This is what I'm hoping for in a video ipod

MGnards said:

but I know the presenters at the Oscars are getting them... and not iPods.

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Probably because all of the presenters at the Oscars have already bought an iPod.

That device is nice and all... but its not at all what Apple would make if they did something like that. First of all, removable drives and a removable MP3 player... why? Thats just begging for things to go wrong with it. And if this is touted as a portable player, why would you need to detach another MP3 player from it?

I have to say that I can't see any real need at present for such a device. Surely the iPod is (generally) used as a mobile device, which is fine for music. But would you really want to be watching any sort of video on the move?

Short snippets of news and related stuff on mobiles (cell phones!!) I can sort of see a market for, but storing and viewing longer video?

Also, wouldn't the cost of such a device be fairly prohibitive to many people? I mean, video would require a lot more hard disk space and of course it would need a colour screen...

But who knows - look at the reaction Apple got on these forums when the original iPod was introduced back in 2001.

Look at this: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=500

UKMacBod said:

But who knows - look at the reaction Apple got on these forums when the original iPod was introduced back in 2001.

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i think the negative reaction to the original iPod was mainly for the hype jobs had put up and for the price. it was (and it still is) quite expensive - although i believe it's worth the price. i don't think the idea of portable music device as a concept was ever questioned. walkman and discman had been very popular and successful before mp3 players.

on the other hand, portable dvd players and handheld TVs haven't been very popular. there's simply no reason or market for such devices to be portable.

movie viewer: because it's very difficult to multi-task while watching a movie, what's the point? why not just take a laptop? also, it takes much, much more time to watch a movie... how many times will you watch the same movie or same set of movies?

picture viewer: attention span required to view still images are much shorter than music - how many times could you look at a set number of pictures without getting bored? (wedding album, anyone?)

i think portable movie/picture devices are pretty niche market stuff at the moment. i don't think it has the same explosive growth potential as music player and apple is probably better off investing the money/research elsewhere...

i think the main reason a lot of people think it's a good idea is because it's such a natural extension of music players. but would you pay $500 to watch 5 movies on the go on a 2" screen every once in a while?

i think the main reason a lot of people think it's a good idea is because it's such a natural extension of music players. but would you pay $500 to watch 5 movies on the go on a 2" screen every once in a while?

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I would say no to that. Why? I can get a 7" widescreen portable DVD player for a couple hundred bucks. Sure, you can't store movies on an HD, but you do get the bigger screen. Right now most hard drive driven video players have small screens and are bulky. I wouldn't buy a video iPod, of sorts.

jxyama said:

but would you pay $500 to watch 5 movies on the go on a 2" screen every once in a while?

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Exactly. That last sentence really sums it up.

seriously - a video iPod is a solution to a problem that never existed.

UKMacBod said:

But who knows - look at the reaction Apple got on these forums when the original iPod was introduced back in 2001.

Look at this: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=500

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WOW!! Man, some of those posts!! AAHH HAHA! I like the ones that say it has no future or this one:

I said the Cube was overpriced and should cost $1200, this piece of Sh... should cost no more than $90.

Apple is selling a bunch of overpriced things like the TiBook that won't be resellable for more than $1300 in less than 6 month because it is not upgredable.

This iPod is for spoil rich kids with insane parents or an Apple fan as fannatic as a Taliban. It has good features but forget about getting it for $399!!!! Never, who gets that thing is a very stupid person.

Steve Jobs is under terrible consuling or is under too much pot. This propusal is not realistic at all. If Apple does something like this again is going down.

This unit may work for an audio engeneer to record some conference or rock band on the field in place of buying a expensive DAT machine, that is the only real good market this machinne is gonna have.

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I wonder if he's changed his tune... Maybe we can ask him (yeah, he's still around too )

MGnards said:

I know the presenters at the Oscars are getting them... and not iPods.

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Having to give away a new product.. is not a good sign.

Sounds like its trying to be/do a bit too much... I still don't see the point. I would compare to portable video game markets... which are pretty much non-existant. I mean who really plays that much gameboy? This isn't going to change anything...

I don't see too much of need for it either, but one thing I think they could do is each time you place it in the dock (let's say at night before you go to sleep) when you wake up it has various newscasts and reports that you might want to watch. Apple could have some deal with cnn or espn (sportscenter on the go!!).

cr2sh said:

Having to give away a new product.. is not a good sign.

Sounds like its trying to be/do a bit too much... I still don't see the point. I would compare to portable video game markets... which are pretty much non-existant. I mean who really plays that much gameboy? This isn't going to change anything...

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portable games are a bit different. games actually require active participation - i'd be willing to buy a small HD based gaming machine if it can run emulators and ROMs on the go. gameboy is now a bit like cd players - it's portable, but you have to carry around all the cartridges. if there was a HD based gameboy that had 200 games pre-loaded, then that'll be more like the iPod...

watching movie is kind of in between. doesn't require active participation but have to actually pay attention a bit to get anything out of it...

i like the idea of portable news, but i don't know if it will be much of a market either. PDAs tried with AvantGo and that didn't go anywhere... so i'm not sure if adding motion will do much as long as you are restricted to what you have already downloaded... i think people would want to be able to get news on the go... then you have to add wireless internet, etc...

you keep on adding features and basically, it will become a laptop. why not get a full featured computer for a bit more money instead?

While we're on the topic...
I was watching CNBC (European version) and they were doing a piece on Creative (the sound people), and they had a video ipod-type device. It was their device, and they were hoping to release it soon, however, what raised my interest was that the voiceover said something like this: "The personal video player market is hotting up, with devices already demoed by Sony, and Apple's Video-iPod expected to debut soon."

I put it down to the reporter's ignorance.

Personally I can't see a market for such devices. Do you really want to carry around your 6 favourite movies? Or perhaps music videos? It's like watching TV on mobile phones... it's just silly. If I want to bring one of my favourite movies or a TV program to a friend, I just bring the DVD or the video... Movies are really things that you watch with friends, and 2 or more people can't watch 7" screens.

Capt Underpants said:

Probably because all of the presenters at the Oscars have already bought an iPod.

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Heh all the grammy presenters got one when they walked in the door, as well as all the stars at the Oscars, so they don't need to buy another. But heh why not have 2 of the greatest MP3 player ever. I would rather Apple make the iPod cheaper then make a video player, an MP3 player does not need to do everything! God dam it can't make coffee I ain't buying this!