Filed under: Multimedia, Rumors, Software
Apple and movie studios negotiating iTunes Movie Store
This won't come as a surprise to anyone, though there's nothing wrong with vindicating the obvious every now and then: Variety (and Forbes, etc.) reports that Apple is currently negotiating with the Movie Studio Folk over establishing a movie store, presumably within iTunes. If you'll remember, Apple started selling Disney's kiddie hit "High School Musical" a few months back for $9.99, reinforcing the notion that Apple's looking to dish out movies at that optimum $10 price point. Not surprising, of course, is the fact that, according to the report, the Movie Men want to out-music-industry the music industry by pushing for variable pricing, which Steve Jobs is adamantly opposed. MacRumors and MacDailyNews dive deeper into the article (or you could, I suppose, read it yourself).My only hope? We get better than the crappy 320x240 resolution videos currently in the iTMS.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mark said 4:23PM on 6-19-2006
>My only hope? We get better than the crappy 320x240 resolution videos currently in the iTMS.
I agree.
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Ralph said 5:01PM on 6-19-2006
I know I'm in the minority here, but I hope they're captioned. I know it sounds weird, someone with a hearing disability using iTunes, but I'm not deaf -- I've just come to rely on captioning when watching TV and movies. As I recall, flicks bought off of iTunes (including TV shows, specifically) are not captioned.
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kg said 5:25PM on 6-19-2006
> My only hope? We get better than the crappy 320x240 resolution videos currently in the iTMS.
Thank you! Especially if they plan on charging more than $1.99 each, and you know that they are. I have zero problems with 128kbps AAC and the DRM limitations on audio downloads from iTMS, but the low resolution and inability to burn even one DVD with video has kept me from buying any at all (though a DVD at 320x240 is also ridiculous). I am not going to watch an entire movie in a tiny window while sitting at my computer. Period.
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mick129 said 5:40PM on 6-19-2006
Yay for variable pricing. They should set the maximum price to $10. That would give the movie people the choice of 1001 different prices. Amazingly variable!
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Hendrik said 5:45PM on 6-19-2006
Does anyone else feel like 9.99 isn't really that cheap? After all, you could just get a DVD with the full-resolution movie and all that (albeit useless) extra stuff that usually comes with it for the same price or mostly even cheaper..
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XIV said 6:37PM on 6-19-2006
Why don't they call it : iTunes Media Store, since it's all media now, not just movie, neither then just clip/movies.
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XIV said 6:38PM on 6-19-2006
I meant music.
Other then that, I agree. It'd be fun to have some movies on the store.
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one1step1 said 6:51PM on 6-19-2006
The resolution definitely has to be better than what is available right now. I would love to see a tiered pricing structure.. for example, $14.99 for a HDTV version, $9.99 for DVD resolution, and then perhaps, $5.99 for a 320x240 version.
With DVDs under $15, I will still be more content using Popcorn to transfer them to the iPod, instead of downloading them. It's not about convenience for me at this point. Now, if they could do something like the hotels have, where the movie is still in the theater.. now that I would pay for. If I have a choice between renting, PPV, or buying, and I like the movie, I will buy everytime...something tangible. Not a download... and I love Apple.. so nothing against them.
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codeman38 said 8:08PM on 6-19-2006
I'm with Ralph on the desire for captioning. I have a really good ear for music, but have a seriously difficult time understanding spoken dialogue (particularly when it's fast-paced and not well enunciated, a style many actors seem to tend toward these days).
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Craig said 5:40AM on 6-20-2006
It should be called the iMovie Store, with iTunes for just music. I think a subscription based service would be best because people will just watch some films once or twice and then delete them. In response to some earlier comments they would have to be lowish quality or else they will take forever to download even over broadband.
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