Apple to allow 30 day movie rentals for $2.99 on iTunes

[mearlus]

I just saw this article. I wonder if this will (hopefully) drive unbox prices down so we can have the movies longer than 24 hours after starting to watch it. What it doesn't say is if it will have the same issue with deleting after 24 hours of starting to watch it like unbox. The fact that it can go onto an iPod would lead me to believe that it doesn't automatically delete after those first 24 hours when you start viewing it.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/11/technology/apple_rentals/index.htm

[ZeoTiVo]

I would pay 4.99 a movie rental if I could watch it for 30 days before it deletes.
the 24 hour window is a major blockage to my use of UNBOX and I only use it now for the 99Cent rentals. I enjoy the ease of watching from the TiVo very much but the 24 hour viewing window does not want me to do many movies that the whole family wants to see

[pkscout]

And I'd pay $4.99 for the movie in HD (even 720p). I'll pay a couple bucks for DVD lite, but not more than that.

[MickeS]

The 24 hour limit is set by content owners. It's the same everywhere - PPV, Unbox, Vudu, etc. I doubt it'll change anytime soon.

I still don't understand why they didn't have rentals right away.

[mearlus]

The 24 hour limit is set by content owners. It's the same everywhere - PPV, Unbox, Vudu, etc. I doubt it'll change anytime soon.

I still don't understand why they didn't have rentals right away.

I'll be interested to see if that is the case w/ the iTunes downloads. I don't know of a mechanism within an iPod to delete after XYZ things have occured. So if you don't sync your iPod, will it just sit on it for 30 days?

We'll have to wait and see what more info comes out about this.

[d_anders]

I'll be interested to see if that is the case w/ the iTunes downloads. I don't know of a mechanism within an iPod to delete after XYZ things have occured. So if you don't sync your iPod, will it just sit on it for 30 days?

We'll have to wait and see what more info comes out about this.

The ipods may already have this code built in and they just haven't exposed that code yet...so the ipod may simply delete it on it's own.

[EVizzle]

I thought Mr. Jobs wasn't a fan of renting, just owning? I wonder if a per month subscription for music is on its way???

[rainwater]

I thought Mr. Jobs wasn't a fan of renting, just owning? I wonder if a per month subscription for music is on its way???

I'm guessing the change is due to the fact that most people do not want to pay dvd prices for digital movies. Music and movies are much different models however. I only want to watch most movies once whereas music I will listen to over and over. This is why Apple can get by over charging for music and not movies.

[swspain]

I'm really hoping this happens. I have an AppleTV, which would be perfect for this.

[pkscout]

I'm guessing the change is due to the fact that most people do not want to pay dvd prices for digital movies. Music and movies are much different models however.

I don't think movie rentals is a "change" in philosophy at all. Jobs has never said people want to own their video content. He said that about music, not video.

[davezatz]

Make it HD! (720p is fine.)

[javabird]

I'm really hoping this happens. I have an AppleTV, which would be perfect for this.

This will certainly drive sales for AppleTV.

[EVizzle]

I agree that they require different strategies, just a little surprised that the simplistic "click to buy" on everything will now be accompanied by a "click to rent". I am a huge itunes fan, but if I could pay 15 a month and get whatever I wanted to listen to downloaded and on my ipod(s) I would make out on the deal. I don't really need to "own" that song, as long as I can listen to it when I want, where I want, wherever my comp or pod is. But leaving an ipod for a different mp3 device is not an option, so I will stay content buying digital content! (lame word usage)

[Fassade]

Some details from the Macworld keynote, as reported on Macword's blog (http://www.macworld.com/article/131486/2008/01/liveupdate.html):

Studios on board: Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, New Line, Lions Gate, Fox, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Sony. (Only rentals mentioned, not sales.)

Cost/terms: $2.99 library title, $3.99 new releases. ($1 more if you rent the HD version, though no word on resolution), 30 days to watch, must watch in 24 hours once started. TV Shows will be $1.99 per episode, though I am not sure if that was rental or sales. You can transfer programs from one device to another.

They also announced an Apple TV 2 with a different interface.

[rainwater]

I would pay 4.99 a movie rental if I could watch it for 30 days before it deletes.
the 24 hour window is a major blockage to my use of UNBOX and I only use it now for the 99Cent rentals. I enjoy the ease of watching from the TiVo very much but the 24 hour viewing window does not want me to do many movies that the whole family wants to see

The iTunes terms are pretty much exactly the same as the Unbox terms.

[ZeoTiVo]

The iTunes terms are pretty much exactly the same as the Unbox terms.

maybe if we ask in lolcat speak
I can have content, no 1 day plz :p

[kas25]

Apple TV price drops from $299 to $229 with a free software upgrade for everyone. PC also not required and you can rent movies off the Apple TV in HD. I assume Amazon will follow with similar content?

[ADGrant]

Unbox doesn't provide HD so I don't use Unbox.

[kmill14]

How many HD movies can you store on a 40 GB harddrive?

[Pictor Guy]

I thought Mr. Jobs wasn't a fan of renting, just owning? I wonder if a per month subscription for music is on its way???

He's not a fan of renting music but has felt that renting movies is logical and I agree. His logic is that you tend to listen to music over and over but movies are generally watched once -- maybe twice after many years. This is mostly true for me despite having a large collection. The only place I would disagree is with children films. My kids can watch the same movie every day of the week. :rolleyes:

[Pictor Guy]

How many HD movies can you store on a 40 GB harddrive?

Not sure but I'm guessing mp4 compression you can get a few. How many are you going to watch in 24h without wanting to stream? There is also the $329 160GB version of the AppleTV if you need the extra capacity.

EDIT: Looks like you can also pick up a refurbished 40GB AppleTV for $199 or the 160GB for $279

[brettatk]

How many HD movies can you store on a 40 GB harddrive?

I'd say you could get anywhere from 3-4 HD Movies on a 40 GB harddrive. If compression is better for Apple TV than the Tivo HD or S3 then maybe more.

[larrs]

Some details from the Macworld keynote, as reported on Macword's blog (http://www.macworld.com/article/131486/2008/01/liveupdate.html):

Studios on board: Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, New Line, Lions Gate, Fox, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Sony. (Only rentals mentioned, not sales.)

Cost/terms: $2.99 library title, $3.99 new releases. ($1 more if you rent the HD version, though no word on resolution), 30 days to watch, must watch in 24 hours once started. TV Shows will be $1.99 per episode, though I am not sure if that was rental or sales. You can transfer programs from one device to another.

They also announced an Apple TV 2 with a different interface.
Apple TV is only 720P cabable, so that's it, but that would be OK with me. I would settle for Unbox to offer widescreen 480P and 720P!

[nrc]

480P would be adequate. 720P is where they need to be - good compromise between quality and download time. It's a shame that Amazon couldn't get out in front of this.

[jbrasure]

480P would be adequate. 720P is where they need to be - good compromise between quality and download time. It's a shame that Amazon couldn't get out in front of this.

My problem with Unbox is the compression. I watched Casino Royale, and during all of the fast motion scenes I could see major artifacts. It was so obvious that I thought it was a style they purposely used in the film. Later when I saw the DVD version I realized that it wasn't.