I think he's spot on about the torrents. I used ffmpegX to convert a divx video to ipod format. It was very easy. I'm sure there will be a lot of content on the torrent sites optimized for the iPod. Whether Apple likes this or not is another matter. Although, it will be added value for their hardware, and they care about that more than about content sales.
Yeah, lets see...Crappy 4:3 video that only looks good when viewed on a $300 iPod with a 2.5" screen, or beautiful 16:9 video that looks better than broadcast quality when viewed on a standard def television with a $60 Phillips DVP642 DVD player (which plays divx files, and also can be set to all region, and has a PAL/NTSC converter built in). Unless they get their act together and offer QUALITY video downloads for the money I think it will be a while before divx and torrent die out. If they offered Lost in widescreen at a quality that looked decent on my television they would already have one devoted customer. I'd by the video out converter for my laptop, and gladly pay $2 to download it from iTunes and enjoy it widescreen and commercial free. And then I would still buy the DVDs too (I love DVDs and would rather buy television on DVD than watch it loaded with commercials). They'd make a mess of money off of suckers like me if they weren't so concerned about Joe College Student making a couple of copies for his buddies who weren't going to download the videos anyway.
A few clarifications?I'm not 100% of these, but from what I read so far, I *thought* this was the case- Ipod Video doesn't have fastforward, per se, but does allow you to use the scroll wheel to jump to any part of the video. And in that case, it's just semantics.- Does play divx/xvid (I thought some sites tested this? Unless my brain is fading too old age ;) Regarding torrents, this info both scares and saddens me. Right now, you are seeing more and more "PSP" tv-show rips online. Smaller res, with more complicated codecs. God help us if 320x240 h264 becomes the new standard.If the ipod becomes popular enough (for video playback!), then I could very well see this happening. For me, the "Best case" is that: This new ipod helps grow the PVP market, a "Video Ipod" comes out that really sets the bar (the offerings we have had so far are pretty much all lacking) and that drives BETTER quality PVP's, untill the "Killer PVP" is finally released. If the crappy 320x240 2.5" 4:3 Ipod becomes the PVP standard, then I will cry :(Aggies
I think the torrent part of this article may have some validity. Apple may actually want to drive up pirated video on the torrents so that people buy the quicktime convertor for the divx files and so that this worries the movie industry into dropping their prices for videos on apples new itunes media store. IF people can get great quality videos for a fair price on itunes they would most likely do that instead of a half - assed rip off a torrent. Many of the music files u download of of P2P networks are often ripped like s**t with id3 infor missing and the songs cut early. I know that I have been purchasing legal music off of itunes now because the id3 tag info is filled out completely and correct with the aac file in perfect condition. This is a win win situation for apple.
for all those who are looking for a converter, I've found it. It's called IMToo Ipod converter. Search for the Torrent, it's out there. Great program. Combine it with DVD shrink which de-encrypts dvd's and saves them on your harddrive, and then convert them to ipod format. Bingo, rent a movie, dvd shrink it, imtoo convert it and it's on your ipod. There is an ipod torrent tracker, called Podtropolis. www.podtropolis.com. All files are ipod ready.
cuoopsOct 14, 2005
Welcome to the iPod postings on digg for 48hrs....
bluestarrOct 14, 2005
They're on to something me thinks... :D
personmanOct 14, 2005
I think he's spot on about the torrents. I used ffmpegX to convert a divx video to ipod format. It was very easy. I'm sure there will be a lot of content on the torrent sites optimized for the iPod. Whether Apple likes this or not is another matter. Although, it will be added value for their hardware, and they care about that more than about content sales.
timmyk_Oct 14, 2005
Yeah, lets see...Crappy 4:3 video that only looks good when viewed on a $300 iPod with a 2.5" screen, or beautiful 16:9 video that looks better than broadcast quality when viewed on a standard def television with a $60 Phillips DVP642 DVD player (which plays divx files, and also can be set to all region, and has a PAL/NTSC converter built in). Unless they get their act together and offer QUALITY video downloads for the money I think it will be a while before divx and torrent die out. If they offered Lost in widescreen at a quality that looked decent on my television they would already have one devoted customer. I'd by the video out converter for my laptop, and gladly pay $2 to download it from iTunes and enjoy it widescreen and commercial free. And then I would still buy the DVDs too (I love DVDs and would rather buy television on DVD than watch it loaded with commercials). They'd make a mess of money off of suckers like me if they weren't so concerned about Joe College Student making a couple of copies for his buddies who weren't going to download the videos anyway.
aggies11Oct 14, 2005
A few clarifications?I'm not 100% of these, but from what I read so far, I *thought* this was the case- Ipod Video doesn't have fastforward, per se, but does allow you to use the scroll wheel to jump to any part of the video. And in that case, it's just semantics.- Does play divx/xvid (I thought some sites tested this? Unless my brain is fading too old age ;) Regarding torrents, this info both scares and saddens me. Right now, you are seeing more and more "PSP" tv-show rips online. Smaller res, with more complicated codecs. God help us if 320x240 h264 becomes the new standard.If the ipod becomes popular enough (for video playback!), then I could very well see this happening. For me, the "Best case" is that: This new ipod helps grow the PVP market, a "Video Ipod" comes out that really sets the bar (the offerings we have had so far are pretty much all lacking) and that drives BETTER quality PVP's, untill the "Killer PVP" is finally released. If the crappy 320x240 2.5" 4:3 Ipod becomes the PVP standard, then I will cry :(Aggies
lws07Oct 14, 2005
Sounds pompous enough to be a Steve Jobs plan, mmwuuhaha
foohookups311Oct 14, 2005
I think the torrent part of this article may have some validity. Apple may actually want to drive up pirated video on the torrents so that people buy the quicktime convertor for the divx files and so that this worries the movie industry into dropping their prices for videos on apples new itunes media store. IF people can get great quality videos for a fair price on itunes they would most likely do that instead of a half - assed rip off a torrent. Many of the music files u download of of P2P networks are often ripped like s**t with id3 infor missing and the songs cut early. I know that I have been purchasing legal music off of itunes now because the id3 tag info is filled out completely and correct with the aac file in perfect condition. This is a win win situation for apple.
mackieMar 15, 2006
for all those who are looking for a converter, I've found it. It's called IMToo Ipod converter. Search for the Torrent, it's out there. Great program. Combine it with DVD shrink which de-encrypts dvd's and saves them on your harddrive, and then convert them to ipod format. Bingo, rent a movie, dvd shrink it, imtoo convert it and it's on your ipod. There is an ipod torrent tracker, called Podtropolis. www.podtropolis.com. All files are ipod ready.