More of my sites

WinInfo Daily News
SuperSite for Windows
Windows IT Pro Magazine
Connected Home
Thurrott Dot Com
Windows Weekly at TWIT

About this site

For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

The IPod's New Trick: Photo Show

Readers will be surprised to find out that Apple suck-up David Pogue just loves the innovative new iPod Photo.

All right, Apple. The iPod has 92 percent of the market for high-capacity music players. You sold two million of them in the last quarter alone. Your music store, whose songs play only on the iPod, has 70 percent of the online song sales market, and you've just rolled it out in 10 new countries. What on earth do you do for an encore?

You rip off one of the ideas from the Portable Media Center (PMC)?

Apple ... takes the iPod concept in a new direction that's simultaneously risky and overwhelmingly natural. Instead of just playing your music, this model also shows off your photos.

Ooh, innovative! Note that this is a new direction only for Apple. Three other companies have released PMCs recently that do photos and more.

Of course, a two-inch display isn't what you'd call a billboard; it's no bigger than the screen on the back of a digital camera.

Right, that's why PMC screens are twice the size.

Fortunately, you can also connect the iPod Photo to a TV.

Again, just like a PMC.

As it turns out, the existing iPod's design, originally conceived for music, lends itself beautifully to photo shows.

Of course it does. Assuming you're 2 inches tall or enjoy watching slideshows on a postage stamp-sized screen.

But here comes my favorite part. This is where Pogue definitively explains the iPod in language that is both honest and correct.

But as about six million people now know, buying an iPod isn't a rational decision. It appeals to people's emotions, their creativity, and even their vanity. It's not a machine, it's a personal accessory. In fact, it's practically jewelry.

So there you go. If you're into style, go iPod. If you actually care about digital photos--and digital video and recorded TV shows--on the go, get a Portable Media Center. It's the logical choice.

[ Posted at 8:45 PM | Permalink ]