
DVguru, a sister blog, is just as excited for an iTunes
Music Movie Store as we are, and they've been doing
their own digging into what Apple's September 12th "
It's Showtime" special event could bring. The gurus of all things DV found
a post at iPodHub.net containing a supposed list of movies that will be released from Disney and their subsidiaries in the iTMS over the next year, though a source isn't cited, nor is a reason given for the one year rollout. Movies both old and new are apparently lined up from Disney, Pixar, Mirimax, Touchstone Pictures and Lion's Gate Entertainment. However, since Lion's Gate's CEO already
dropped a few of his own hints, iPodHub.net might be on to something here.
Also on iPodHub.net's list of source-less rumoring is (finally) a name change coming to the iTunes Music Store. Apple has stocked their digital shelves with a lot more content than simply music for quite some time now, and some kind of a name alteration is long overdue. Either way, stay tuned for our September 12th coverage to find out the juicy details on exactly what you'll be whipping out your credit cards for next week.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-07-2006 @ 9:19AM
Aaron Willis said...
I think all this talk about adding movies to the iTMS is great. I would buy a few, before a long trip. But has everyone forgotten the "Mac Media Center" rumors? There's a little voice in the back of my mind that keeps tieing this whole "It's Showtime" announcement with the image of me, sitting smugly in front of my Apple Media Center goodness, while all my friends sit in awe.
Anyone else think there still might be a shot? It would be the left hand punch no one saw coming, and would be kind of true to Apple's MO.
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9-07-2006 @ 9:21AM
Ed said...
They could launch a new piece of software more suited to movies/tv episodes, or restructure iTunes quite a bit. They can't really use iMovie, iVideo sounds tacky, iMedia is a bit ugly... can't really think of any others. They could of course release Front Row for PC and make it incorporate iTunes and a video download system.
If they stick with iTunes, they could just call it the iTunes Store.
As it stands iTunes is very bad at handling video, so really something _has_ to be done about that.
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9-07-2006 @ 9:40AM
Jon said...
The one thing that puts me off buying movies is the fact that if the movie turns out to be really bad, you just paid $9.99 / $14.99 for it. With a DVD, you can at least sell it on eBay and recoup some of the cost back.
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9-07-2006 @ 9:41AM
Tyler Kieft said...
Ed is correct, iTunes does need some major overhauls to serve as a good movie player. This would be much more exciting to me than a name change.
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9-07-2006 @ 9:48AM
Josh said...
Perhaps they are naming it "Showtime"... Notice how it is capitalized on the announcment?
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9-07-2006 @ 9:55AM
Nathan Sweeney said...
Unless they make it so that you can burn the movies to DVD, it will be worthless to me.
I for one wont pay $9.99 to watch a movie on an iPod (I don't even own a video iPod), nor will I pay extra money for an Airport to stream it to my TV. I just want to be able to make a DVD so that I can watch it from the couch or be able to take it to a friend's house.
Of course, this is all applicable only if Apple actually does bring out a Video Airport and movie downloads.
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9-07-2006 @ 10:02AM
Brian said...
Crunchgear had this post yesterday that appears to have some inside info about the list of movies:
http://crunchgear.com/2006/09/05/itunes-movie-list-revealed-hope-you-like-disney/
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9-07-2006 @ 10:12AM
Jacob Varghese said...
Nathan,
Why do you need little plastic discs to hold the content when it's all on your harddrive?
Maybe instead of a streaming device all this can be done by connecting your iPod to your TV.
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9-07-2006 @ 10:18AM
Brian Baute said...
iTMS can remain iTMS, but the iTunes Media Store instead. I think iTunes has too much value as a brand to change it now, and even with "tunes" in the name I think the iTunes brand has already morphed in many people's minds to include video as well as audio. Adding movies will only further that, and a media center or full-screen video iPod will really do it. Maybe the iTunes logo can change, though, to something less musical.
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9-07-2006 @ 10:43AM
error said...
They should just call it...
iTunes Store
Everybody is calling it 'iTunes' anyway. It's also 'Apple Store' and not something like 'Apple Hardware Store' so 'iTunes Media Store' would be silly (and way too Miscosoft).
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9-07-2006 @ 11:11AM
Steve said...
I'm still not sold on an a-la-carte model for movies. Music it's perfect for, short and infinitely replayable. Movies you watch once or twice and then forget about for long periods of time. I have shelves full of purchased DVDs I've watched a few times at most. I don't think this model is going to be as successful for movies.
That said, Apple has done pretty well with selling TV shows so we'll see.
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9-07-2006 @ 11:20AM
OWRC said...
I just want to pay a little to watch a movie once. Basically a rental model but with the medium for delivery via the internet rather than a trip to blockbastar.ds
I don't want to pay the same price as a DVD and I don't need to pay more to burn to disc myself.
My mini is sitting under my HD tv just begging for this.
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9-07-2006 @ 11:41AM
iPod Hub said...
Hi, I'm the owner of iPod Hub.
Thanks for the coverage. First let me start by saying the article about changes to the iTunes store has this week kind of confirmed yesterday with the news that Apple has trademarked iMovie (without an s) in Europe. That's why Julian wrote in the article that the news was from the 'Eastern Front'. His way of saying the news came from a reader in Germany even though the Eastern Front was quite a bit more east than that :D
The list of movies come via Claire who works as a production assistant in Los Angeles. Hardly difficult for her to find out I guess. I'm always thankful for the time she spends writing for us. I'm currently stationed in Asia and can't wait to get back home!
Thanks for the coverage TUAW.
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9-07-2006 @ 11:54AM
SubGenius said...
What I want... A true Apple home theater experience...iPod HD
A box similar in size to your typical VCR or DVD player(a form factor people are familiar with)
Comes standard with one big internal HD(second HD is optional)
Boots up almost instantly.
Front Row style interface controlled with simple Apple Remote.
The music on your computer(s) can sync with the iPod HD just like any other iPod
This also provides a backup functionality that can work with Time Machine.
When you purchase a song it downloads to your Mac/PC and then syncs to your iPod HD
From your couch you can watch movie previews and purchase movies which download directly to the iPod HD.
The iPod HD can also create a scaled down version to fit on an iPod video.
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9-07-2006 @ 2:00PM
spinpapi said...
hey 10., I think you'd be right if they were looking for a way to simply rework what they have to NOW include movies too. iTunes does have a lot of traction, and shoving "Media" in there does sound Microshitty.
but I have a question that raises a bigger possibility: how come we can't buy Apple hardware thru the ITMS? seems to me I'd buy more of everything Apple if the Apple Store were available in there (one click and all), and through it I could buy media, Macs, and more.
could this be their opportunity, now that the lawsuit w/Apple Corps is over (for this round anyway) to jump in and rename it the Apple Store? with one fell swoop, they could rebrand the whole frickin thing to better put iPods and Macs (their two halves) back under one umbrella...the Apple brand...where they belong!!!
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9-07-2006 @ 2:40PM
Navvy said...
iMultimedia Synergy Xtreme Hub of Buying Stuff.
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9-09-2006 @ 3:16PM
David Sheddan said...
I like the idea of a Media hub for the living room (or sitting room as we call it on this side of the pond). A couple things come to mind though- I don't know about you guys in the states with houses made of paper... I mean wood, but over here houses are built with brick- lots of brick. I know that in my house an 11g network just ain't gonna cut it for streaming HD or high quality h.264 content- so some sorta form of high quality caching or control over how files are copied across to the media server. Perhaps 11n but I don't know if it's too soon for Apple to jump on that bandwagon.
When it comes to the distro model for movies- I've been saying the same thing as 11 for a few years now (see blog http://blog.sheddan.co.uk/?p=113) ... people think- music.. movies, but they don't break down as easily as an album does- i think the real reason that Apple succeeded with the Itunes Music store is it's ability to let people pick and choose tracks- sure they sold a billion songs, I'd love to know as a percentage of this how many full albums were sold.... I doubt it's nowhere near.. as people (me included) just buy a track here a track there....
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