2008 Woodie Awards
TV Eye: iPod's latest feature is turning heads
Meredith Napolitano
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: Campus News
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It's 3 p.m. on a spring Wednesday and Mike Lazar, a senior at New York University, is walking to his next class. Like most of his peers on the street, he is listening to his iPod. But unlike the others, Lazar keeps his gaze focused intensely on his little device, only taking a quick peek up from his screen every few minutes when he can withstand it. His iPod has transported him to another place: the land of the Desperate Housewives.
"If I miss a show, I download it and watch it on my iPod," said Lazar.
The newest version of iPod, which allows users to watch and listen to downloaded TV shows, has quickly gained popularity. Successful shows like Desperate Housewives and Lost are gaining even more exposure because of TV iPods. NBC says ratings for Desperate Housewives are up 7 percent as of January, as a result of iPod downloads. The Office, also available on iTunes, delivered a 5.1, its highest ratings ever.
Twelve NBC Universal shows have been available since NBC struck a deal with Apple in early December. Now people can watch TV at any given moment with this $299 device. The virtual shelves of the iTunes Music Store feature music videos, short films, independent films and TV shows like Monk, Law and Order and The Daily Show for $1.99 an episode. When NBC first announced its deal with Apple on December 6, Apple had sold 3 million video downloads since debuting the video iPod in November. In January, at San Francisco's annual Macintosh conference, MacWorld, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that Apple had sold 8 million videos. (The company will not disclose how many of the video-capable iPods it has sold.)
Users are attracted to the video iPod's small, convenient package. "I love that I can watch it anywhere," says Lazar. "But I don't go out of my way to watch my downloads obsessively." For him, that usually means watching on the Chinatown bus to Boston, on the subway -- and occasionally between classes. "I have to see this episode today," he grinned.
Lazar is far from the only iPod user swept into the allure of the iPod's capabilities and constant new products releases. According to Kate Cerigo, an iPod seller at Tekserve, a major Apple dealer in Manhattan, "We've had a surge of people buying the video kind just because it is the latest one."
"If I miss a show, I download it and watch it on my iPod," said Lazar.
The newest version of iPod, which allows users to watch and listen to downloaded TV shows, has quickly gained popularity. Successful shows like Desperate Housewives and Lost are gaining even more exposure because of TV iPods. NBC says ratings for Desperate Housewives are up 7 percent as of January, as a result of iPod downloads. The Office, also available on iTunes, delivered a 5.1, its highest ratings ever.
Twelve NBC Universal shows have been available since NBC struck a deal with Apple in early December. Now people can watch TV at any given moment with this $299 device. The virtual shelves of the iTunes Music Store feature music videos, short films, independent films and TV shows like Monk, Law and Order and The Daily Show for $1.99 an episode. When NBC first announced its deal with Apple on December 6, Apple had sold 3 million video downloads since debuting the video iPod in November. In January, at San Francisco's annual Macintosh conference, MacWorld, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that Apple had sold 8 million videos. (The company will not disclose how many of the video-capable iPods it has sold.)
Users are attracted to the video iPod's small, convenient package. "I love that I can watch it anywhere," says Lazar. "But I don't go out of my way to watch my downloads obsessively." For him, that usually means watching on the Chinatown bus to Boston, on the subway -- and occasionally between classes. "I have to see this episode today," he grinned.
Lazar is far from the only iPod user swept into the allure of the iPod's capabilities and constant new products releases. According to Kate Cerigo, an iPod seller at Tekserve, a major Apple dealer in Manhattan, "We've had a surge of people buying the video kind just because it is the latest one."
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