
Getting these shows requires two simple steps: You download the video to the iTunes software in your PC or Mac, then you transfer it from the computer to the iPod. And while the initial content is limited, it won't stay that way for long. Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice-president for iPod marketing, says Disney (DIS) is the only player right now simply because it is the only studio Apple told in advance about the video iPod.
Lovely as the new iPod is, keep in mind that it is still a device small enough to slip easily into a pocket. That means you're watching TV on a 2.5-inch display while holding the player in one hand -- not the world's greatest viewing experience. But watching video is not limited to that tiny screen. You can watch iTunes video on your PC or Mac. And with an optional cable, you can connect the iPod to a TV and watch on a big screen.
SOWING THE SEEDS.
The iTunes video is 320x240 pixels, about a quarter of the information in a DVD-quality image. When I connected the iPod to 19- and 27-in. standard TVs, the picture looked about as good as a broadcast. It was grainy and fuzzy on a 32-in. high-definition liquid-crystal display -- but that's just for now. Over time, as network connections get faster and studios grow comfortable with the idea of high-quality downloads, high-resolution versions will become available.
Perhaps most important, Apple has again done consumers a service by playing the trailblazer, persuading a top-tier studio to provide good content despite its fears of piracy and disruption to its distribution model. Competitors, especially Microsoft (MSFT), won't just back off while Apple locks up the video market, but they face a big challenge.
In digital entertainment, with so many irons in the fire, Microsoft has been unable to duplicate Apple's single-minded focus on consumers. The software giant's partners, mainly engineering-driven Asian manufacturers, design great hardware. But so far they haven't been able to match Apple's user-friendliness. Looks like Apple could be in for a good video ride.
READER COMMENTS
Nickname: john
Review: Apple knows how to build a classy and stylish product. I only wish they showed the same class when dealing with their loyal customers. The new, lovely iPod comes without a standard power charger. For something that costs Apple less than , you have to shell out another . Am I supposed to carry my laptop along just so I can charge the iPod over its USB port? This is the height of cheapness Mr. Jobs.
Date reviewed: Nov 1, 2005 7:03 PM
Nickname: iPoddi
Review: The music industry isn't having as good a time as the Hollywood boys. How many studios have supported QuickTime format? So the video download game isn't starting yet. No doubt Apple has done a wonderful job in product design and the whole concept of iTunes. Competitiors are also not sitting dead for another walk-over by Jobs. 2006 is the interesting year to watch the real fight by the heavyweights. Whoever is able to convince Hollywood with their foolproof DRM (digital rights management) with greater penetration and deliver the iTune-like download service, will be the true winner in this game. Don't rule out Microsoft's chances as yet.
Date reviewed: Nov 1, 2005 3:14 PM
Nickname: Mojo
Review: There seems to be a tremendous opportunity for TiVO here. You can currently get video off of TiVO and to an iPod now, but it takes several manual steps to do so. If TiVO added some software to facilitate the downloading to iPod, I think they could quickly re-corner their market, since they are already computer-enabled.
The satellite-brand DVR's don't have a computer connection/interface, hence they would be way behind the curve. In a nutshell, many TiVO owners would buy an iPod, and many iPod owners would buy a TiVO. Win-win all around. Us New York City commuters would use this feature often!
Date reviewed: Oct 31, 2005 8:00 PM
Nickname: Christie
Review: I love my Video iPod!
Date reviewed: Oct 30, 2005 11:27 PM
Nickname: videopete
Review: To get a video on the iPod I use Quicktime 7 Pro (29.99 upgrade to free player) and save it to iPod or MP4 format. Worked well on my video iPod.
Date reviewed: Oct 30, 2005 9:06 PM
Nickname: jbillo
Review: I know right!!! i only have a 15" LCD flatscreen. Nothing beats the slimness and versatility of TV, Video, Svideo, VGA and all that in one. Plus easy to carry and small. It can go just about anywhere. Car? I've loved my Shuffle--it works great with my Kenwood system. The sound quality is perfect. All out of the smallest of the iPod family. Maybe soon enough I'll have the video iPod mounted to the dash. Maybe with the svideo or video out hook up I could have the LCD TV in the hatch of my Saturn SW2 and have full quality movies and TV shows. Apple keeps me on the edge. Been a Mac person well before they got big. Iust wish I would of bought stock. I'd be rich I tell ya.
Date reviewed: Oct 29, 2005 11:36 PM
My comment:
作为苹果的簇拥，这篇文章说出了几个关键的点。从用户角度出发，方便的不得了，体现在每一个贴心的细节。只有用过，只要用过，就会爱上苹果，鄙视微软。也许Mac由于兼容性的问题好多人都不选择它，毕竟在全球苹果电脑只有5%的市场占有率，但它已经全面强占了mp3市场，85%的市场占有率，很in。容量有人说太多了，用不了，256MB足够了。要用发展的眼光看问题，至少4G。
会不会有些疯狂？ipod mini还没有冷下来，还在盈利，马上推出ipod nano全面取代mini, mini停售。Ipod video趁势上市，虽然可以下载的内容还不太丰富，相信会很快补上的。
Apple的产品从外观就能看出来，是件艺术品，仿佛也透露出了企业经营时那种时隐时现的肆意独行的自恋情绪。Jobs说过：“看看，在没有微软垄断的市场，我们能做得多么好！”
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