Scoble: Steve Jobs doesn't buy into the idea of the video IPOD much.
Yes, you'll see a lot of people on flights watching DVDs on their laptops or kids in the backseat watching a movie on a road trip. You'll even see some people on the train commuting each morning watching a movie, as these become more popular.
But Steve Jobs is right - there is a fundamental difference in the way we consume music and movies. Watching video requires a degree of attention - and a visual attention at that - that is not required when you listen to music.
When's the last time you saw the driver watching a movie?
I'm not trying to imply that there's no market for portable video devices. In fact, as you can probably tell from my many posts on similar devices recently, it's definitely something I'm interested in. I just don't think it will work with many of these designs.
Why?
They're just too big. Part of the reason that the IPOD is so successful is that it's small. There are few devices out there that are as compact and hold as much as the IPOD. I'm willing to pay the premium (both in cost and in knowing I now own an Apple product <g>) because I can (a lot of) my music with me everywhere and not even notice I have it there.
Before I bought the IPOD last year, I owned one of the 6GB Archos Jukebox Studios. It was great at the time - more compact than the Nomad - but it was still too bulky. As a result, I mostly used it on my commute or when sitting in the office. Rarely did I ever take it with me when I walked around. In fact, I even bought a solidstate player (which I later replaced with my PocketPC) to use at the gym, simply because I got tired of carrying this behemoth around.
If I do buy something though, I want one device with all of my media - both music and movies and pictures and so on. I want it to be compact and portable enough to use the way I would use my MP3 player now. I want a a screen that's maybe a little bigger but thant he current IPOD's (but not big enough to increase the devices physical size), for those times when I'm on a plane and willing to watch a movie on a 3“ screen.
And with the video out capabilities, when I'm in a my car which has a 12“ LCD screen, I can plug it in and watch my media. Or when I'm in the hotel room, for example.
Who knows, maybe one day all planes will have personal LCDs in front of you and you can plug it in there. I think some of the strides you'll see in electronic paper and OLED displays and so on are going to change the playing field in this space drastically over the next couple of years.
On the other hand, I do agree with Robert that Apple is missing out on the Tablet PC market. I've said this for awhile (well, since I got my IPOD) - Apple knows how to make a portable device. All that design is nice in the home, but it's even better and more important on a portable device. I'd love to see what they bring to the table for the tablets and push the entire market forward.