This is a response to this, an article by Paul Kedrosky about the iPhone. I’m not going to say he’s completely wrong, and I’m not going to say that the iPhone will be a spectacular success (I do think it will do very well, however, and the lust factor is very, very high.) I am simply amused by his bullet points, and their similarity to arguments I think I’ve heard before.

Presenting…the five biggest issues with the iPod in 2001 (these will only be moderately amusing – at least, hopefully they will be – if you read the source article in question.)

1. The clickwheel. How do you operate a clickwheel in your pocket, or under a table by feel?
2. The closed system. Is Apple serious that it won’t let third-party partners build software for the thing? If so, and put simply, the device will fail. (Yes, I know he tacks on “A closed-box consumer electronics mentality will work in music players” in order to justify this point, but the iPhone must be a useful tool first, and (perhaps) a development platform as a distant second – or has Linux on the desktop (and its lack thereof) not taught people anything?)
3. The Apple relationship. While every operating system has its haters, Apple has more than most (both for its hardware and its operation system.) Tying the iPod exclusively to OS X forces some of the loudest among the digerati to wait for a newer version before they can begin touting the device for Apple.
4. (No, I’m not going to touch the vaporware status bullet point, primarily because I think this one’s the most ridiculous: I think there’s a pretty solid consensus that, since FCC filings are made public, Apple had to present now, lest its considerable thunder be stolen.)
5. The price. To be honest, I’m not as hung up about the price than most people, and I think the $399+ price is less immportant than the preceding factors. Then again it’s leaving a very large pricing umbrella for other audio player vendors, so this is going to be a confusing ride this year in that market.

While I know the iPhone is going to dominate discussion around the Mac Web (and with good reason!) for awhile, I wanted to share some thoughts about Apple’s other product announcement today at Macworld – the Apple TV.

There’s a lot to like about the Apple TV: it sports a plethora of connectivity options; its hard drive will cache and store content (ensuring smooth playback); it’s built with HD in mind; and its interface is dead sexy. With updates Apple could add functionality making more Internet content available (Youtube, anyone) and the offering only gets better. If I had a huge archive of iTunes movies and TV shows it’d be a no-brainer. But it’s not. Why? The Apple TV has one colossal downside: what do I do with my DVD collection?

Now, I know this isn’t the biggest problem. The Apple TV would, presumably, sit next to your already-existing DVD player, meaning you could still watch DVDs the way you always have. Plus, I wouldn’t want to clutter up such a nice set-top box with an internal DVD drive, so I’m not suggesting they go that route. What I’m wishing for is an Apple-branded and supported way of importing video into iTunes in the same way that iTunes imports audio from CDs. Just like CDs, DVDs are clunky! They scratch. They get lost. Pick up a few seasons of 24, The Simpsons and Battlestar Galactica and you’ve got a hundred DVDs scattered around your house. Want to watch a specific episode? Get hunting.

Keep in mind, I’m not saying importing this content would be easy, or even possible. What about DVD encryption? How would you deal with DVD menus? Even beyond that, though, there’s another problem, which you’ve probably already got a response for: “Hey! Idiot! Apple wants you to buy video from their store!” I get that. That’s obvious. I probably will! However, Apple didn’t remove CD ripping functionality from iTunes when they started the iTunes Music Store!

Without some way to import existing content into iTunes (for play with the Apple TV) Apple TV might be a non-starter: people won’t own enough Apple video content to bother paying $299 to play it (and only it) on a television set. Will this severely hamper the Apple TV? Is this a deal-breaker? I honestly don’t know – Apple’s media strategy has been remarkably successful lately, and therefore these problems might turn out to be minor. I do know one thing, though: iTunes was a helluva computer jukebox before it was a successful music store.

Update: Somebody pointed me to Flip4Mac’s DriveIn, which looks like it will do exactly what I want, and is currently in free public beta. Apple. Buy this NOW, and please make it available in iTunes 8. It’s perfect.

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