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October 23, 2005

Video iPod: The First 96 Hours

My new iPod arrived late Wednesday, and I've been putting it through its paces.

The thing is seriously wicked.

First of all, I'm amazed at how much larger the screen actually is. The picture you're seeing is my 30GB iPod Photo, side-by-side with Richard's new 60GB Video iPod. The new iPod is the same width, but it's thinner, with a flatter finish along the front. The feeling of a spacious display is amplified by the smaller scroll wheel, as well.

(The reason I photographed Richard's new iPod is, well, mine's black. And the side-by-side is more dramatic when you're not also changing colors and whatnot.)

Apple has really gone all-out to show off the screen across all the iPod applications. As usual, it's the little refinements that show off the elegance - the Calendar has a cool "raised date" effect in the month view; addresses now mimic the look of the Mac OS X AddressBook application; album art is larger, Aqua progress bars are more elaborate. As one who's had (and marveled) at a color iPod for some time (feel free to read my effusive praise of the device, if you're so inclined), I have to say that I've found the new Video iPod to be a source of continuous delight - every feature, it seems, has been polished to a high shine. Rather than simply slapping a larger LCD on the chassis and shipping the sucker, Apple's design team has taken the time to think through the ramifications of the extra pixels, and used them to good effect.

I'll give you an example: podcasts. I have a Podcast playlist in iTunes that's kept up-to-date by the iTunes software itself. Every morning, iTunes runs out to the Internet and checks to see if any new podcast episodes have materialized; if so, iTunes faithfully fetches them, downloading the new files into their respective folders (e.g., "Diggnation", or "Left, Right and Center"). The folder is then marked by a small blue dot to let me know there's something new for me.

Well, under my iPod photo, the podcast files would sync over to the iPod just fine, but the blue dot wouldn't come along for the ride. (Want to listen to a new show? Figure it out on your own!) This meant, in practical terms, that I would sometimes find myself scrubbing through folders of podcasts, trying to remember if I'd listened to a given show or not. This wasn't a huge deal, but it was a touch annoying; clearly, iTunes knew if the show was new or not, but the iPod just couldn't tell me.

Well, with the Video iPod, the blue dot is now putting in an appearance on the iPod. The extra pixels freed up the screen real estate, so Apple put it in. And that's the kind of refinement I'm talking about.

The iPod seems faster, too, and the larger screen also helps with photos (natch). But the big question is: what about the video?

Well, I'm pleased to report that the video rocks. Works as advertised: no compromises, no fuss, no mess.

To test the iPod, I purchased a few music videos from iTMS; they synched right over, came right up, and looked fabulous on the 2.5" screen. Richard invested in an iPod TV cable, so we've tested the device while it drives his 35" Sony TV. And that looks fine, too - roughly VHS quality. It won't win any DVD bake-offs in the picture-sharpness department, but that's OK.

Small complaint: I'd like to be able to build 'video playlists' that would let me gang together a string of music videos, say, so I could drive a TV (or group of TVs) at a party. (I fully expect this capability in future versions of iTunes.) Right now, iTunes will let you drag videos into standard playlists, but the iPod only plays their audio track. If you want to see video, you have to go in through the "Video" menu on the device, and spin 'em up one at a time.

Richard, ever exuberant for shiny new stuff, has been toying with all manner of content (and is now officially hooked on "Lost", which kills me - he bought two episodes to see what it was like, and then wound up purchasing the entire first season), and we're both surprised to see how quickly the blogosphere has embraced the iPod video format. As I've posted previously, Cinecast now does an iPod-compatible video podcast, and the guys at Diggnation are going to support the iPod, too. And while it might seem silly to have these kinds of one-off, super-niche broadcasts available in video on your iPod, it's actually really cool. I watched the interview with Bill Joy on a recent NerdTV while on the bus. It's great.

And, in fact, I suspect that short-form, two-to-five minute content ("snackable content" as the guys from AtomFilms put it at Web 2.0) will be the rage on iPods. Think of funny, short-form Flash animations (JibJab, anyone?) or quickie segments from Cartoon Network like the Aqua Teens. This stuff will quickly be converted and made available for iPod download, and then you can share it with your friends. Each of you gets an earbud; both of you get the laugh. Anywhere. No laptop or desktop PC needed.

(In fact, given the proliferation of home video cameras these days, I expect fun short films from friends to find iPod/RSS distribution in no time. It's like a grassroots cable or satellite TV network.)

For my part, I've been converting a bunch of fun videos to keep on my 'pod - news clips from Pacific Rim Network (5.7 MB QuickTime) or KUGS (7.3 MB QuickTime), as well as that time I went bungy jumping with Cale.

So, yeah, I've fallen in love with this thing. If you're on the fence about buying one, I strongly suggest you get one in your hands. It's hard to do it real justice until you're holding it yourself.

(And, by the way - if you want an excellent, in-depth review of this puppy, check out Ars Technica. They da bomb.)

Posted by Gavin Shearer at October 23, 2005 8:51 PM. Posted to Apple.

Comments

Posted by: Allie at October 24, 2005 9:53 AM

Posted by: Alan Skerrett at October 25, 2005 5:05 AM

Posted by: Richard Barrett at October 25, 2005 2:09 PM

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