A New World for IPod

Roger L. Kay, president of research firm Endpoint Technologies Inc., was skeptical that the video player would be an overnight hit. Kay predicted that the gadget may appeal to a young generation that grew up with their eyes glued to a Nintendo Game Boy but said he doubted that many older iPod fans will find much time to watch videos on the devices -- or invest the 10 to 20 minutes it would take to download the latest episode of "Lost."

The editor of one prominent iPod site, iLounge.com, said yesterday that the video iPod was a step in the right direction for Apple but that the file quality looked a little low when the device was connected to a bigger screen.

"It's not as impressive when you look at it on a computer screen or a TV screen," said Jeremy Horwitz, the site's editor. "People expecting to be impressed may be disappointed."

Many analysts said, however, that they were simply impressed that Apple persuaded a TV network to sell its shows in this way. The popularity of pocket-size video playback devices has always been sharply limited by the amount of content available for them, said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research.

"Companies have been trying to break into this space for some time," Gartenberg said. "But the question has always been: Where will the premium, legal video content come from?" Gartenberg predicted that other networks might soon follow ABC's lead in making their shows available for the iPod's video format.

Mike McGuire, research director at Gartner Inc., agreed. "It's hard to understate the importance of that particular agreement," he said. "It's huge."

A video-playing iPod had been speculated about by analysts and Mac fans for at least a year, and Apple's secrecy in advance of the announcement built hype into such a frenzy that Mac news and rumor sites crashed or slowed to a crawl in the hours leading up to the announcements.

Computer and iPod sales often lag in the days leading up to an announcement from Apple. But New Bern, N.C., resident Mike Afflerbach bought an iPod on Friday and said he didn't feel buyer's remorse.

Afflerbach said he didn't need video playback on the device and worried that the new feature would tend to eat up the gadget's battery life.

He also doesn't need the gadget to get any tinier, he said. "I don't really want it to get any smaller," he said. "It's not like I need to have it performing endoscopic surgeries or anything."