WiredPen

The Street is bullish on Apple. Oh, My, i s right. I remember when Apple could do nothing right … OK, not going there.

While Wall Street’s having a cow over Apple’s
recent 20% top-line upside preannouncement and the news that it shipped
14 million iPods, the real story for Apple is truly, simply, digital
downloads…

Eight million video downloads in the first couple of months they were offered, as the video iPod was just being rolled out. Eight million video downloads, despite the fact that there’s hardly any video content available yet on iTunes….

pple’s just barely begun offering video downloads. It’s maybe sold 5 million video-enabled iPods thus far. So what happens when Apple’s video iPod hits critical mass? Say, when 10 million people have a video iPod? And what happens when Apple offers enough video content on iTunes that it hits critical mass? Say, 5,000 different shows and movies? And what happens when Apple’s hardware fully integrates into your living room home theater system?

Where are we headed? Convergence. Convergence. Convergence.
(tip)
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Lusting after the latest video iPod, but you just bought a Nano? Check out iSee, which turns "any iPod, iPod mini or iPod nano into a full-fledged video recorder/player." In effect, your iPod becomes a hard-drive after you slip it into the iSee 360 "wrapper" with its 3.6" high quality LCD screen. The $249 unit attaches to the iPod via its USB (universal serial bus) connection port; iPod Shuffle is not supported.

The Financial Times reports that Disney is adding "near-instant replays of the current ‘Bowl’ series of American football games and news from its ABC television network" to the offerings for video iPod owners. NBC made some programs available last month, including the Tonight Show; CBS and Fox are expected to follow. At this writing, two Bowl games are available - Fiesta and Sugar (from 2 Jan). Each is $1.99.

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