know | Future

Now that the suspense is over and we know that it is not THE video iPod that was much awaited, but a video enabled iPod nonetheless, there are sure to be content deal announcements and this is the first one I have seen. AdWeek is reporting that ABC will be offering at least five series, including the popular Desperate Housewives and Lost for download via iTunes. Now this may seem like a good idea at first, BUT,

• They will be charging $1.99 per show.
• The resolution of the video will be a quarter of a standard definition video screen (320×240) to match the resolution of the video-enabled iPod
• You will not be able to burn it to DVD or CD without going through an analog and redigitize cycle

The problem is that they are competing with full NTSC resolution bittorrents that people can download at will from the web, Sure, you have to know what to do to get the torrents and it is illegal but that does not seem to stop eDonkey and the rest of the Napster heirs on the music front. No word on whether they will have advertising on the downloaded video…Read more here..