Thursday, August 31, 2006
Apple Steps Into the Movie Rental Ring
Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 03:15 PM
"With the lion's share of the market in digital music downloads and a portable video player that has become so recognizable even your grandmother knows what an "iPod" is, Apple officially threw its hat into the movie arena with the announcement of movie downloads from the iTunes store in mid-September - and retail juggernaut Wal-Mart couldn't be unhappier about the news. BusinessWeek's Robert Grover reports that Apple plans to begin offering full-length movie downloads via iTunes beginning in September. New releases will be sold for $14.99, and older films for $9.99 - an increase from Job's initial hope of a flat-rate $9.99 per film. Movies will be protected under a similar FairPlay-style agreement, where users are permitted to play the content on a limited number of devices. The ability to record to DVD will likely be provided as well."
We knew this was coming, but I have to say I'm a bit surprised at the cost - though there are no details about how the FairPlay will work. Will it be like a DVD purchase, allowing you to keep the movie as long as you want? At that price it would have to be, wouldn't it? Yet somehow I don't want to assume anything, because one never knows. Now, obviously there are advantages to going digital here, but given the cost of DVDs in the stores (especially older ones in the $10 range), I'm a bit dubious as to whether or not these are going to sell well. Still, it's a big step for Apple, and given their tremendous market share with iTunes, the industry will feel this movement.
We knew this was coming, but I have to say I'm a bit surprised at the cost - though there are no details about how the FairPlay will work. Will it be like a DVD purchase, allowing you to keep the movie as long as you want? At that price it would have to be, wouldn't it? Yet somehow I don't want to assume anything, because one never knows. Now, obviously there are advantages to going digital here, but given the cost of DVDs in the stores (especially older ones in the $10 range), I'm a bit dubious as to whether or not these are going to sell well. Still, it's a big step for Apple, and given their tremendous market share with iTunes, the industry will feel this movement.
