Downloading movies is kind of a fool’s game. You have the movie on disk, but now what? Am I going to burn it to a DVD so my kid can watch it? Probably not. I basically paid – or didn’t pay – for content I’ll never access again.
Well, it seems Apple is thinking about adding streaming to the next version of iTunes and, presumably, offering cheaper streaming prices for those so inclined. I could totally see two things happening – iTunes 8 and Apple TV offering video “rental” – 99 cents seems about right – and, and this is far fetched, some sort of little program they can put into another device to grab your iTunes content on multiple systems a la Netflix.
Will this happen? I’d say rentals are on the horizon and streaming is definitely in the cards. Creating an army of iTunes compatible hardware from other vendors is a little harder to swallow, simply because of Apple’s insistence on closing things up. But remember – Motorola got Apple to open up a little and allow them direct iTunes compatibility so it’s not too far off to assume Apple could talk home entertainment device makers into stuffing some iTunes code into their next release.
Never access again? Whenever I download a movie via the BitTorrent protocol, I burn it to a DVD along with 5 other movies and add the disk to my video collection, in which I have more than 100 disks. Normally if it’s a good film, I watch it again with friends, or I just give a copy to them, since most of them don’t know how to download, or convert to iPod format.
Hey isashach, can you please forward your name and address to sue_me@mpaa.org? I’m sure they’re very interested.
My point is this, you’re comparing apples to stealing apples.
Riiiiiight. From the company that can’t get MobileMe functioning properly or Push working on the iPhone…
Have you ever used an Apple TV? They are already streaming movies. In HD. I rent movies and buy TV shows a lot on Apple TV, and I typically wait 20 seconds, and am prompted that I can begin watching. I’ve never had it had to stop me during a playback, not once. I’m using a cable modem connection that gets about 8mbps.
I have 2 of them – both primarily to run Boxee. I bought a third for my parents. Streaming is unreliable, at best. Hell, it takes several minutes just to authorize playback from iTunes. I have a cable modem with throughput identical to yours. That being said, waiting for a download isn’t exactly a deal-breaker, since I tend to plan an hour or so ahead. It’s a neat idea, but evidence of Apple’s previous attempts with services like this don’t instill much confidence.
HELP. I was about to buy a roku player to watch netflix movies and soon amazon movies. Now with these news I am not sure what to do…comments anyone?
Buy the Roku box. It rules so much. You won’t regret it. Also this is speculation that Apple will do this. Not solid news.
I am not sure if streaming is a good alternative to downloading. Whenever possible, I prefer to download movies so that I can watch them at leisure and/or share them with friends. 99 cents for downloading is a decent price; if an option for streaming is provided at a comparable price, I doubt if people will prefer it over downloading
What do you mean download and then watch at leisure, so why cant you stream when you are at leisure, why do u download before hand.
Apple really needs to start integrating third-party video vendors into their iTunes application, or at least do something simple like releasing an API to Front Row for the benefit of third-party video vendors like Miro, EyeTV, and Netflix.
Because, for users of Apple media centers, having to GET UP to switch applications and playback or fiddle gimmicks like ‘iRed’ is ridiculous. Apple has a propensity to let its selfishness makes our lives more aggravating.
makes this
Streaming is pretty limited in usefulness to those who have pretty fast internet/broadband access, and that is the limiting factor in its use.
Even many urban areas still don’t have consistently fast cable internet streams (especially areas with Comcast monopolized service).
Um, you can rent movies through iTunes. I do it now with my Apple TV so I can watch it in the living room. Sure it’s not $.99 or a subscription, but it is a rental. I do agree that they need to come out with a subscription plan…
I don’t see why they wouldn’t offer this. Other platforms such as the Xbox 360 already offer direct movie rental via Netflix through Xbox live. Most laptops have a video out port that can be used to hook directly up to a television. Using this port displaying it on a TV is trivial.
Sounds good for me. Love Apple.
Netflix is minting money, just copy what they are doing through another product/provider and you won’t fail. 99 cents will sway a lot of people away from illegal downloads and towards verifiable/virus free streams from AAPL/etc. The streaming issue will have to be molded a little, like allowing it to be somewhat downloaded in order to be viewed consistently. Maybe you could download it but only access it remotely and keep access to it for a predetermined
amount of time, such as .99 for 1 day, 1.49 for 3 days, 1.99 for 2 weeks, etc. I could go for something like that and avoid downloading who knows what through “other means” that end up giving you worms/trojans. I’ll see if this digital security site recommends it.
It would be nice if apple has ebooks.
I prefer to download the movies I wanna watch, whenever this is possible. Much more reliable this way. Of course, I stick to the legal sources
http://audials.com/en/blog/article/34/3-ways-to-legally-download-movies-and-videos-from-the-internet.html