The video-capable iPod in Australia: initial impressions after showing LOST, Desperate Housewives from iTunes Music Store and my own videos for the first time

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The video-capable iPod in Australia: initial impressions after showing LOST, Desperate Housewives from iTunes Music Store and my own videos for the first time

Date Created: 25 Oct, 2005, 12:49 AM

At tonight's (Monday) meeting in Melbourne of the internet Macintosh Users group (iMUG) I had the chance to be amongst the first in the country to demonstrate the 5G video-capable iPod.

And unless someone has flown in from the US in the last few days with either Desperate Housewives (DH) or Lost loaded from the iTunes Music Store, this was probably the first Australian showing of these top-rating shows on an iPod.

I picked up a a 60GB Current model iPod from Apple in St.Kilda Junction later this afternoon. I had about two hours to load it up with the iTMS TV shows before presenting.

It was not quite a piece of cake. Fortunately, Apple gave me permission to wipe the iPod clean so as to link it with my Powerbook. I naively tried initially to drag the copies of Lost and DH to the iPod with no luck.

In order to restore it to factory settings, I used the last of my monthly internet allowance from my ISP, iinet, to download the 37MB iPod updater, then applied it, keeping the same name (Apple's iPod)

Yet still the videos wouldn't load, repeatedly display an "unauthorised" message. Eventually, I authorised it via the iTMS using my password, evidently yet another way to prevent copying.

But the TV shows would still not play, only showing their artwork while appearing to play. Then I remembered I had set the video setting of TV out to "on" when exploring the controls. Setting it to "off" finally displayed the TV shows.

And what clarity of display!

Those who dismissed the quality based on pixel count, the 320 x 240 dimensions, or on principle alone - without the ocular proof - are doing themselves and any readers of such bloggers are disservice: the screen is magnificent.

Both at iMUG and afterwards at my folkdance session, people were mesmerised by its quality, and knew they were seeing the start of something unstoppable. Many knew of the video-capable iPod ahead of time, and were curious to see it in action, and they were not disappointed.

I showed the TV shows as part of my "What's New" segment for the iMUG presentation, firstly in the small left hand corner of iTunes, then expanded it to full screen on the Sony data projector. Most watching it were deeply impressed, a testament to the remarkable quality of the H.264 codec, which could scale from the 2.5" iPod screen to 6 foot video display.

I had some folk dance videos still sitting in iMovie in raw DV form, so I used the iPod export function to record an .m4v to download to the iPod in 25fps quality. Very smooth and impressive. A 2.5 minute video came in at about 12MB. On my own website, I encode these at 15fps, mono, 22khz and they come in around 4.5MB.

(Click on the pic. right, to enlarge for a better view)

Once we'd gotten over the sight of TV shows and dances, it was time to give some thought to its uses.

Already, I can see travelogues and city guides, "how-to" video manuals, continuing education for professions (Oh, how I wish I could talk my own society out of going down the Windows Media Player route, forever playing the Microsoft tax, but I fear it's a lost cause, no pun intended), sporting events, coaching workshops, and a variety of niche endeavours, like video dating or school reunion activities.

I expect we'll see film makers turn their attention to the iPod and create content specifically for its dimensions and capacities.

With Apple's Keynote software exporting to Quicktime, and allowing self playing presentations, it will be easy for conferences to upload lectures, symposia and keynotes for sale or member-only access. It will also mean presenters will have to modify their slides, leaving aside too much text, in favour of simple graphics and bold minimal text.

Frankly, the uses for this iPod are endless and open to the creative imagination. I have no doubt TV stations are already gearing up to leap on the iTunes express, with individual countries cutting their own deals with Apple.

In my rather easily-persuaded mind, and certainly with many others who saw it tonight, Apple has a winner on its hands, and we are at the threshold of some seismic shifts in technology.

Tomorrow, I am so tempted to hop a tram during peak hour to return the iPod, and gauge the reactions of the school children and young adults when they see the iPod in the flesh for the first time. Now to download the latest Lost to enhance the experience.

Many thanks to Apple Australia (Melbourne) and its Struan Robertson for making the iPod available for demo tonight.

Perhaps on Tuesday, Australian will hear good news about the opening of the iTunes Music Store shortly. But maybe without Lost and the desperadoes from Wysteria Lane.