Apple's Mystery Event
12 October 2005, mid-afternoon
Apple’s big mystery event is taking place as I type this. So far they have announced new iMacs, and a new Apple remote control, and new video playing iPods! Hot damn. Engadget has quasi live coverage happening. Apple apparently picked a venue with no WiFi or cellular coverage to host the event. I can picture a person running in and out of the building, waving flags to signal what has just been announced.
Update: Apple didn’t mess around with this pre-Christmas product announcement.
You can buy episodes of Lost at $2 a pop from Apple. Sweet Jesus I love Apple. Oh, Shima, you can buy Desperate Housewives too if you are so inclined. Prices are about the same as buying the show on DVD. With DVDs you have to wait till the end of the season; for your paitence you are rewarded with extra features. I think for many people, $2 televisions shows will be a worthwhile purchase. I’m not sure if it will make a dent with the bit torrent crowd though.
The new iMacs look really impressive. They cost the same as the old ones, which makes them more or less unfordable, but they are thinner and feature iSight cameras built in now—not too shabby. I think with the announcement of the Apple remote control and FrontRow, and television show downloads, Apple is trying to position them as alternatives to televisions. They’d definitely work well for kids in dorm rooms and the like, or people like myself.
The new iPod and the iTunes announcements are probably what most people will focus on. Apple has said they wouldn’t make a video iPod because they didn’t think there was any demand for people to watch movies on the go. I don’t like to watch a movie in disjoint chunks, but I know plenty of people who don’t care all that much. I suppose television, which is normally chopped up due to commercials, might be a better fit for video on the go. If the battery life on the new iPods remains as long as it is right now, these new iPods will be pretty slick beasts.
/Ben looks at three month old iMac.
/Ben opens oven, inserts head.
by Ben on October 12 2005, 5:01 pm #
I got an iPod for a friend over the summer with the Student Union promotion. I told her not to believe the speculation that Apple would come out with an iPod with video, and the iPod with photos was here to stay.
And hey Apple, keep the iBook redesigns away for at least two years so I don’t go crazy and buy more computers please.
by bennymoto on October 12 2005, 8:06 pm #
Why would I buy the dvd? :S You’re the one that buys dvds, I just watch normal TV shows when they air.
by sh!ma on October 12 2005, 9:12 pm #
You will buy 320×240 res video for $2 instead of the DVD? Even the stuff off BT is higher res. The only good thing is no ads. Apple is definitely pushing it for the iPod. But who knows.
Frontrow looks sweet. PVR makers beware!
by Sunny on October 12 2005, 9:34 pm #
Nope, I wouldn’t buy the videos for $2. DVDs are a better deal I’d say. Also, the fact that on Bit Torrent you can get HD TV rips is also another strike. I think for a lot of people though it will be a popular service. There must be a large user base of people who have no idea what Bit Torrent is or how it works, but would like to download TV. I think Apple can get this segment no problem. The new iPods are looking slick, video or no video.
by ramanan on October 12 2005, 9:39 pm #
Yeah $2 is way too much for half-res videos. Newly released DVD box sets for a standard 24 episode season usually work out to ~40 bucks so you’d likely be paying more to download ‘em.
Now if they offered something like $5 for a season with a pre-paid, pre-order of the box set for that year, I think I’d prolly do it.
And Ram you’re prolly right, the average consumer would likely pay for this service. I mean with
idiotsconsumers like Diamond spending $50 a month on ringtones…the market is limitless.by haran on October 12 2005, 10:40 pm #
Just imagine if Apple released FrontRow as a standalone app and if it was a Bluetooth remote! Mac mini would make a super PVR!
by Sunny on October 12 2005, 11:41 pm #
I saw this comment on BBC and I thought you might be amused:
“What’s all this malarkey about iPods? Back in my day I had a transistor radio which I would tape to my head and listen to Radio 4. If I wanted stereo surround sound I would tape another transistor to the other ear. Happy days. And what’s this about Giga Bites? I had my shots when I went to the Isle of White. Will this protect me from being bitten by a Giga? It’s all too complicated…”
by martha on October 13 2005, 6:30 pm #
It seems that 320×240 is not too bad.
The fact that such a low resolution is even viewable fullscreen speaks volumes of H.264 as an encoder. It really is better than anything else at the moment if you are a content creator.
The only glitch is that you better have dual G5s. On my latest rev PB it takes 14 hours to rip a DVD and encode it with H.264. I have no intention of frying my laptop.
by Sunny on October 16 2005, 7:51 am #