Comments on: Why Apple Needs Movie Rentals

By: Davin Peterson

Davin Peterson — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:51:14 +0000

Why we have to stop relaying on Apple for everything:
The iPod isn’t the only player. What about the Creative Zen? Creative invented the iPod interface, and Apple stole if from them. Now Creative doesn’t get any recogintion and the iPod continues to unfairly dominate the market. iTunes is locked down so no other player can use and that’s not fair. The ZEN is a better player to watch movies on then the iPod. Take the Creative Zen Vision:W. It’s a true widescreen player with a 262,000 color screen. The iPod isn’t at it only has 60,000 - 90,000 colors. Also the ZEN supports more formats such as WMV, MPEG, Div/Xvid & Avi. iPod only supports MP4.

By: Dimitrios Matsoulis

Dimitrios Matsoulis — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:41:58 +0000

Sure studios will make money but I have the impression that they will not let Apple become in films and TV as big as it is in music downloads right now…
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By: v4cent

v4cent — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:26:43 +0000

Same views

By: Movie Geek

Movie Geek — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 20:31:01 +0000

Apple movie rentals are great if Apple can do it better than Netflix and it also encourages less bootlegging and illegal movie download.

By: Friday links: LBO loan overhang « Abnormal Returns

Friday links: LBO loan overhang « Abnormal Returns — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:50:03 +0000

[...] Why Apple (AAPL) needs movie rentals. (GigaOM.com) [...]

By: iTunes movie rentals « François Schiettecatte’s Blog

iTunes movie rentals « François Schiettecatte’s Blog — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 13:42:10 +0000

[...] movie rentals It is looking more and more likely that there will be movie rentals on iTunes. Frankly it has to be done, the real money makers for [...]

By: Parul Bindra

Parul Bindra — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:06:55 +0000

It all comes back to rental windows. If Apple can bully the studios into letting iTunes rent movies as soon as they are released for sale/rental as DVDs, good for Apple and good for consumers.

Otherwise, its a big snore. I can spend few hundred bucks to buy another box to attach to my TV that lets me do the exact same thing as cable/sattelite PPV? Doesn't really seem worth it...

Parul

By: Bick

Bick — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:14:19 +0000

Nice Article

By: randulo

randulo — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 07:45:41 +0000

As a consumer, I can't wait to be able to rent movies and TV series episodes at a reasonable price through iTunes. At the moment, I buy and watch an episode on my TV via the iPod video, and then delete the file. Whoever comes up with a $0.99 TV episode or $2.99 movie rental will have my business. The problem I have currently (with things like Amazon Unbox) is that none of them work outside the USA.

By: Nobody Imparticular

Nobody Imparticular — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 07:27:18 +0000

Oh, I forgot to mention, that I am no Saint and am suffering from the same syndromes that we all grapple with every day. This is why I blog.

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By: Nobody Imparticular

Nobody Imparticular — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 07:25:06 +0000

Your site would mortify Orwell. He would see in it all of his prognostications come to life. I am sure it is useful information but does not all this “gadgetry” eventually become waste? Yes, it is a way of capitalizing upon the things that people desire and I suppose in a free market economy this is the law of the land. But what are the long term affects upon our soul? Does it leave some place within the penetralia of our inner life left rusting (a rock unturned)? Is it our eventual ruin as a collective species living on earth? I only raise this point because in Ayurvedic Medicine there is the belief that the microcosm is a reflection of the macrocosm. What if the global crisis (politically and environmentally) we are all currently subjected to is merely a reflection of this deep place within ourself that has been left to rust (all in the name of making a buck)? Food for thought, I suppose. Then again, what would a lonely little Blogger like my self know about the end of the world?

By: dnxx1

dnxx1 — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:30:17 +0000

Great read.

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By: deep

deep — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:56:27 +0000

Congratulations Om. you rock!!

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By: Asif Momen

Asif Momen — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 21:57:37 +0000

I share same view as that of Ajay !!!

By: Ajay

Ajay — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 20:06:10 +0000

I think you are correct, streaming video will strengthen both Apples position as a distributor of content and the value proposition of the iPhone & the iTouch.

By: James Vornov

James Vornov — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 20:04:02 +0000

iPods and content are an ecosystem. I was never interested in video until I bought an iPhone during the summer. Suddenly I had a nice small screen to watch movies during travel. Suddenly I needed content. In constrast to music, where iTunes offered a huge selection more cheaply than I could buy elsewhere, the video offerings by Apple weren’t interesting at all.

I started buying used DVDs and just recently subscribed to Netflix. I’m now watching more movies than I have in a long time and am thinking about buying an AppleTV unit to give me an option for watching on the bigger screen. I don’t want to own video the way I want to own music. A week at a time is enough when it comes to TV shows or movies.

For me it was the device that’s driving my need for content. I think this was true for the iPod and music as well. We’ll see whether Apple can develop a video supply that is better than Netflix. 12 movies a month at less than $20 is about the right pricepoint. I’d love to see a Netflix model, where for a fixed monthly fee you can have rights to watch 3 or 4 videos at a time.

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