Will new iPod change TV experience?

Apple's iPod profoundly changed the way people experience music. What will it do for television?
The industry was intrigued by Wednesday's announcement that episodes of the hit ABC shows "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" will be available for Apple's new video iPod. Episodes will go on sale for $1.99 on iTunes the day after they are broadcast.

For ABC and its parent Walt Disney Co., the bet is that the new technology will bring in more new fans of the programs than will be taken away from watching them on traditional broadcast television.

The network's affiliates were not told the deal was in the works before Wednesday, and they're the people most likely to be concerned about its effect. Now the iPod will join digital video recorders and DVDs as another way of seeing television programs other than their regularly scheduled times on the ABC stations.

Leon Long, chairman of ABC's affiliate board and general manager of WLOX-TV in Biloxi, Miss., wasn't worried.

He said if viewers have the choice of watching "Desperate Housewives" on their wide-screen television with surround sound or a 2-inch iPod screen, they will almost certainly watch it on TV. The iPod option is likely to be attractive to people who missed an episode and want to keep up with the story, he said.

He noted that two of the three series ABC is offering to iTunes -- the new "Night Stalker" is the other -- are serials that require viewers to follow story lines that play out over several months.

Initially, the downloads might also appeal to techies who want to try out the new product and might not necessarily be fans of the programs, he said, which could bring these shows a new audience.

Phillip Swann, president of the techonology-oriented Web site TVpredictions.com, said the development will "fail miserably" and have no long-term effect on the industry.

He said the iPod succeeded for music because it replicated what people had been seeking for many years -- true portability of their music collections -- but there's no such demand for portability of video products. Unlike listening to music on iPods, watching videos requires the undivided attention of users, he said.

"There's a reason why television at home is popular," he said, "because when you're watching it, you don't have to do anything else."

The Associated Press

I don't think I'd spend a lot of time squinting at a 2-inch screen. On road trips or long airplane rides it would be nice to have though.

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My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind
Albert Einstein