Press To Apple, Amazon On Video Offerings: Eh? That's It?
from the try-again,-please dept
We were among those not impressed by the new video download offerings Amazon and Apple launched over the past few weeks, and it seems like plenty of major media publications are in agreement. Both the San Jose Mercury News and the Washington Post are suggesting that the two new services aren't worth very many people's time or money. The Merc points out that you're probably paying more for the downloads, while getting fewer features and convenience. The Post is even more straightforward: "maddeningly thin selection, uncompetitive prices, middling video quality and no DVD-burning option." The odd thing is that there have already been plenty of crappy movie download services that no one wants and no one uses. Both Apple and Amazon have known this. While a lot of blame can be placed on the movie studios for failing to budge, it's the job of both Apple and Amazon to convince them otherwise -- or else not launch yet another crappy movie download service that no one wants. It's becoming increasingly clear that the movie industry would rather that these services fail, so it can whine to politicians about how much piracy is "costing" them, instead of innovating and figuring out new ways to provide more value to the many, many people out there who want to watch movies.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Thin Selections
When Apple launched TV shows not even a year ago, they had a handful of shows and networks involved. Today, they have 40 networks, over 200 shows, and have sold 45 million TV shows.
Another piece of the puzzle lies with the iTV announcement. Watching movies on your computer or pod is one thing. Being able to shift them to your living room is quite another.
I predict that the other studios are watching this experiment VERY carefully. Let Disney rack up even some semi-impressive sales numbers, and the other studios will climb on board. Or to mangle a moive metaphor...
"If you build it, they will come."
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Re: Thin Selections
As if crappy quality, DRM infected, propietary quicktime videos aren't bad enough they're only at a whopping 640x480. That's going to look like an unholy pile dog poo on your 1080p panel. That'll even look trashy on your 720p display.
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Re: Re: Thin Selections
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Thin Selections
Steve indicated that the quality is better than non-high-def broadcast quality, which means to me it's much better than the crappy super-compressed stuff already coming out of most channels on my digital cable box...
...and since I bought one and tried it out using a pod and a video dock, I believe him. I suggest you actually try it yourself before making unwarrented guesses and comparisons.
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Besides my first purchase, which was to check out the speed/quality, the only way I'll ever download in the future is if the Downloads are available before the DVD. I'm probably not the only one who would actually consider paying for a download a week or two after the movie is released in theaters, and then buying or renting it again when it comes out on DVD.
Maybe one day Hollywood will get that concept.
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Re: before the DVD
I thought this was going to shorten the availability window. But that will only happen when the studios are sure that it won't eat into their DVD revenue and that it is secure. Given how often DRMs are being cracked, don't think that will happen.
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Amazon quality
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Too Soon!
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The resolution bump indeed will be nice. I myself have downloaded "Lost Episodes" and I stream my content from my G5 to my Mac Mini thats hooked up to a "true" HD tv, meaning im sourcing out 1080p on my 50" Sony SXRD LCD Projection and they look just fine. So the resolution bump indeed will be nice. Are they "true dvd quality?" nope and the movies dont claim to be but then, some Movies and Shows have such shitty DVD transfer that it just might beat other shows.
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iTV announcement
Apple sells music to sell iPods. Apple will sell movies to sell iPods and iTVs (which is having the content play the way people want to play it). Putting frontrow on a television set and having it control digital media wirelessly is the right direction. Bypassing the DVD burning nonsense and jumping straight to the set top is a master stroke. Neener-neener, Hollywood. Get on board for crying out loud.
BOHICA, bitches.
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Definition of Insanity
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