Apple's iPod Video Conditioning the Market for Cellphone Video

I have always been quite bearish on the "Video on Cell Phone Opportunity" that VCs and entrepreneurs have been shouting about for the last few years. My core issue was the screen size. However, I witnessed something on a recent plane ride that both blew my mind and began to ever so slightly crack open my skepticism on the phenomenon.

I was sitting on a plane and witnessed 4 kids watch full length videos on their iPods. They were zoned in. Why did it make me think that the whole TV on cellphone idea may just happen? iPod, the cultural phenom, is acculturating kids to watching video on small screens. Not just short video clips, but full length films.

Watching full length films on an iPod firmly places personal choice (the video I want to watch) over the convenience of the larger airplane screen with a less compelling movie. In an era of home Hifi theaters with giant screens, I would not have expected that.

Could it be that Apple's iPod Video is conditioning the market to view video on small screens? Might the cell phone vendors and carriers reap much of those rewards?

Comments

[jbelkin]

While a lot of people mock the ipod screen size, the reality is when you DL something, it's actually quite sharp and nice and like most anyhing else, if it's good and interesting, the entertainment still comes through.

The success of the ipod really stems from the right philosophy ... Apple basically said, wouldn't it be cool to be able to carry and listen to a couple thousand songs? (of course, susequent ipods built upon that idea ...) What would we need to do that?

The problem with the competitors is that they held a tiny HDD (or flash drive) and said, what can we build around this to sell to people? The ipod is a portable music device that happens to have a drive ... the others are drives that happen to play music ... that's subtle but in the ultimate test to consumes - it's HUGE.

Same with the cell phone companies - after selling a couple billion devices, has anyone designed anything as easy to use as an ipod OR even had someone said this is a great and simple to use (not exterior design?) ... no?

It is easier to change the date & time on my ipod than it is on my phone ... why did it take 2 software upgrades before it was easier to figure out on the Moto RAZR that you could include several phone numbers for one person instead of a separate listing?

Or that the MS Q phone requires three menu choices and a pull down to select SPEAKERPHONE?

Look at the reviews for CHOCOLATE. Everyone agrees it's a nice and perhaps even a great design but the software and OS portion of the review? I think 'crap' pretty much sums it up.

Until they stop bring a UTILTY and instead of thinking of each customer as a revenue stream (maximize profit, minimize cost), they will end up with the Chocolate ... a good start but then they start cutting corners ... that's why their 'advanced services' have yet to take off ...