The new iPod has been out for a few days now, and the talking heads have had a chance to say their peace. (Reviews of note can be found at Designtechnica, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.)

The general consensus is that the video iPod is practically perfect in every way, except one, and that is the lack of content. the iTunes Music Store has only a few shows, most of which aren't even that great, and music videos which won't appeal to most people at $1.99 a pop.

FreeiPodGuy to the rescue. I got yer content right here:

You can import your home movies.

You can rip and import your own DVDs in just 15 easy (ahem) steps.

You can watch MacTV.

Best of all, I learned today that TiVo users can use a tool such as Galleon to move video content from their DVRs to their desktop computers. I'm not sure what format it's in, but it should be convertable to an iPod-compatible format using QuickTime Pro, or even (on a Mac) iMovie, in a roundabout way.

Incidentally, my discovery of Galleon and the iMovie trick also means I no would longer need a new SuperDrive or QuickTime Pro, IF I had a video iPod, which I don't. So I'm a little ticked off again about Apple screwing me out of video. (See earlier posts.) I'll get over it. Eventually.  

As you may have surmised from my earlier posts, I was a little miffed about the fact that I bought a 60GB iPod only to have the iPod video come out a month later. I'll be the first to admit that I'm generally unsympathetic to those who complain about a revised product coming out the day after they drop coin on a new gadget.

However, in this case, I intentionally waited until the nano was announced to make sure it wasn't the video iPod. Figuring there was no chance there would be another iPod announcement for a while, I took the plunge. Then Steve took the stage.

Next came all the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, and hemorrhoids. (At least I think all those were because of the grief.)

And I wasn't the only one unhappy about the new iPods. ABC affiliate stations were worried about iTunes competition, Hollywood was hesitant to license their video content, TV advertisers were nervous that no one would see their ads any more, and actors' unions were afraid they wouldn't get their royalties. (I can only assume that they also are concerned about actors.)

But I'm OK with it now. Here's why:

1. I have an older Mac. It has USB 1.1 and FireWire, but no USB 2.0. The new iPod uses only USB 2.0. (New USB card = $70, unless I decide "molasses" is my preferred speed.)
   
2. I would have to figure out a way to get my TiVo content into the iPod for it to be of any use to me. The only way I can do that is via DVD-RW, which my old drive won't read. (New SuperDrive = $60.)
   
3. Then I have to have a way to convert the files to the format the iPod can read. (QuickTime Pro = $30.)
   
4. Plus, if I want to replace my old Dock, there goes another $40.
   

And all this so I can wait at least 3 hours of processing time for every 1 hour of video I import.

So video is not worth it. I still would have liked to have the wider screen, longer battery life, and the lighter and more compact case, but none of that is worth the hemorrhoids.

So I'm not getting a video iPod, at least for a year or two, when I'll have a new computer with all those extras built in.

And that's okay. Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.  

Apparently Apple's big announcement today turned out to not be a new hologram iPod. It's some new computers and some kind of photography thingy.

iPod video owners are safe. For now.  

Apple is planning yet another new product news event, scheduled for Wednesday, October 19.

In what has become a whirlwind of product announcements over the last two months, following September 7's iPod nano, and October 12's video iPod and iTunes 6, Apple has promised yet again to aggresively consign last week's iPod to the annals of planned obsolescence.

Highly placed sources within Apple have said on condition of anonymity that October 19's announcement will bring us a hologram playing iPod.

While the new iPod is better than last week's iPod in every way, with a thinner form factor, a 2.75 inch screen, and longer battery life, it's main attraction is it's new three-dimensional projection abilities.

The new iPod will use virtual bioluminescent oblonoid technology to produce three-dimensional movies, projected to a point in space about 5 feet in front of the iPod's lumitter. The new iPod is said to also contain complete DVR functionality, allowing it to capture TV shows directly through a cable-to-dock connector adapter, along with the ability to intelligently translate 2-D TV broadcasts into 3-D images suitable for holographic viewing.

Accompanying the new iPod will be iTunes 7, which will include hologram import and conversion functions, as well as holopodcast authoring tools.

When asked how this rapid product cycle will affect customer loyalty, our Apple source was unsympathetic.

"We understand that some customers are pretty ticked off at us right now. After all, they waited until after the September 7 product announcement to make sure the new player wasn't a video iPod before buying a new 20GB or 60GB iPod, only to find out shortly thereafter that they could have waited another 5 weeks and gotten a more compact iPod with longer battery life and video capabilities for the same price."

"Likewise, there are thousands of new video iPod owners who will be pretty upset that they could have waited 7 more days for a bigger and better iPod for the same price. But the fact is, we already have their money, so we don't really see how they are relevant to our product planning."  

Yesterday we passed the halfway mark to being able to give away a free iPod. Do not despair--though it may seem like it has taken a long time to get to this point, ad revenue has picked up quite a bit over the last few weeks, and hopefully we'll pass the critical income level before you know it.

In the meantime, keep spreading the word about FreeiPodGuy.com!