I predict numerous economic ripples from the annoucement this week of [Apple's video iPod/iTunes->http://www.apple.com/itunes/videos/], but let’s also point out that the user experience for personal video players just took a giant leap forward. And that’s really what’s driving the ball here–the user experience.

It’s not because Apple’s hardware is that innovative. Apple’s iPod has been around for a while and playing videos on any personal video player (PVP) device is just not that big of a stretch technology wise. But, what really has changed is the user experience for a PVP. Now it’s actually easy to buy a video, load it, and play it via iTunes and the new iPods. Here’s what [CNET->http://news.com.com/Commentary+Apples+video+jump-start/2030-1041_3-5895461.html?part=rss&tag=5895461&subj=news] said this week…

While Apple is not the first company offering a portable video player or a legal download service–Microsoft got there first with partners CinemaNow, TiVo, Creative, Samsung and Zvue–Apple does it better. Together with its new iTunes video-capable software, Apple created a simple, end-to-end experience for video purchase, download and portable viewing.

And that last point is key. Apple was the first to see that the user experience with all these other devices including the Sony Playstation Portable, which really has one of the most beautiful small screens anywhere, should have been out there first. But they aren’t. And like I mentioned in a [previous post->http://www.rnalabs.com/archives/18], you have to bridge that gap between your hardware and software with an easy user experience. It’s shouldn’t be stupid difficult. Keep it simple, make it easy. It’s easy to make it hard, and hard to make it easy.