October 12th, 2005
Apple adds video to their multimedia platform
Apple hasn’t bought into the Web 2.0 hype like the other high profile Internet companies have - Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, eBay, Amazon. I don’t recall seeing any Apple products or announcements at the Web 2.0 Conference and I don’t think they’ve officially used the term ‘Web 2.0′ in any of their promotional literature (someone correct me if I’m wrong). I think that’s because Apple has such a strong and unique brand. In any case, Apple is doing some very Web 2.0 things - for example the iTunes to iPod symbiosis is a perfect example of building a Web platform that extends from handheld devices to web servers. Tim O’Reilly likes to call this "software above the level of a single device". Unfortunately Apple’s Web platform is a closed system, so it’s not totally Web 2.0…
Today Apple’s charismatic CEO Steve Jobs spoke publicly about Apple’s latest innovations - an iPod video and a new thinner all-in-one iMac. Perhaps most importantly, iTunes has been beefed up to complement the video iPod. The iTunes service will offer $1.99 mainstream movies and music videos, together with ABC tv shows such as Lost and Desparate Housewives.
"The music players, which come in black or white with a 2.5-inch screen, will be available in a 30GB model for $299 and a 60GB version for $399. The new devices hold up to 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos or more than 150 hours of video, Apple said."
It’s notable that the iPod is still being marketed mainly as a music player, with photos and videos played down slightly by Jobs. But adding more multimedia to the Apple platform is a great move and will no doubt pay dividends long-term. Short-term though, people will probably wonder why they need to buy yet another iPod ;-)
