Wednesday, October 19,2005 @ 3:30pm
Analysts offer doubts about 5G iPod success
Some analysts are skeptical of the potential success of Apple's fifth-generation (5G) iPod with its video capabilities, some suggesting that the company risks identifying itself with a project that could flop, while the author of one article from The Christian Science Monitor posed the possibility that the gadget is simply "Steve Jobs' folly". "Uncertainty surrounding the level of demand for the product, the sources for compelling content, and its possible use to view pornography seems to leave more question marks than exclamation points." Randy Giusto, however, a follower pf mobile and consumer markets for IDC said "yes, it's the next step in the video evolution, it makes perfect sense to put certain types of videos with the [iPod] audio. It's a natural fit." Avi Greengart, principal analyst of mobile devices for Current Analysis said "the screen isn't large enough to be a real video iPod," but noted that the new device is "really not a video iPod -- it's an iPod with video."