Good thing or bad thing and why?
You can download current television shows within 24 hours of their first airing:
Can of worms or can of whoopass?
You decide.
If you’re downloading it, I hope it isn’t a can of worms…
Depends on the show.
What exactly are you wondering about?
Currently you can download a show illegally and what you get is a full, stereo DVD quality copy of the show you can watch full screen on your computer or output to your TV. An entirely satisfying experience. But illegal.
Or, some broadcasters are starting to put shows on the net, in which case they’re streamed, and you have to squint at a tiny little box on your screen with jumpy video and crappy sound. No thanks.
With the iPod, apparently they expect you to pay for an episode of your favorite TV show, and you can download it, but you still have to squint at a tiny little screen. No thanks. However, it’s prolly OK for things like news programs, unless Anderson Cooper starts broadcasting in the nude, in which case I’d pay, but I want full screen.
What I’m waiting for, is the ability to pay for a show, download it to my iPod, then watch it full screen on my computer or TV. Can we do that yet? At the same quality as we can illegally download shows currently?
I’d pay a buck or two to download my favorite shows and have them been in their current high quality. It’s cheaper and more convenient than waiting for the DVDs, in which case I have to buy a whole season.
Right now I’d say it’s a big can of “cool, but whatever.”
All downloads from the iTunes Music Store are currently only at 320x240 resolution. (They do have full stereo, though.) So probably not the same quality.
You can watch them on your computer first; in fact, that’s the idea. You download them via iTunes and then watch them there, and optionally can sync them to your new iPod if it plays video. Blogs and news sites are oversimplifying the Apple announcement somewhat, making it sound as if the video goes straight to the iPod, when Jobs was careful to show all video playing on an iMac first, and then synced to the iPod to show that they use the same interface.
And to answer the OP: it’s neither, yet. At the moment, the implementation is pretty limited. This is just Apple getting their feet wet, making deals with huge media companies, and establishing themselves as content providers for video as well as music. If you look at it just as downloading an episode of “That’s So Raven” to watch on an iPod screen, it seems pretty boneheaded. When you look at the bigger picture, it’s ingenious.
Seems like kind of a small screen to enjoy watching for very long. I’d get the new iPod because, while it’s small, the screen’s still bigger than the last iteration, and flipping through some photos once in a while, or just having nicer text to look at is a plus. But an hour of TV holding an iPod a foot from my face? Why would anyone want to do that? And given the poor quality of the video, why would you blow it up on your iMac screen? You could just watch it on your crappy old TV, and it would still look better. Is the demand for shows so great that someone would pay two bucks for something they could record on a VCR or DVR for free?
They double the resolution and offer more shows for a buck a piece, then it might be interesting. Otherwise, total waste of time.
I think it’s cool until they start forcing commercials in.
I’ve downloaded TV episodes before (and ended up buying the DVD sets later!!) and I found the quality to be excellent and the lack of commercials to be refreshing. I wouldn’t pay any money to see a show over the internet if it includes commercials. If I’m being forced to watch advertising, they should be paying me!
Fair enough, but TV is AFAIK, 640x480, so iTunes video isn’t cutting it. If I’m going to pay for a song, I want full quality, and if I’m going to pay for a show, I also want full quality. Don’t severely handicap my media experience, and expect me to pay for it.
Come to think of it, if all I need is iTunes to download and watch a TV show, what do I even need a video iPod for, except as a temporary storage medium? These days you can get a little keychain for your car keys that stores a GB.
Some of us don’t live in an area where we can receive broadcast television. I only watch 2 or 3 shows regularly, so it’s cheaper for me to pay $2/episode x 3 shows x 22 eps/year = $132/yr for those shows than it is to pay $20/month for cable.
However, it’s even easier and higher quality to just wait until they come out on DVD. And that’s if I want to be legal. There are plenty of HD captures available to download for free. Call me when the quality doesn’t suck.
How about a can of Whipped Wormy Ass?
There’s a nice article in today’s New York Times about the iPod, if anyone’s interested.
One thing I hadn’t realized. This is the iPod. It’s not a new, separate model line. If you want a new iPod, it’s going to do video, period.
This thing can be plugged directly into your TV. Yah!
I’m betting it won’t be long before the iPod can accept and playback video at higher resolutions, and in that case, this is a pretty nifty device. you could easily put a season or two of your favorite TV shows on this thing, and never be bored at the doctor’s office again.
You know what would be even cooler? Video games! Who needs one of those Sony or Nintendo handhelds? Why not create an optional little controller for this thing, and open it up to all the games you can play on your Mac anyway?