Supercession
So, the new iPods are out. As the rumour sites had been alternately predicting and denying, they play videos. The American iTunes Music Store has an arrangement with both ABC and Disney to offer such shows as Lost and Desperate Housewives as 320×240 movies for US$2 each.
So do I get one? To replace the struggling battery on my current iPod would cost me $100; the 30GB iPod is now $403 for a student and the 60GB is $538. And you can get them in black. Hmmm. I was kind of hoping that the iPod would have a widescreen, that would just be a very tall display normally, and then be turned on its side to watch TV. But that would have made it kind of a long iPod. The new ones are quite small, thinner than they’ve ever been before.
The idea of watching my innumerable TV DVDs re-encoded for iPod use on the train is appealing, but having black bars on an already teeny screen seems a waste. I also have a certain reluctance to get the ‘first generation’ of iPods with video.
Meanwhile my lovely iMac was superceded — the new ones come with built in webcams, a remote control (and software to show large-type menu options when using it) and a few smaller additions/subtractions. I’m vaguely jealous, but I’m also aware that this moment of supecession must come to all technology. Imagine how my iPod feels.
So… to iPod or not to iPod?
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Andy
October 13th, 2005 at 12:38 am
I recommend you buy a DS (a pink or white or grey one would help complete our colour collection) but since you’ve already got iPod germs, you might as well get one of them.
The encoding program for the GBAMP has a box called fullscreen, which when ticked, zooms in so there are no black bars. Stuff is lost off the sides, but it is better than black bars.
Do you think that the second generation ones are going to be that much of an improvement of the first that they’re worth waiting for? Or that the Apple makes shoddy first gen stuff? Will you take arms against a sea of troubles?
Tom
October 13th, 2005 at 12:56 am
Stop saying that.
Apple have indeed been known to make shoddy first gen stuff — it saddens me to say it but it’s true. In this case however I might be over-reacting as they’re just expanding on a tried and true formula.
I wouldn’t have said that losing information is better than black bars. I don’t like to think that I’m missing out on things.
I’m currently 50/50 on the iPod buying. I need to confer with all my inner council. I’ll also wait until I’ve seen how easy it is to make movies for the iPod from DVDs and such.
Andy
October 13th, 2005 at 1:48 am
You’ll be missing out on detail if you have black bars.
Stock market analysts have upgraded DS to BUY. DSs are predicted to go up more in value than shares in Nintendo.
Would you go 30GB or 60GB?
Tom
October 13th, 2005 at 4:04 am
I’m missing out on insane amounts of detail at 320 by 240 anyhow. May as well get an idea of the big picture.
The 60GB iPod has a better battery life; 20 hours rather than 14 for songs, and 3 hours rather than 2 for video. Having recently been burned by batteries (metaphorically, not like Andrew), that tempts me. But it’s $140 extra for just that, really, as I’m unlikely to use all the space.
The big disappointment with these iPods is the lack of Firewire. You stinky PC users with your lack of Firewire cards have made Apple hurt us!
Making a Buffy episode into an iPod ready video takes about 2 hours.
andy
October 13th, 2005 at 5:47 am
I have a firewire card. Clearly Apple doesn’t love you if it won’t support firewire.
That size screen works best with animation I’ve found. The Simpsons or Futurama compress well and are still easy to watch. Shows set entirely at night or in space like Above and Beyond are hard to see in daylight.
$140 is almost justifiable for the better battery life. If you spent more on cds you could justify spending more on an iPod.
2 hours is a slow encoding time. The GBAMP program (admittedly only for 240×160 video) can do 40 mins of encoding in just over an hour on my computer. You’ll be able to batch encode and leave your computer on overnight.
Tom
October 13th, 2005 at 9:10 am
I’ve encoded the first episode of Buffy and it looks OK. Now I’m tempted. The plus with my encoding was that it was bigger, in stereo with mpeg4 sound and didn’t skip all the time like yours does. Well, like it did when I saw it that time.
$400 is just small enough to think of as a semi-almost-nearly-casual purchase. $540 isn’t. It’s over half a grand.
Andy
October 13th, 2005 at 6:23 pm
Buy a DS, stinky iPod man. That should show up nicely on the front page.
iPods play at 30 frames per second. Some might say that is better than the 10fps of a GBAMP but it really is a subjective choice. 30fps would lengthen the encoding process.
iPods might give a clearer reproduction of the audio too, if that’s what one’s into. I like the static.
The screen is twice the resolution of a GBA, if one likes large screens that might be some motivation to buy.
$400 is two fifths of a grand. The upgrade to 60GB is only 14% of a grand.
Tom
October 13th, 2005 at 8:41 pm
As Jackson pointed out today, neither iPod really will sustain you for a movie with room to spare, and I only really expect to watch one 40 minute episode of TV on a given day anyhow. One can get extra battery packs for travel and such, which I could invest in later. I’m almost settled on getting the 30gb one.
Thank you for making all my points for me. It’s very kind.
Andy
October 13th, 2005 at 8:54 pm
Glad I could help extend this conversation while adding little new information.
You could watch Titanic on the 30GB iPod if you encoded it at 15fps and then ran it at double speed.
Tom
October 13th, 2005 at 11:20 pm
You do have that skill.
I feel like I should be singing “My Heart Will Go On” in a chipmunk voice but that doesn’t translate very well to a text-based medium.
Tom
November 15th, 2005 at 10:06 pm
For those unsure whether to get an iPod, perhaps this gadget will tip the balance?