Comments on: How Apple’s New Nano Makes Pocket Video Mass Market

By: texasyellowdog

texasyellowdog — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:05:29 +0000

I just got my Nano 5G. Anyone old enough to remember “Smile, you’re on Candid Camera”? I suspect an accessory market in Nano disguises will develop. Cops will hate it — a dash cam in every car. Watch out. The FM radio is seriously competent too. Gotta go search the net for a suction mount…

By: Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:23:47 +0000

@Dave – you do have a point – the phone becomes the swiss-army-knife, always-have-with you device for your digital lifestyle. I think that digicams and cameraphones have lived side by side for a good five years now, and the digicam continues to be a significant market.

In a sense, this becomes a discussion about discrete, dedicated application centric devices vs. all-purpose devices. I think its interesting that the PC used to be the centerpoint for these conversations, but increasingly that do-everything device is the phone.

By: Dave Bullock

Dave Bullock — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:34:40 +0000

@Michael – fair point on the iPhone not having a wide footprint with kids/lower income/older folks… but I think the arguement will hold true as more low-end and mid-level phones gain decent video capture technology.
It’s arguable as to how valid this is as a data point – but Flickr recently reported that the iPhone has now become the most popular source camera for images posted to the site, surpassing the Canon EOS Digital which had sat in that spot for a long time (http://mashable.com/2009/08/17/iphone-flickr/). Is obviously a movement from quality-to-convenience, something that looks to be happening in the video world as well. Phones won’t cut it for the special events in your live that you want to preserve videos/images of… but they will be the dominant capture device for everything else, which is probably 90%+ of the videos/images you take.

By: Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:27:57 +0000

@Dave – I think long term the phone is going to be one of the most important video capture devices, but as with imaging, I’m not sure it will be the most important (I still think the discrete digicam is the go-to device for consumers who take “event” pictures). Video may ultimately be like images in that for events, consumers rely on their digicams, but for spur-of-moment types of situations, the mobile or a small handheld device may suffice for best-case video (or images).

I think we in technology tend to think of everyone having the high-end devices, but if you were to break down the total U.S. population, a fairly small percentage would have iPhones. If you start to think about kids, teens, lower-income, students, older folks who like feature phones, etc, there is a very substantial market for non-phone video capture devices.

By: Dave Bullock

Dave Bullock — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:26:20 +0000

I’m not convinced that the “always-with” feature exists with the Nano as much as it’s made out to be.
The iPhone – no question – it’s your phone, there’s no decision to be made about whether you should bring it to where you’re going – you NEED it. The Nano on the other hand, outside of the kid demographic, it represents a second device people are carrying in addition to their phone.
Long term, quality pocket video is something that will become second nature to phones, but i’m not convinced it holds the same role in the Nano universe.

By: Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:46:35 +0000

@askeyfam – The always-with feature is perhaps the biggest disruptive factor of the Nano, combined with the accessibility of the device. While the iPhone 3GS is always with those that have it, I expect that the adoption of this device will be slower given that the iPhone addressable market is starting to get saturated (and there’s significant friction to buying an iPhone compared to a Nano, including service contracts, credit checks and, of course, you need an income).

By: askeyfam

askeyfam — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:21:50 +0000

I think the key here is the step from sharing pictures to sharing video. I have a digital camera that shoots video, but i can see the convenience factor of the Nano. If I am someone who listens to music and always have it with me, its very easy to pull it out, shoot video and then upload it to Facebook or Youtube.

Quality isn’t as important as Quantity. Different market for video in this format.

By: Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:14:49 +0000

@Liz – yes, but I think that digicams aren’t really pocket video. Most people I know who have a digicam make a conscious decision before they go out – is this a camera-worthy event I am going to be at today?

With pocket video, you have it in there, in your purse, pocket or backpack, and you just pull it out when something worth video-recording happens. I think that’s what the Nano does, create the ever-present videocam for the masses.

By: Liz Gannes

Liz Gannes — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:45:11 +0000

But Mike, so many consumer still cameras have pretty awesome video functions already. And digital cameras are ubiquitous.

I do think you have something in that this is a device for kids — iPod plus video with no cellphone bill. But kids get cell phones earlier and earlier these days.