AppleTV and DIVX, Peas in a Pod

When people talk about video format wars, they think of VHS vs Beta or Blue-ray vs HD DVD. There's a forgotten war in there - DVD vs DIVX. Most people see the letter "DIVX" and think of the unrelated compression method, but there actually was a disk format and distribution model of the same name. (ed note: Changed from a statement that made it sound like the compression method and disk format were identical)

DIVX was proposed as an alternative to video rentals. You'd go and buy a DIVX disk for a small fee (under $5) and then go home and put it in your DIVX player. You'd have 48 hours to watch it. When you were done you could either:

1. Throw it away since you'd never watch it again (like The Box, oh man I don't think I've seen a worse movie in ages!)
2. Pay a fee to watch it again over the next couple of days 
3. Pay a license fee to watch it unlimited amount of times. 

You'd pay by entering your credit card number into your DIVX box and then send it along a phone line to DIVX central for processing.
 
Forgetting the horribly wasteful practice of buying a disc and tossing it out (like The Box...seriously...bad!), there are so many problems with this model that seem glaringly obvious from the outset. Paying each time you're watching something? Paying a fee after you've bought it so you can watch it over and over again? Hooking up a separate phone line to pay to watch these discs (This was in the days before fast internet and wireless networks in homes)? Never mind the fact that most people then weren't comfortable sending their credit card information over a phone line, there were enough "This is a bad idea" moments before you ever got to that part.

Fast forward almost a decade, and Apple has launched the new version of AppleTV as a set top box where you can rent content that is sent down to the box, but not stored there. Once you're done, you have to rent it again or go to another machine, buy it there, and then stream it from that machine (or copy to a DVD) so you can watch it on your TV.

Sound familiar? To me this sure sounds like the DIVX model. Today people are more comfortable sending credit card information online, and there are more wireless networks in homes, but it's still locking people into a closed loop system where you have to pay per use. And the AppleTV doesn't even have the unlimited license model. It's ALL rental.

This seems like a huge step backwards, actually removing features from the AppleTV that made it a media hub and instead turning it into a video version of the Kindle. Now, I like the Kindle, but imagine if there was an iPad-like Kindle which was discontinued and replaced with the current one. Most people would consider this a downgrade.

Combine this with Apple's continued neglect of the iPod Classic, and we're seeing a shift in Apple's philosophy. The idea of having devices that provide access to your entire media library is fading away, being replaced with a type of rental model - Renting from the service in the case of AppleTV, and also renting from your own library to fill devices with smaller storage capacity.

I've written before about how I would love to see a cloud-based media distribution model between Apple devices. This is still a possibility, but it's feeling like we're more likely to see a closed loop model, with Apple being the alpha and omega.

The iTunes Icon - The Bigger Picture

In all the griping about the iTunes icon (which is the stupidest thing ever, like complaining over the shape of a banana), people are missing something.

First, here's the icon:

Now look at it with:

The iMovie Icon

The iDVD icon

The Quicktime Icon

And for fun, the Time Machine icon.

And Safari icon






A clearly defined edge, deep blue/green on the outside, moving into a light, almost pupil-and-iris like effect.

You might not like the icon, but it's consistent.

Apple and Classic Rock

First of all, here's a picture of a mess.

This is our CD collection, a combined 40 years of collecting music and recordings. There are some radio plays in there, but for the most part it's recordings ranging from classical music to avant-garde jazz, goth, industrial, punk, mod. Also all the shelves of CDs are doubled up, so there's a whole other world behind the one you see. It's also a mess, I know, but I'm doing the big re-alphabetization at some point over the next few weeks. And of course I have a lot of this imported into my iTunes, and I have bought a lot of music there also.

There are three reason why I show this:

1. I am a collector and avid consumer of music.
2. To show that this is just a sampling of everything that I listen to
3. To make the following point even more impressive: I haven't imported all of this onto my computer yet. I've barely imported fifty percent.

Some call it bulky and outmoded, but for me the iPod Classic is a necessity. I'm currently on my third, and only one of those actually wore out. The second, a 60 GB model, still works fine but my collection was at the point where any time I got my hands on new music I had to go through my library to figure out what I could take off to make space. This defeated the purpose of the iPod, which was the ability to carry my music collection with me.

Most people say to me "Well, you could never listen to all that music." Well, not to be too pithy, but damn straight I can! A big part of this comes from having a pretty broad taste in music. Some days I might listen to nothing but Charles Mingus, but at 4 PM get a sudden urge to listen to Pavement or At the Drive-In. I can't plan these moments, and it might be low level OCD or ADD but if that music isn't there, my concentration (and mood) is shot.

With their latest announcement, Apple made changes to all their iPod models except for the Classic. This is not surprising. I've felt for a while that they're waiting for flash drives to get to an affordable price point before completely killing the Classic, which uses a solid state drive not unlike the one in your computer.

What's depressing is that by selling the Classic out in the presentation, they've shown that they plan to make the iPod Touch the top-of-the line model. I think this is borne out by the fact that they have broken the 60 GB storage barrier on the Touch and iPhone.

There is a huge problem with this that I worry they haven't thought out. The Classic serves a very specific purpose as a portable music library. The Touch is a mini computer that runs apps and plays music, essentially an underpowered iPhone.

Now, let's say my iPod Classic dies in two years, which is highly possible. Let's say at this point they have a 120 GB iPod Touch. The thing is that I (and a not insignificant number of people) already have an iPhone. So what Apple would be expecting me to do is to buy a completely redundant device so that I can continue to listen to the music collection that I currently have.

It's highly possible that by this time there would also be a 120GB iPhone, so why not just upgrade that? That's a fine concept and also seems to suggest that purchasing a new phone is a completely trivial and affordable task. In Canada, at least, this is not the case - $700 (unlocked) would be more than I paid for my first iPod, and I'm not interested in continually renewing my phone service for another three years because I finally got the Stax collection and that's pushed me over the storage edge. Let's also consider battery life because I'll want to be able to listen to music all day and make a call later.

Ideally I'd like to see the iPod Classic become like the Nano, where the screen is elongated and becomes a touch based interface. What I don't want to see is the Classic get completely dropped for a redundant device, or force me into a whole new series of decisions about who I want to pay bills to for the next decade. I've always felt that one of Apple's strengths was its ability to create products that had clear lines of demarcation between their intended markets, and this does not play to that strength.


Also disappointing was Steve Jobs passing up the chance to use his pulpit to try to encourage companies to come up with affordable high capacity flash drives. It has been well documented that a few words from Jobs can change production priorities at hardware manufacturers. He's also used his keynotes as opportunities to air his grievances with different manufacturers (remember that he called Blu-ray "A bag of hurt").  It would have been nice to have some indication that the Classic WOULD have gotten a refresh, except SOMEONE dropped the ball.

I was looking through my copy of America: The Book by The Daily Show. It was printed in 2004, and at one point they discuss what should be in a time capsule from our era. One suggestion was an iPod, which, as they described it, saved Apple from being bought out by Microsoft for a couple of years. Today that's not funny: Consensus is that the iPod saved Apple by creating a need for a very specific device for a very certain person. It's a shame to see not only that Apple didn't see fit to dance with the one that brought them, but didn't even give them an idea about how they were going to get home after the music stopped.