Portable Splash

Apple is set to start offering full-length movies for download through iTunes for viewing on iPods and Sprint is "renting" movies for people to watch on their cell phones. With these developments, one might think that there's a small-screen revolution going on and that consumers are clamoring for ways to watch movies on the go. But are they? Do people really want to watch a two-hour movie on a 1.5-inch screen? I really doubt it. Gadget makers and content distributors need to reexamine how people watch videos on the go and cater more towards the realities of the market rather than wishing for a world in which people will be excited to drop $10 on a low-quality version of a movie they can watch only on a tiny screen.

People like watching movies in traditional places: namely, the theater or the living room. Pay-to-download sites such as Vongo haven't really caught on, and for good reason. While watching a movie on your laptop once in a while is fine, it really doesn't compete to sitting on the couch and watching it on TV. If people don't want to pay to watch a movie on their laptops, why would they pay to watch them on their iPods? First of all, the quality is just not up to snuff. Those tiny screens are okay for watching music videos, but to stare at one for 2 hours is far from a comfortable viewing experience. Secondly, you need to think about what situations people will be in when they're going to watch a movie on their phone. It seems like the most logical place to watch a movie on the go would be while traveling, as there really aren't too many other times that you'll be stationary for a couple of hours and want to be distracted. However, laptops are a much better way to watch movies on the go, and if you are going to pay for your movies wouldn't you rather have a DVD you can use on a laptop or at home than a digital copy that's trapped on your phone or iPod?

If you look at what videos are popular on the Internet, you'll see that shorter is better. Sites like YouTube are totally full of videos that clock in well under the 5-minute mark, and these are the types of videos that people would be more interested in watching on portable devices. After all, if you're in a waiting room or on the subway and want to watch something, you don't want to get sucked into Rumor Has It, you want something that will fit into the time you have. There are already applications out there to put YouTube videos on your iPod, and no rental or purchase fee is required. iTube for Windows and PodTube for OS X both do the work of converting and transferring YouTube videos to your iPod, and this is the perfect solution to people who want to have free, short video content for their portables.

Downloading movies is something that will catch on eventually, but it has to be done in the right way. The rumored Netflix set-top box is exactly the type of thing that consumers will embrace. It gives them the luxury of downloading something without leaving their house and lets them watch movies where they want to ? the living room. Companies such as Apple and Sprint want to get in on movie downloading, but portables are just not the venue that will make it catch on. Watching videos on your phone or music player is a novelty, one that demands content that's somewhat disposable as well. Until that happens, don't expect to see legions of people watching Little Man on their phones anytime soon. ? A.F.