Robert X. Cringley, author and technology writer for PBS, says Apple will introduce cheaper iPods as well as a video iPod in his predictions for 2004. Cringley says the cheaper iPods will use flash memory instead of a hard drive (mirroring recent reports), and that we should expect a video iPod by next Christmas, which will essentially be “a hard drive with a dedicated DV encoder/decoder and a FireWire interface. You’ll be able to record video direct to the hard drive then edit from that same drive, completely eliminating tape.” Cringley says: “Wal-Mart’s entry into the music download business changes everything, and will undoubtedly take the leadership away from Apple.”