I came accross a piece on Engadget this morning talking about a survey of iPod users conducted by a sociologist in the UK. Dr. Michael Bull has come to be known as “Dr. iPod” or “Professor iPod,” depending upon whom you are reading. The thought of being a sociologist looking at applications of technology sounds pretty damn sexy to me. Maybe I need to reconsider my nascent plans to study econ. Who knows? This is such a dangerous phase for me since I get so easily distracted by shiny things like iPods.
Anyway, Dr. Bull conducted a survey of some 1,000 iPod customers. Among the things Dr. Bull seems to have taken away is that iPod listeners are bypassing advertisements (aren’t we all trying to do this?), don’t really like their mobile phones and don’t want to watch video on their portable music devices.
The second point, that about iPod listeners not liking their mobile phones is something I’m not sure I buy. While I haven’t looked at the study in-depth, I have to wonder if there isn’t some undue extrapolation going on there. They might not like their mobiles as a device, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I expect they appreciate the flexibility and potential for interconnectedness that they get from a mobile. If they’re like me they probably dislike being interrupted during certain “cocoon” times when you’re involved in reading, listening to music, eating or other activities.
I suspect that personal music players (iPods and otherwise) appeal more strongly to those who have strong desires to cocoon. Maybe what this survey points to is the need for deeper “presence” knowledge embedded into communication networks. I would love to have the ability to convey to those wishing to connect with me some sort of message that makes it clear I am vegging and would really only like to be interrupted if it’s an emergency. A few years back “presence” was a big part of conversations on Instant Messaging technologies such as Session Initiation Protocol.
The final element of the survey, the one that indicates distaste for video content on personal music devices, speaks volumes. I know this meshes with my own desires, or lack thereof. What has the potential for impact outside of the music environment is that I strongly suspect this disinterest in mobile video extends beyond music players to phones and other portable devices. I know that, more often than not, I would have no desire to see video content when I’m on the go– if only because it takes my attention away from what I’m doing. Video content has the downside that you really can’t multi-task all that well while trying to absorb video content. What I think service providers are going to find is that users are not going to be willing to pay premiums for video content because even free video content has an opportunity cost associated with it (in that it’s hard to do something else while you’re consuming it).
On a somewhat unrelated note, there was an hilarious non-sequitor in last nights episode of Family Guy. Stewies iPod commercial was sheer brilliance. I love that show, and Stewie is by far the best character.
