Here We Go Again: Apple's Next Big Thing?

Let the rampant industry speculation begin as anticipation builds for Apple's upcoming big announcement scheduled for next Wednesday, October 12. Will it be new Macs, laptops, iPods or the oft-rumored video iPod? No one knows but that won't stop all the guessing because Apple makes good copy.

Most of the speculation centers around a video iPod, and given the closed movie curtain design of the press and analyst invitation it might be a safe guess since Apple's last invitation was a picture of the coin pocket on a pair of jeans and we all know how that story ended.

At Yahoo! News, Roger Kay at Endpoint Technology Associates said, "There's a whole generation coming up that doesn't have a lot in their checking account but will some day, who think this is a cool idea," referring to a video iPod. He also discounted Steve Jobs past statements that people don't want to wacth video on the go. "It would be a very Jobsian move to say it's stupid and bring one out anyway," Kay said.

An article in MarketWatch, Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray commented that a video iPod would have a "wow factor" but "would need to cost less than $400 and have a sizable library of downloadable videos available when it launches in order to avoid becoming a niche product." He did think it would "open the door for future product innovations as the company continues to branch out" into other areas of digital and mobile entertainment products.

Shaw Wu of American Technology Research believed anything above a $299 price point would slow adopton for the product and predicted "the first video content through Apple's iTunes service would come in the form of music videos and video podcasts, with movies possibly arriving at a later date."

Lastly, Joe Wilcox at the Jupiter Analyst Weblogs observed that "Apple hasn't posted free, new music videos since early August on its U.S. store. New music videos are available for download with $1.99 singles and some speciality-priced albums. Apple's QuickTime 7 delivers breathtaking high-definition video."