Creating Passionate Users
Television is bad for your brain. But television shows can be good for your brain. Until now, that's been the struggle -- if you kill your TV (the cause that's dearest to me), you kill your chance of watching the shows until/unless they come out on DVD...

That's why I view the news of Apple's iTunes Video Store as an answer to this problem. Or at least it will be once I can start getting a daily fix of the Daily Show. With only a tiny handful of shows up, it's not there yet, but there's reason for hope.

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Macworld
Two of this season’s hottest portable entertainment systems are Apple’s new video-capable iPod and Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP). While they’re fundamentally different — the iPod’s strength is in its music playing capability and the PSP is primarily a gaming system -- both can play video. Let’s take a look at how they compare specifically as portable video players.

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Macworld
Halloween has barely passed us by, and Thanksgiving has yet to arrive, but there is already a big red ribbon tied across the top of the Apple Store which can mean only one thing: ready or not, the holiday shopping season is upon us and Apple wants you to stuff at least a few stockings with nanos, shuffles and video iPods. If the analysts Playlist spoke with are correct, many of you will do just that.

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A friend recently ditched her Windows PC and bought a new Apple PowerBook. Of course, she wanted to use her iPod with it, so I helped her get set up.

First, rather than network the two computers together, I just used PodWorks to get her songs onto the new PowerBook. No problem there: it's a great program and did exactly what it was supposed to do: 5,000 songs were now in her iTunes library.

Then came the problem: when trying to sync the iPod with the Mac, we kept getting "error type -36" and it would stop copying her songs to the iPod. We'd restart the sync, and after a while it would stop again.

To try to fix this, I restored the iPod software. Although this didn't solve our type -36 problem, it did fix other minor issues (such as the iPod's icon): if you ever switch over to a new computer, it's a good idea to restore your iPod and start fresh.

After some other tests, I discovered the problem: the iPod cable. We were using the cable that she was using with her Windows PC, which was a USB 2.0 cable. I'm not sure why we kept getting the error type -36 problems, but once I used my FireWire cable to sync her iPod instead, it worked fine: The entire library was copied to her iPod without a hitch -- and faster than when we used the USB cable, I might add.

I don't know if this is a common issue, or if it was just because of the initial size of the sync (5,000 songs or so). But it seems that if you're having problems syncing your iPod with a USB cable, try using a FireWire cable instead.

Reuters
Digital video recorder maker TiVo Inc. said it will begin testing a feature to let subscribers transfer recorded television programming to Apple iPod digital music players or Sony's PlayStation portable devices. The company plans to begin testing the feature in coming weeks. The feature could be available to "stand-alone" TiVo Series2 subscribers as early as the first quarter of next year.

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(More at PVRblog.)

Macworld
After agreeing to settle a class action lawsuit brought by customers of its iPod music player, Apple Computer confirmed the settlement is being appealed. The lawsuit claimed Apple misrepresented the capabilities of the iPod's rechargeable battery... As a result, settlement benefits will not be provided unless and until the appeal is resolved. This process, the Web site notes, could take an extended period of time (up to a year or more).

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Pocket-lint
Apple has secretly started including a case with its iPod nano MP3 player following complaints from customers that the screen scratches too easily.

Although images on the web have started appearing showing the new case bundled in the box Apple has yet to confirm the move.

The new sleeve is virtually identical to the slim-line case current shipped with the new iPod capable of playing video.

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Playlist
“How do I get my music off the iPod and onto my computer?”

The difficulty in answering such a question is that it may be born of less-than-honorable intent. The person asking the question may wish to learn the secret of copying music from the iPod in order to pirate music. While there may be a few bad apples in this regard, more often than not I find people ask the question in order to recover music after their computer’s hard drive has crashed. It’s no fun losing thousands of songs at a single bad stroke (and even less fun if a goodly portion of those songs were purchased from the iTunes Music Store).

Given that I’m asked the question with such regularity, I’ve decided to point the way in the hope that it will help the virtuous among us.

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PC Magazine
It's no surprise that Apple scores first overall, first among MP3 players in the first year of ownership, first among flash players, first among mini hard-drive players, and first among big hard-drive players. The iPod's scores are among the highest in any category in the survey.

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Playlist
Popular electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. is no stranger to the Apple iPod — the company has previously distributed HP’s iPods and already carries a multitude of iPod accessories. But with the dissolution of Apple and HP’s iPod partnership, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company is going its own way: On Tuesday RadioShack announced that it has become an authorized Apple reseller and is offering the full range of iPod models itself.

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Macworld
Thanks to the iPod, the iTunes Music Store, and other digital-media efforts, Apple’s image as a company has undergone a dramatic shift to the point where the age-old question about Apple—is it a hardware company or a software maker—has morphed into a new query. Is Apple a computer maker or a media company?

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mp3newswire
When Sony execs crowed a few weeks ago that their latest MP3 players were the iPod Killers one thing was obvious. They were oblivious to the fact that the term "iPod Killer" had already gone from clever market-speak to running joke. [Last year's iPod Killers], many of them flash-based players, did nothing to dent the iPod Juggernaut. The proof was Apple's introduction of the iPod Shuffle... In a few months Apple went from 0% of the flash player market to over two-thirds of it. So much for iPod Killers.

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silicon.com
Speaking at the VortexSF 2005 tech conference, Microsoft's chief technical officer, Ray Ozzie, has given an indication of the strategic direction which Redmond is going to take.

Microsoft's newly appointed services guru pointed to Apple's iconic music player, the iPod, as a "perfect example" of a product that marries hardware, software and services.

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Reuters
Apple Computer on Monday said its iTunes online service has sold a million videos in under 20 days, sending shares up almost 5 percent.

iTunes, the most popular online music store, began selling about 2,000 music videos and episodes of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" for $1.99 on October 12.

Topping the list of big sellers were music videos by Michael Jackson, Fatboy Slim and Kanye West, as well as episodes of ABC shows

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Reuters
The popular iPod Nano and the just-released video iPod are expected to lead a surge of holiday sales for Apple Computer. Research firm Fulcrum Global Partners predicts Apple will sell 10 million iPods in the fourth quarter... But not all of these sales will be to new iPod owners.

Piper Jaffray analysts say about 30 percent of the iPod purchasers are now repeat buyers who are either replacing an existing, earlier-generation iPod or adding to their range of styles (such as an iPod Shuffle and a video iPod).

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PC Pro UK
Rating: 5 stars out of 6

Verdict: We dare you to touch and try an iPod nano and not immediately want to slap down your credit card. A wonderful piece of design, and a superb audio player.

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Washington Post
So now that Apple has redone most of its lineup of iPods, which one is the best? I'm sure I'll get that question today's chat, but I'll try to answer it now.

The first thing to ponder is whether to buy an iPod with a screen or one without...Otherwise, the choice is between the iPod and the iPod Nano.

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CNET News.com
For those wondering just what is it that makes the video iPod tick, Wall Street firm Jefferies & Co. has published a report that tears open one of the gadgets and documents its innards.

The report, issued Wednesday, notes the similarities between the design of the circuit board in the iPod Nano and that of the new video iPod.

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Apple
With QuickTime 7 Pro, you can create your own videos that will play on the new iPod. Already have great home movies you want to play on your iPod? No problem. QuickTime 7 Pro helps you easily convert them to a format that iPod understands. Just follow these easy instructions and you'll be watching your own video on your iPod in no time.

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Reuters
Shares of Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday jumped to a record high as investors made bets on growth in its digital music and video businesses, analysts said.

Shares of Apple, maker of the market-leading iPod digital music player and Macintosh computers, hit an intersession high of $60 and were up 4 percent to $59.82 in afternoon trade on the Nasdaq.

Apple dominates the digital music business it helped establish and its growth appears to be accelerating amid concern that industry sales are less than robust.

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Reuters
Apple Computer Inc. has a runaway hit with its market-leading iPod digital music player, but could the device's success actually hurt the company's profitability over the longer haul?

...As Apple's business shifts more to consumer electronics items like its iPod -- sales of iPods now account for nearly a third of total Apple sales -- that means the sales of its more profitable Mac computers make up less of the total.

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CNET
8. iPod Nano
The iPod Nano might be the coolest MP3 player ever--and for reasons that go beyond its phenomenal design. It will go down in history as the first flash player with 4GB of storage, it displays photos on its color screen, and it's compatible with many iPod accessories (and, of course, iTunes).

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Apple Matters
Why is Apple market dominance a welcome change for Mac fans while Microsoft market dominance remains, judging by commentary at sites frequented by Mac and Linux enthusiasts, the most evil thing ever foisted on the computer using public. At this point some will certainly point out that the difference is that while Apple holds the lion’s share of the digital audio player market, it is a luxury item as opposed to Windows and Office which are quite rightly often seen as staples of computing life. Which is a salient observation but, it must be noted, misses the deeper question... is an Apple dominated market segment any more desirable than a Microsoft dominated segment?

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