It's more than anybody guessed. Much more. See Engadget's live blog of the press conference. Main points:
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New iMac computer with strong media capabilities. Very thin, very big screen. Very moderate price. Built-in video cam (iSight). Front Row software with remote for couch viewing of media on the computer.
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iPod is now a video iPod. No name change. 30GB and 60GB. $299 and $399. 2.5-inch screen, native 320x240.
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iTunes 6. Already? Yes, and iTMS now stocks 2,000 music videos. FairPlay DRM as with the music. Madonna is in. $1.99 per video. Also, a first recommendation engine for iTunes. Full review of iTunes 6 in this space later.
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TV shows from ABC for sale in iTMS, the day after broadcast. Whoa.
I don't expect the last point to get a lot of media play, but to me it's the most important announcement of the day.
I have waited years for some sign that the TV industry "gets it"—that is, gets how much trouble it's in. Much more
trouble than the music industry. Forget about the MPAA crushing Bit Torrent sites; those actions don't harm TV-show
file-sharing. But give me a reliable, easy-to-find, reasonably priced way to catch up on missed episodes, and I am
there. I can't be the only one who feels that way. If the Steve Jobs Effect holds true here as it did with music, it's
only a matter of time before the other networks come aboard. Then, at long last, we'll be on the way to on-demand TV,
or subscription major-network TV, or any number of other possibilities.
This is an amazing day for Apple, and a fabulous launch of its holiday quarter. AAPL stock hasn't responded yet.
1. Hopefully, this little blog will go noticed as I'm about to hit on where Stevie Jobs is going with the video enabled iPod. I work with a self proclaimed Machead who owns 3 iPods, a Mac mini, and a dual CPU G5 box. I'm not wholly ignorant of the Mac culture. Me? A Creative Zen nano, a Dell 30GB DJ, and 5 PCs of various power and OSes.
Okay, let's look at it piece by piece. Obviously, all clips are Quicktime (6 or 7?) and that's a gimmie. Music videos were obvious from the beginning. Pixar clips; obvious since Stevie J owns Pixar. But downloading TV shows sans commercials for 2 bucks a pop, and your's to keep for 2 bucks a pop on your iPod and PC/Mac? That's what smacks the nail on the head folks and what will not only turn the TV industry on it's head, but really give the RIAA migraines with the "I should have thought of that first!"
Pick a show like say 'Lost'. Let's download the entire first season off the iTune Media Store. You watch it and you're happy with your purchase. But there are users who want more, right? High Def? QT 7 does it, and for an extra buck a show, you can download the HD versions.
Want to get cuter? Okay. For an extra buck, you can download special DRMed versions of the episodes that you can burn onto DVDs complete with a template for Main and chapter menus and DVD case cover art (for an added bonus, Lightscribe templates also!). I knew there was a reason that QT was HD ready, and iLife was included with every Mac; and downloadable TV shows are the reason folks.
Stevie J and the TV networks (and even cable) stand to make some big cash money from this type of distribution channel and deal. You know CBS is slobbering at the prospect of downloadable CSI episodes.
Posted at 4:30AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Mack Swift