Will Sony miss the iPod revolution -- again?

The new PSM issue has a short article on why Blu-ray is important for Sony. The basic idea is something we've known for months, but there's an interesting tidbit I hadn't seen before:

According to industry insiders, Apple approached Sony about putting iPod versions of movies on Blu-ray discs, so that customers could simply copy flicks over to their video iPod at no extra charge. Sony hasn't said if this will happen..."

Sony is in its current weak position largely because it missed out on the two dominant consumer tech products of the last 6 years: The flat-panel television and the iPod. Its Bravia line of TVs is helping Sony regain its lost TV market share, but the company is still hopelessly lost when it comes to digital music.

Putting an iPod-compatible movie on every Blu-ray movie sold isn't going to change this by itself, but it would be a start. And no matter how much it would help, it's a no-brainer. The iPod is beyond huge, and Sony will never catch up with it. Better to leverage another company's product to sell more of your own (in this case, Blu-ray movies, which give Sony a cut of every sale). At this point, Sony needs every edge it can get to make Blu-ray the next DVD standard, and pairing with the iPod is a pretty nice edge.