I was in an Apple store this past weekend to look at the impossibly small new Shuffle. What caught my eye — literally — however was the video iPod. The quality of the video was great for a tiny screen. I know that others had reviewed it long ago and made similar remarks, but I’d not really held one in my hand or paid close attention.
iMedia today has a longish article on mobile video. The author cites a Jupiter survey showing relatively high consumer demand (44% interested) for mobile video. Other surveys indicate little or no demand for mobile video, even among teens.
There are a couple of issues here: consumer demand and adoption of mobile video (which implicates the user experience) and the business model (subscription vs. pre-roll). Right now, however, basic adoption is the big challenge for those promoting mobile video and related business models.
I’d have to say that while I remain something of a skeptic, I was really moved to re-examine my thinking after seeing the clarity of the images on that tiny iPod screen. I now think that at some point — probably farther out than most people anticipate — mobile video will be a fairly mainstream phenomenon.
Screenwerk 
November 13, 2006 at 7:45 pm
Check out the video on the new BlackBerry Pearl and you’ll be even more of a believer.
November 13, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Getting a SprintPCS video turned me into a mobile video convert. I actually wrote a post on this a couple of months ago … mobile video is the next bubble … but making money off it is going to be just as hard as making money from text on the Web, maybe harder.
November 15, 2006 at 4:59 pm
[…] And then there’s the related subject of mobile video distribution (see iPod video on airplanes) but that’s another story — literally. […]
November 28, 2006 at 5:33 pm
[…] Consumers have shown some interest in mobile video but not anywhere near what the hype and forecasts suggest. Short form video is much better suited to mobile phones than full-length clips right now. (But see “Mobile Video: Yes or No?“) […]
November 30, 2006 at 1:38 pm
[…] Consumers have shown some interest in mobile video but not anywhere near what the hype and forecasts suggest. Short form video is much better suited to mobile phones than full-length clips right now. (But see “Mobile Video: Yes or No?“) […]
January 7, 2007 at 4:06 am
[…] equipment: (a) That might assist him in making a stroke or in his play;…” In the near future, mobile video may not involve unusual equipment, and in modern life watching Internet videos is as natural as […]
December 27, 2011 at 9:12 am
[…] at the impossibly small new Shuffle. What caught my eye ‘ literally ‘ however was the Video iPod. The quality of the Video was great for a tiny screen. I know that […]