NBC Offers Content on The iTunes Music Store

Today's Apple content deal with NBC not only adds more hot TV shows to iTunes, but some programs typically only available on cable, such as "Battlestar Galactica" and "Monk." In my neighborhood, analog cable costs about $60 a month, or the equivalent of 20 TV shows from iTunes. While most people probably wouldn't chuck cable for iTunes downloads, the new content certainly increases source choices.

My household would consider such a switch. My wife, daughter and I don't watch more than 20 cable TV shows during the typical month - not stuff that we really would want to watch. I just set up El Gato's EyeTV 500 high-definition DVR, attached to an iMac in the living room. The Terk HD antenna only pulls in nine channels, but all six networks are crystal clear and HD when programming is available. My wife and daughter have both suggested ditching the cable, but I held out for "Battlestar Galactica."

Back to the topic of iTunes and video, the real question is what's next? Apple got many things technologically and functionally right with the original iPod. But Apple didn't have to supply content because consumers had hordes of CDs they could rip to MP3s and transfer to the portable music player. Video is different, because there are few sources for legal video content. As Apple begins to provide content, next step would be to extend the approach to the living room as with the rumored new Mac mini. The hardware won't be so important as the content and software delivery mechanism. And if Apple adds much more content, why shouldn't the company release real video iPod? Apple doesn't call the fifth-generation iPod a video iPod, which suggests to me there is more to come. I'd like to see a real video iPod with larger screen - even touch screen - capable of playing high-resolution content.