Steve Jobs Finally Announces Apple iTunes Movie Rentals at Macworld
By Kristen Nicole 2008-01-15 04:24:37 UTC
As expected, Steve Jobs announced the entrance of the Apple iTunes movie rental store today at Macworld. Anticipation for Apple's movie rental store has been building for some time, and the media empire was also able to get all the major studios on board, which is good for Apple and good for consumers. That includes Touchstone and Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, New Line, Fox, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Sony, according to Silicon Alley Insider. You'll be able to rent movies to play on your Mac and PC computers, iPods, iPhones, and of course, the updated Apple TV.
What's not so good about the new rental service, though, is the delay time. In true Apple fashion, there are some contingencies to having your media in the palm of your hand (or on your computer, or on your TV). Rentals last 24 hours, they must be activated within 30 days of purchase, and movies won't be available for rental until 30 days after the movie comes out on DVD. That's a significant lag time to have content readily available for rental purposes on the most popular devices in the world.
While such contingencies are often the result of Apple reaching some semblance of a "middle ground" with all of its media partners for uniformity purposes, I don't see the point in having such a lag time when it comes to new movies. Equally important, I'm sure you're all wondering how much this will run you. HD rentals will go for $4.99, DVD quality rentals will hit you up for $3.99, and older titles cost a measly $2.99. Is it all worth it to be able to take your rentals with you, wherever you may go?
It's thought that Netflix changed up its rental offering in anticipation of today's announcement, lifting the restrictions on the number of rentals you could view online. Couple that with Netflix's set top box, and this rental behemoth has already tackled half of Apple's offerings. There's also existing cable and satellite pay-per-view options, which are still the standard for in-home rentals on-demand, and a growing army of competitors, especially in the set top arena, that are working to combat Apple's stronghold as well.
I don't get to watch movies very often, so I personally wouldn't notice (or care) that a rental on Apple iTunes isn't available until 30 days after the DVD release, but could this put a damper on the new rental offering, leaving a hole for another company to take advantage of?
Topics: Video, web