Et tu, video iPod?

Gary Krakow Columnist • E-mail

Wow! A video iPod. I can’t wait to get my hands on one. Bet you feel the same way. (Apple is betting on that, too.)

I’m afraid, however, that after the initial coolness factor wears off, the video iPod will wind up in the same dresser drawer as the Zvue, the Zen and other portable video devices that have come and gone over the years.

Don't get me wrong: If there's any chance of a portable video device being a smashing success, I think Apple has the best shot of making it happen. But the new video iPod so far doesn't seem different enough from many similar past devices that underestimated the public’s willingness to embrace a portable unit that requires a home computer.

Let’s look at the iPod. The original one, that is. Apple wasn’t the first to market a portable compressed music file player — but they took the idea and ran with it. They designed a beautiful device with a lot of storage and figured out how to wean people away from illegally downloading music files for free and convince them to willingly spend a buck a song to download songs legally. The rest is history.

But video is a very different medium — and I don't just mean the moving pictures. MP3s originally became popular because they allowed people to listen to the songs they wanted. People were reacting to having to buy a $15 CD when all they wanted to listen to was one song on the album.

TV is basically free already. Yes, people pay monthly fees for cable and satellite services, but for the most part, millions still watch network TV shows every night. Some record them on VCRs. Others record shows on DVRs (digital video recorder) like TiVo, etc. Still others are content to wait for a rerun to catch a show they’ve missed.

Apple and ABC are betting that you’re willing to pay. If you miss an ABC show you’ll be able to buy that episode for $1.99 the next day. I'm not saying that there isn't some video people will pay for — the music fans who flock to iTunes may very well be willing to pay for special programming such as music videos, movie shorts and even movies, plus items they can’t watch anywhere else for any price. But the TV shows they could watch for free the day before? We'll see.

Then there’s the iPods themselves. As terrific as they are for listening to music, I’m not sure everyone will be as thrilled to watch a video on such a small screen. I realize that you’ll also be able to watch the near-DVD quality video files downloaded from iTunes on your computer’s monitor screen, which is why the ABC deal may be of bigger importance than the video iPod itself. But this is supposed to be about portable video players and I'm just not sure how many people will be satisfied with watching Eva Longoria on a 2 1/2 inch screen.

You can listen to your iPod at work, at home, at the gym, in the car. Basically, that means everywhere. But watching your iPod might not be as convenient. It will be tough to watch at work or while jogging. And in the car? Passengers, yes. Drivers, no.

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