Yesterday’s new product announcements from Apple included the upgraded iPod nano with a built-in video camera that’s capable of shooting VGA (640×480) quality footage at 30fps.
Whilst the YouTube generation is likely to love this, it’s another example of Apple no longer innovating but lagging behind.
I say this as an Apple fanboy, though perhaps not as much a one as I used to be.
Remember the days when Apple were the first to either add a feature as standard to their equipment (CD burner on Macs) or bring hardware to the masses (iPod)? It seems that Apple is doing this less now.
Apple may well believe that video is the in thing right now, but as far as I’m concerned it’s been “in” for a few years, and not just amongst early adopters.
Sure, the new iPod nano is a fairly cheap way of getting a web-quality video camera, but it’s not even high definition of the most basic kind, meaning it can’t compete on pure video specs with the Flip Mino HD or any of the other ultra portable HD camcorders.
Perhaps it’s easier to use, particularly if you’re a Mac user, but, just as with the iPhone 3G S, the video camera isn’t a spectacular as it could be.
Squeezing a VC plus pedometer, radio and a lot of other stuff into the nano and keeping it the same size is an impressive feat, I’ll admit, but then miniaturisation is a reality that everyone’s into. Where’s the HD video recorder? Heck, this one isn’t even widescreen!
The nano is nice, and the iPod Touch is now faster, but there’s nothing uber-revolutionary here. I hate having to say that, but it’s true.
Originally posted on September 10, 2009 @ 9:45 am