Comments on: The iPod moment? http://www.tamark.ca/public/2007/09/05/the-ipod-moment/ It's about the journalism Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:09:38 +0000 hourly 1 By: Mark http://www.tamark.ca/public/2007/09/05/the-ipod-moment/comment-page-1/#comment-346135 Mark Thu, 06 Sep 2007 14:30:04 +0000 http://www.tamark.ca/students/2007/09/05/the-ipod-moment/#comment-346135 One of the thoughts I'm wrestling with is that most of my web browsing is interactive -- leaving comments, blogging, etc. -- and the iPod touch doesn't look like it's ideal (or even easy) for that type of "work." But while there are a lot of folk like me, there are a lot who aren't. The thing is: whenever I find myself thinking this isn't such a big deal, I remember a blog post I wrote some years ago, when the video iPod's were released, basically blowing off the idea that anyone would want to watch video on a tiny screen. Like you, I'm still tending toward the idea of larger-sized, flexible e-paper as the eventual doom of much of print, but I'm leaving myself open to surprises. Of course, that surprise could be bad news for publishers: if they "lose" the viewport of the bigger size, they stand to lose considerable ad opportunities. One of the thoughts I’m wrestling with is that most of my web browsing is interactive — leaving comments, blogging, etc. — and the iPod touch doesn’t look like it’s ideal (or even easy) for that type of “work.” But while there are a lot of folk like me, there are a lot who aren’t.

The thing is: whenever I find myself thinking this isn’t such a big deal, I remember a blog post I wrote some years ago, when the video iPod’s were released, basically blowing off the idea that anyone would want to watch video on a tiny screen.

Like you, I’m still tending toward the idea of larger-sized, flexible e-paper as the eventual doom of much of print, but I’m leaving myself open to surprises. Of course, that surprise could be bad news for publishers: if they “lose” the viewport of the bigger size, they stand to lose considerable ad opportunities.

]]> By: Ian King http://www.tamark.ca/public/2007/09/05/the-ipod-moment/comment-page-1/#comment-345624 Ian King Thu, 06 Sep 2007 07:55:06 +0000 http://www.tamark.ca/students/2007/09/05/the-ipod-moment/#comment-345624 Coupla quick thoughts: I think that the moment will come both when more-or-less free wireless is as pervasive as cable TV has been since the '80s (and works under heavy loads!), and those e-paper thingies mature, can present something approaching a tabloid size, and pick up on the wireless. Getting mobile kit in the right size matters. Having read stuff through an iPhone, I find it laborious for anything over a few hundred words. Reading a few grafs without having to _do anything_ is something this iStuff can't offer. Then, there's the ability of a big viewport to allow publishers to present material with all the visual hints we expect from print. A small screen -- no matter how hi-res -- doesn't affter that. Second: the amount of fellatio (and playing His Steveness's game) given to Apple for a bloody product refresh is truly astounding. Five-and-a-half minutes on CTV NewsNet this evening for Pete's sake! Dvorak is right: the media tends to be a bunch of inveterate Apple-polishers. Coupla quick thoughts: I think that the moment will come both when more-or-less free wireless is as pervasive as cable TV has been since the ’80s (and works under heavy loads!), and those e-paper thingies mature, can present something approaching a tabloid size, and pick up on the wireless. Getting mobile kit in the right size matters. Having read stuff through an iPhone, I find it laborious for anything over a few hundred words. Reading a few grafs without having to _do anything_ is something this iStuff can’t offer. Then, there’s the ability of a big viewport to allow publishers to present material with all the visual hints we expect from print. A small screen — no matter how hi-res — doesn’t affter that.

Second: the amount of fellatio (and playing His Steveness’s game) given to Apple for a bloody product refresh is truly astounding. Five-and-a-half minutes on CTV NewsNet this evening for Pete’s sake! Dvorak is right: the media tends to be a bunch of inveterate Apple-polishers.

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