Mind Poison

Coincidentally, there were a couple of major announcements today about personal music players. The first was pointed out to me in a comment in an earlier post. Microsoft has made some fleeting non-announcement about a $50 "iPod-killer." Slashdot also picked this up.

I already mentioned my thoughts on this supposed $50 iPod killer in the previous post. The more interesting thing to me is that companies (like Sony) seem to think that a "video iPod" is a good idea. I'm sure a lot of people think they want one of these, too. I can only think that this is an extension of PC-think, where more is better. Steve Jobs has ruled out a video iPod at this point, and rightly so.

The obvious problem is that people experience music and video differently. I might listen to my iPod while at work, while walking around town, or while exercising. Video wouldn't work at all in any of these obvious use cases. Now, there are use cases when you might plausibly watch video, for example, on a long commute, or trip. But I suspect that for most people, the first case isn't enough time to fully watch anything, and the second doesn't happen often enough to justify the expense.

Furthermore, there's a fundamental tension between something watchable (large screen) and something portable (lightweight and small). The iPod is really useful because you can carry it around everywhere; it's so small and light that my cellphone and keys usually feel bigger and heavier in my other pocket. (And I don't even have a Mini). Furthermore, driving a fast-refreshing backlit color LCD display takes way more battery power, and decoding compressed video takes way more CPU, so the device will have to be way heavier to let you watch a decent amount. Oh yeah, heat problems? I doubt that the combination of fewer opportunities to watch it, and the difficulty getting the size right it is going to draw a lot of people. (Not nobody, just not enough to be worth it).

Another angle that I don't see a lot of talk about is what the heck you're supposed to put on this thing if it ever happens. You're not supposed to rip your DVDs (as if you'd want to watch your DVDs on this thing). Broadcasters are trying as hard as they can to lock everything up with broadcast flags and so forth. They don't seem likely to be cooperative in supplying content at this point. There are a few small legal movie download sites, but they don't seem too realistic at this point. The mp3 player is compelling because it lets everyone take their existing CDs and put them on. (This is probably a historical accident, since the record industry never put the flimsiest of plausible "anticircumvention devices" on CDs). Are people just supposed to buy digital copies of movies they have on DVD?

Everyone has DVDs, and portable DVD players haven't really taken off. I doubt adding video to what is basically an iPod is going to really sell people. There are more interesting directions to take the iPod concept in. That said, I imagine that Steve Jobs actually has some interesting video device in the works. I just don't think that it's something like an iPod that displays video. Given Apple's recent string of incredibly great consumer products, I hope it'll be something much more interesting.