the 5g ipod will succeed or fail on its capabilities as a *music* player/ everything apple has said regarding the new ipod make it very clear that it's a music player first; photo albums, podcasts, notes, audiobooks, games and video are nice extras.

the ipod 5g is a very safe bet, it will sell just as well as the 4g ipod and at the same time show the television/movie industry that a market exists for downloadable content.

Oh no, consenting adults might view p***! We're all going to h*** now.

OMG! It won't do HD?! Oh, no! The sky is falling.

Here's the point: [...the new device is "really not a video iPod -- it's an iPod with video." ]

-- exactly.

Oh, yeah. I forgot about viewing p***. Hmm, I guess we are safe using the iPod Shuffle or even the nano then? What about them there other companies like, say, Epson? Oops! You mean nobody complained about p*** on MEDIA VIEWER devices?! With big 4" screens, too!

Madonna was right! Materialism will send us to h***! But, remember, it is all Apple's fault.

Oh, yeah. I forgot about viewing p***. Hmm, I guess we are safe using the iPod Shuffle or even the nano then? What about them there other companies like, say, Epson? Oops! You mean nobody complained about p*** on MEDIA VIEWER devices?! With big 4" screens, too!

Madonna was right! Materialism will send us to h***! But, remember, it is all Apple's fault.

Bingo - if it was a new product in the line, like the iPod photo was, it would be a flop. As an extra bundled feature on the standard iPod, it's no change. I can't see how it can be a 'folly' when Jobs has said 'there's no market for mobile video' and played down the video capabilities.

Not to mention the fact that at least it's getting the foot in the door - if Steve's wrong and mobile video does take off, he already has the infrastructure and contracts, rather than playing catch-up or letting Microsoft lock them into exclusives.

Equally the content providers won't ignore Apple if there happen to be 12 million customers with video players. This is the strategy the phone companies have used - get the hardware features in peoples pockets on the back of selling a phone, then sell them extra services. i.e. who would pay more for a phone because it supports Java? Yet Java games for phones are a profitable line which makes it worth marketing Java enabled handsets.

of course it will fail. it costs the same as the previous - incredibly popular - generation, offers more battery life, a smaller form factor, more memory, a bigger screen... too bad it also plays video, huh?

I can't believe anybody would give a c*** about what people write in a publication entitled "the christian science monitor". What's next, a review of the comparative shopping column in "the watchtower"?

All new communications technology is used for p*** first. That's been the driving force for years. VHS drove a stake through the heart of Betamax because the producer of Behind the Green Door needed a videotape with more than one hour...so VHS won and Betamax lost. The "quality" issue was irrelevant.

Cable, pay-per-view, satellite, Videotape, DVD...all used for p***.

So the Video iPod can be used for p***? Heck, the iPod Photo could have been used for still photo p*** and audio s** talk.

While we're discussing it, can't printed books and PDFs be used for p***?

I think the author of the original story needs to get a life.

it can view p***? that settles it, it'll sell millions.