Electronic device manufacturers and content producers have
got to back away from the forest and see the light filtering
throught the trees. Consumers want to control the content
they purchase and want to be able to use their electronic
devices together without restrictions placed on them.

Standards and interoperability will have to come to digital
devices, just as Google co-founder Larry Page said in his
Consumer Electronics Show keynote speech when he introduced
Google Video. Right now, only those video’s purchased through
Google Video that are NOT copy protected will play on video
iPods and Sony PSP’s - the rest only work on Google Video.

http://www.google.com/press/podium/ces2006.html

That news about Google Video and Digital Rights Management
(DRM) standards of interoperability had me fuming about my
inability to use my content (photos, movies, music) on
devices made by different manufacturers or between cell phone
providers. Today I ran across a story about an Anti-DRM group
in Britain campaigning to demand an end to DRM.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/18/drm_consumer_opposition/

Obviously I’m not the only one disturbed by the fact that I
cannot move digitally recorded movies from my Tivo to my DVD
recorder (purchased for exactly that reason, but before I
knew it wouldn’t work) I only found out that I couldn’t
record movies from the Tivo to the DVD recorder when I called
Pioneer customer support to ask why the recorder wouldn’t
record my movies. It seems that I can only move digital
movies from the Tivo to my computer (which I found I could do
with free Tivo Desktop software when I called Tivo customer
support.)

So instead of recording directly from my Tivo to my Pioneer
DVD recorder, I have to move the movie over to my computer
via Tivo Desktop software, then burn a DVD from my computer.
Very smart move on Tivo’s part, as it means I definitely
won’t buy the DVR from my satellite TV provider because they
don’t support skipping commercials, nor do they support
moving movies to my computer.

This also means I don’t NEED my Pioneer DVD recorder - so
their DRM which stops Tivo digitally recorded movies from
recording to DVD means that I won’t use that Pioneer DVD
recorder and will now sell it. The other DVD player connected
to my other television will suffice. If I want to record
something, it goes on the Tivo because it is so easy to use
and works so extremely well. I’ll use the free Tivo Desktop
software and move it to my computer and burn DVD’s of my
recorded television and movies there.

Clearly Tivo is doing all they can to make their device
consumer friendly - but they are being besieged by television
and movie content producers, who are screaming at them to
stop the “piracy” of their users. Tivo now disables the 30
second commercial skip button daily (which you have to know
how to program - Select, Play, Select, 3-0, Select). They do
this via automatically updated internal software because
advertisers screamed at them for several years about the
consumer ability to skip commercials. The result is that I
reprogram that function daily anyway - annoying, but not
nearly as annoying as not being able to control my own device
the way I want to.

I’m convinced that content producers will lose this battle
over the long term and I’ll do all I can to fight them
myself, like supporting anti-DRM groups wherever I find them.
And I’ll research more thoroughly before buying products
which contain DRM to make certain they will work with my
existing devices - meaning no Sony CD’s or DVD’s. There have
been rumors that Apple is creating a set-top box and service
similar to Tivo and I’d buy one in a split second as I’m sure
I could use my iPod, iMac and iPhoto seamlessly between all
devices.

Maybe they’ll make a phone with a Mac OS and a PDA as well (I
actually used to own an early Apple Newton PDA and oh, how I
wish they had continued to develop that wonderful little
thing). I’m happy to use anything Apple produces - but I
won’t switch cell providers or switch my Satellite TV
provider. Interoperability and standards are essential to me.
It’s about choice. Pioneer limited my choices and lost a
customer and Motorola lost my ROKR iTunes phone business
because the device is only available from Cingular.

Obviously, I’m a Mac user and had studiously avoided
purchasing Windows machines until I had to buy a Windows box
to run business software not available for my Apple machines.
So I bought an extremely cheap $299 PC to run the three
programs that won’t run on my Mac. That cheap machine now
serves as my DVD burner for movies (with a cheap external
hard drive as movie storage drive). Pioneer lost a customer
because they don’t allow me to record movies to DVD from my
Tivo. How about a Tivo/Apple partnership? That would be a
marriage made in heaven due to the customer-centric design
and usability so elegantly addressed by both companies.

I’ll put up with Apple’s walled garden (iTunes and
proprietary AAC files) and their own DRM only as long as
everything they make works seamlessly together. Apple
products always have worked elegantly together and probably
always will. Somehow most third party software seems to
interact well with everything else on the Macs. The moment
Motorola makes that ROKR iTunes phone available through MY
cellular provider, I’ll consider buying that phone.

Being in the market for a phone, I had been looking at a Palm
Treo 650 phone/PDA and was excited when they introduced the
new 700 model, just as I was about to make that purchase. So
I read a few reviews and discovered to my horror that Palm
just fell victim to the dominance of Microsoft and replaced
their own well designed Palm operating system on that new
Treo 700 with a buggy, slow and cumbersome Windows OS!

In the process they lost another customer, because I can’t
stand the clunky way one must navigate with Windows
(reviewers agree) and refuse to buy that machine now, the
same way I avoided all other PDA’s running Windows for the
past 10 years. This is all because Palm couldn’t port
Microsoft documents and Windows related bits to the Palm OS
when corporate users required that interoperability. Thanks
to Gates & Company, Palm lost another customer - and their
own elegant OS.

If mainstream electronics device manufacturers continue to
take the path of least resistance by kowtowing to content
producers, lowest common denominator software and stifled
functionality and interoperability, then consumers will
eventually find a way to take back the control. We’ll avoid
buying products (CD’s & DVD’s, “rented” music) that don’t
work with their existing devices (Tivo’s, DVD recorders,
PDA’s, iPods) and will find companies that make all of this
stuff work together and buy from them - but only so long as
ALL devices and ALL content work with each other
interchangeably.

Mike Banks Valentine is a Search Engine Optimization
Specialist and blogs about web content at:
http://
weblogs.Publish101.com and distributes articles about
business at: http://
Publish101.com while operating a small
business ecommerce tutorial at: http://WebSite101.com

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The wonderful company Apple has come out with an iPod that you can watch
movies on. Yes, it is true! Just when you thought an iPod could not get
smaller or more addicting, Apple brings out the big dogs. In any case, the
trick is to really know how to play movies on iPod. Although many people
will buy the iPods that are capable of playing movies, most of them will not
even try to use that feature on them. If you are interested in finding
movies for iPod or learning how to play them, there are some things you can
do. After all, what is the point of having a movie playing iPod if you can’t
use it for that reason?

Research

The first thing you need to do is get out your owner’s manual to make sure
your iPod is capable of playing movies. The newest iPod is very capable of
playing movies, but other versions are not. So, if you find yourself having
trouble playing movies on an older iPod, it could be because you are not able
to play movies on them.

If you find that you can indeed play movies on your iPod you may want to take
a deeper look into the manual. It might give you detailed instructions on
how to go about doing it. If you can’t find it, simply go to the Apple
website and take a look around.

You can also find message boards all over the Web where people post questions
and answers about iPods. If you do a general search for “iPod movie playing”
you will come up with many different boards you can take part in.
You will love the fact that you can talk to iPod users, just like you! In fact, their
responses can be quite helpful as well, when you are looking for a specific
answer to a question or problem you are having with the iPod.

Where To Find Movies

Once you figure out how you can play movies on the newest iPod, you will need
to purchase some movies. While it may be tempting to illegally download free
flicks, consider doing the right thing and visiting the iTunes store. There
you can purchase movies that will download right to your iPod when it is
connected to the computer. In fact, it works just like the music that you
purchase does.

It Does It All

So, now that you know how to find and play movies on your iPod you will truly
be addicted to the tiny wonder. It is great to be able to listen to songs,
share photos, see movies, watch television shows, and more on your iPod. You
will want to buy one for everyone you know!

Gunnar Berglund has been a “internet- hardworker” since 2000.
He runs http://www.meonit.com and a site for
downloadable ipod movies.

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The invention of the iPod makes it easier than ever to take along your favorite media. Whether you’re interested in movies, TV shows, music videos, or sporting events you can now take all your programs with you. The iPod is one of the best portable media devices to come along in years.

One frequently asked question is how to download iPod movies to the device for viewing at a later time or on a later date. Your first objective should be to join a network that allows you to download movies to your iPod. There are many networks across the internet that sell iPod movie download subscriptions. Generally speaking, you will get the best value for your money if you can find a network that allows you unlimited iPod movie downloads for a one-time subscription price. Beware of the websites that ask for a sign up fee, then also hit you with a fee for every movie you download. If you love to download iPod movies, the download fees can add up quickly.

Once you have your network account set up, just follow these 10 easy steps to download movies to your iPod.

1. Browse your chosen iPod subscription network for the movie, video or sporting event you want to download.

2. Once you find the desired movie, you should be able to click the video’s title, image thumbnail or download button.

3. Look for the ‘Video iPod/Sony PSP’ option in the drop-down menu. It should appear on the video’s playback page. Please be aware that you can only download the movie if your iPod has video capabilities.

4. Choose ‘Video iPod/Sony PSP’ from the drop-down menu and then click download.

5. Save the movie or video on your computer in a location you will remember.

6. Now you can connect your iPod to your computer.

7. Open the Apple iTunes application. Select ‘Add File to Library’ from the ‘File’ menu in the iTunes application. Browse your computer for the video you previously downloaded and click ‘Open.’

8. click ‘Edit,’ then click ‘Preferences in the iTunes application. Next, click the ‘iPod’ tab, then click ‘Videos,’ and then ‘Automatically update all videos.’ Lastly, you should click ‘OK.’

9. The iTunes application will copy the movie to your iPod automatically.

10. To play back your movie on your iPod, click ‘Videos,’ then click ‘Movies’.

That was the down and dirty, quick lesson on how to download iPod movies. A good source of helpful information should be the user’s manual that came with your iPod or customer support from the maufacturer. The best sources of helpful information are friends who already own an iPod and have some experience with the device. They can also help you learn how to download IPod movies for your enjoyment.

Find and download Movies, Music and your favorite TV series (even old-time favorites), get full episodes and seasons of the hottest shows around! Download iPod Movies and get a free Mp3 player with your subscription.

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