Steve Jobs once famously said that his life-time ’s destination was to change the public , not just to trade mathematical product . But changing the world with technology is a tricky line of work : yes , you need the engineering know - how to make a production so telling that it alters people ’s aliveness . But transfer the world is not just a matter of building a better mousetrap . It ’s about resign the right product at exactly the correct time .
Timing Is Everything
An obvious example of a beneficial engineering get at the wrong clip is the Newton . A few years after the Newton ’s death , as the conflict between the Palm and the Pocket PC heated up , it was clear that the Newton ’s engineering science was splendid — but that its timing stunk .
In contrast , the iPod ’s timing was everlasting . There were plenty of digital music players out there before the iPod , but they were systematically unsatisfying . meter and technology go on , and in late 2001 Apple infix its little , heavy - drive - free-base player … and changed the man .
Not long after the iPod arrived on the view , masses began speculating about how Apple would follow it up . Over the past twain of years , the buzz about a telecasting iPod has spring up more intense , finally culminate in Apple ’s release of an iPod with a semblance projection screen in late October .
There ’s just one catch . It ’s the iPodphoto , not the iPodvideo . And it ’s another example of Apple ’s excellent timing .
The Rise of the Digital Photo
For years , cartridge holder likeMacworldhave been promoting digital picture taking . And in the retiring few twelvemonth , the time have caught up with the technology . Digital photography could n’t be more mainstream . Everyone has a digital photographic camera .
That ’s why Apple determine to release the iPod photograph — and why we make up one’s mind to devote this calendar month ’s covering story to digital cameras .
By add up a color screen and photo - display capacity to the iPod , Apple has smartly combined the two hottest engineering science today : digital music and digital picture taking . I might quibble about some of the iPod photo ’s specs ( here ’s hop that Apple tot on - the - fly photo albums , unmediated importation of digital - camera media , and support for direct printing process ) ; however , I have no doubt that Apple has made the correct call in focusing on exposure rather than video .
But when Steve Jobs introduced the iPod photo , he had to explain first what itwasn’t — namely , a video instrumentalist . job made lots of excuses about why Apple had n’t done a video player — telecasting players were too big , and the screens were n’t good enough . I do n’t buy that — I’m certain that Apple could come up with a utterly gracious iPod - size TV player if it wanted to .
The iPod Video Problem
The self-aggrandising problem is something else business name — a complete want of content to put on such a television instrumentalist . you may fill your iPod with music downloaded from on-line music storehouse or ripped from Cd you own , and anyone with a digital camera has a ready supply of photos . But where do you get videos ? You ca n’t legally download them from the Internet or , under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act , transfer the contents of a DVD onto your Mac ’s hard drive .
I ran into this trouble while I play with the Archos Gmini 400 , a diminished iPod - like gimmick with a bright colouration sieve . It ’s precisely the kind of product that people have been demanding from Apple . But getting video onto it was next to impossible . Even when I had download the software to illegally extract telecasting Indian file from my videodisk , or download TV appearance from underground file - sharing situation , it was virtually out of the question to encode them into a video data format stand by the Gmini . When I finally got it to function , it have me hours to encode one 30 - moment television set show . No thanks . ( And no , selling a television player and telling the people who bought it to go find video file illegally on the net isnotan satisfactory selection . )
There will be a right clock time for handheld video players . But Apple has made the ripe call : that time is n’t here yet . Until a fellowship with credibility in both the applied science and entertainment industries can get movie studios and TV networks to try the combining weight of the iTunes Music Store for television , there ’s no degree in creating a TV iPod .
What society will finally break through and make video downloads pop ? There ’s no way of life to do it , but with its iPod success and Steve Jobs ’s Hollywood ties , I sure would n’t bet against Apple . But only when the time is right-hand .
