viPod
Contrary to past years when rumor mill noise surrounding Macworld elevated to a cacophony, next week's Macworld Expo in San Francisco is stunningly quiet - and with good reason. Besides the launch of the LCD iMac, which just about everyone predicted would eventually arrive, Apple hasn't released anything all that new or completely out of the technological left field since, say, the . Thanks to both a stagnant economy and tepid demand for new PCs, Jobs and company have been playing it very safe to say the least -- but answers are beginning to slip out.
Once again, there are rumors of an Apple branded PDA, possibly a tablet like device that employs OS X's Inkwell handwriting recognition (which, incidentally, is recycled technology from the grand old Newton), updates to a handful of iApps (and possibly even a new pricing scheme), and then there is the one rumor that landed today in the mainstream media - a video iPod.
After digging around in the swill of Mac rumor web sites, I ran across this post from an anonymous author that seems almost believable.
Through his connections in the movie industry via Pixar, Jobs has negotiated with most major studios so that they are ok with the new device. Basically like an with video. The color screen is not great, the device is meant to be used with external video sources. It has S video out with an adaptor to use RCA style video out. It also has DVI and a VGA adaptor for running monitors, the obvious problem being no native ADC support. Uses various Apple proprietary schemes to compress DVDs to a much smaller files that generally look better than divx files. But for this go round, the audio out is a basic headphone one so don't expect to hook it up to a surround sound system. It's more like video to go with the obvious inherent compromises. And because the biggest drive they can use for the size of the device is 40GB, don't expect to hold your entire movie collection on it. However, it will be great for showing off your own stored videos, quicktime movies, etc, and take them with you. E.g, you film a presentation with a DV cam, process it in iMovie, then transfer it to your device and show the presentation at the meeting you traveled to across country. Yes you could just burn a DVD and take it with you, but how many offices have DVD players? With some external speakers and by hooking it up to a projector, you can replay it for whoever in most offices around the world. Here's the bad part. In order to copy your DVDs, each one will need to be verified. When you attempt to copy, you will be required to register your DVD. Because of the unique copy protection on DVDs, no DVD can be registered more than once, so people won't be able to rent at blockbuster and transfer the movie to your device, nor will you be able to extract the DVDs from the device to another computer. People may be annoyed by having to register all their DVDs, but Apple has made it pretty painless. People will be amazed and of course a few years down the line, things like DTS decoding, better quality video, and larger capacity hard drives will be part of the package. At nearly $1000, people will be hesitant until they learn that it also has TiVo like capabilities!
To my ear, everything sounds very plausible (with the exception of TiVo-like capabilities), especially the part about Apple setting up some type of "painless web-interface" to register DVDs, and the use of copy-protection technologies similar to those in the mp3 . Besides, Jobs is also the head of Pixar (which I'm still kicking myself for not investing in a year ago), and the last thing he'd want is consumers using the device to watch, say, bootleg copies of Monsters, Inc. But would anyone be all that interested in watching Lord of the Rings on a 2-inch square screen?
Of course this is all pure speculation, but that's all part of the fun.
Related link: Steven is thinking the same thing.
Comments
hmmm
i think i would rather a new iPod play Gameboy Advance games, my Nikon quick pix already plays movies;) No, seriously. at the risk of sounding like that exec who, years ago, questioned why anyone would want a PC, I am asking where I would use this device? For business purposes I have a laptop. If I am sitting anywhere long enough to watch a movie I also can bring a laptop or a portable DVD player, neither which require me to rip the DVD first. Fundementally video and audio are used so much differently, that i can not imagine carrying around a walkman style device just for video. Unless of course the video screen is big, the device can hold a ton of info and /or play dvds, in which case you have a laptop.
Posted by: peter at January 4, 2003 12:34 PM
One point I neglected to mention: I'm still holding out for a sub-12" version of the iBook (yes, even SMALLER) - say, one with an 6-8" screen with WiFi, firewire, usb. No CD-ROM drive needed.
Posted by: Todd Dominey at January 4, 2003 12:43 PM
viPod? Phew. For a second there, I thought Apple was releasing a handheld version of the vi text editor.
Posted by: Nick at January 4, 2003 1:48 PM
I just don't see it -- the viPod, that is. It would be such a niche product, at best, as to render production costs, margins, etc. completely unreasonable. A PDA or tablet-based device would seem to be much more likely.
Posted by: Shawn at January 4, 2003 4:03 PM
Actually, I would watch LOTR on a 2" square screen. In fact, I watch most TV that way.
Posted by: Dan at January 4, 2003 4:27 PM
I just don't see it happening.
How about something a little more simple, like say, ACC encoding and playback of music files, orgg vorbis, a USB port to allow camera connections and digital wallet capabilities, lower prices.
A product like the one you discribed would truly be a waste of my time. If they want my money I hope they have something I can really use.
Posted by: Kev at January 4, 2003 6:36 PM
Also, something that bothers me about that quote is that it sounds exactly like what you would read on some random "Apple Rumors" forum. Comments like "And because the biggest drive they can use for the size of the device is 40GB," are completely untrue. These kinds of statements give a very obvious 'kid-in-the-basement-making-up-stories" feel.
On a side note, I have to agree--completely useless product if released.
Posted by: Garrett Murray at January 4, 2003 6:46 PM
viPod: I doubt it, er rather, I hope not, er rather, why?? I agree: kid-in-basement-rumor. However, how smart would adding ogg and aac, and the ability to use extra iPod space to download and clear your digicam memory? Now that'd be useful.
Posted by: ~bc at January 4, 2003 11:46 PM
It reads like "a post from a rumor site" because that's where I snagged it from. I posted it mainly b/c it was one of the few rumors that actually had some content / specifics to it, and for all we know could end up being real. Who the hell knows.
Posted by: Todd Dominey at January 5, 2003 9:40 AM
Anyone remember the rumors surrounding last years "big news" for Macworld, the iWalk. Here are a few pictures I downloaded from Spymac last new years :
This was well over a year ago, and Spymac actually had videos showing the product working. Maybe it actually is coming out? Or just more BS from the rumor mills.
Posted by: Jason at January 5, 2003 1:38 PM
the color screen would be very useful if it can work as a digital wallet...to be able to transfer photos to your ipod from your digicam and keep them to show your friends. i'm just guessing, but if it already has a color screen, the video capability probably isn't that difficult to add. the $1000 price tag is absurd...why would it be that high??
i've been using essentially the same product made by archos and still haven't used the video because the interface is awful. it was around $300....but the product is poorly designed and cheaply built.
Posted by: dr dandelion at January 5, 2003 5:04 PM
Amazingly, the product Matthew Rothenberg describes on the second page of his latest column is EXACTLY what I was describing above, except that it would be closer to a tablet form than a laptop.
Posted by: Todd Dominey at January 5, 2003 8:27 PM
The iPod has pretty much won me over already, it's top of my 'when I get some cash' list. What would make it stupidly good would be a digital wallet style device, like Kev mentioned.
Being able to download digital photos onto an iPod, and keep on shooting without having to start up a laptop, now that'd part me from my money right now.
Posted by: Si at January 6, 2003 7:32 PM
