The Mac Observer had an opportunity Wednesday afternoon to speak with Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox, who offered his thoughts on Appleis media event that morning, which saw the release of the video iPod, iTunes 6 and a slimmed-down iMac. He was positive about all three, noting that the new iPod "is a good start."
Mr. Wilcox added: "Apple is basically starting another market, like the way they did with music. With a video-capable iPod, I didnit see how Apple could do it without content, but it looks like they have that under control. Weill see how the other networks respond."
The analyst remarked that US$1.99 per TV show "seems reasonable. If you missed a show, you can get it for two bucks." However, Apple is charging the same price for music videos, which were previously included with the accompanying single. Now the song used in the video is an additional purchase, which means that it costs an extra $0.99 to obtain the same amount of digital material.
"I think there are people who will pay two bucks for a music video," Mr. Wilcox said. "Some of them are very entertaining. Itis also not unusual to see two versions of popular CDs, one with just the tracks and one, for five or six bucks extra, with music videos. So it isnit like thereis no precedent here."
As for the possibility of Apple selling movies, he responded: "Apple has all the content it needs right now."
New iMac is iCompetitively Pricedi
Mr. Wilcox described the new low-end iMac as "a good value for $1,299. Itis loaded up. And with Front Row and Photo Booth, itis competitively priced against media center PCs."
Thereis been some buzz on the Internet about Apple going further with the media center idea and possibly giving consumers the ability to stream content from their computers to their TVs. Mr. Wilcox, however, noted that "some people might want to put the iMac in their living room. Apple recognizes that people might want to use a remote control when playing music and video on their computers."
Michael Gartenberg, one of Mr. Wilcoxis colleagues at Jupiter Research, noted in his blog that Apple has confirmed the existence of video out ports on the new iMacs. "Itis possible to hook one up easily to a TV set and use the remote control for the big screen experience," he wrote.
Mr. Gartenberg also verified with Apple that the video iPod can play back any QuickTime videos that have 320 x 240 resolution. "Very cool if youire using an eyeTV from ElGato to record your TV shows on the Macintosh platform," he remarked.