Filed under: iTS, Video, iTunes
Disney/Pixar's Cars movie now in iTunes, special pricing
Although I'm getting older and grayer by the day, I'm still really a kid at heart. That's probably why I love the movie Cars. I love it so much that it's about to become the very first full-length movie that I personally purchase on iTunes.
Cars was released today in the iTunes Store [iTS link] and Apple has made it even more appealing with their special pricing of $12.99 for new releases. That makes me, as Mater would say, happier 'n a tornado in a trailer park!
Boogity Boogity Boogity! Let's go racin'!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Catt said 7:39PM on 11-08-2006
Downloaded and watched it for the first time last night. I was cracking up the whole time. The tractor tipping things made me almost fall off my chair...
So imaginative, soooo cool...
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Ahbe said 7:49PM on 11-08-2006
How is $12.99 a good deal? I just purchased the DVD from Walmart for $13.99! I can rip it to my computer and have a DRM free copy for only a dollar more? I know it's not Apple's fault, as the movie studios are pushing the price, but seriously, a digital download needs to be priced a bit more reasonably.
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Donald Burr said 8:03PM on 11-08-2006
You're forgetting that there is another expenditure involved: YOUR TIME. It usually takes me about 2 hours, maybe 2-1/2, to rip and encode your typical movie. Now, when you factor that into money, that works out to about an additional $12-15. (and that's only basing it on minimum wage) It also tends to totally tie up my computer, leaving very little processor left for other things (screen redraws/application switches take forever, it's sluggish to respond to keyboard/mouse input, etc.) Also there is the convenience factor - the ripping/encoding involves extra steps which I wouldn't have to do if I had used the iTMS.
No, I think I'll stick with the iTunes Store. The prices really aren't that bad (Amazon's rival Unbox service certainly isn't much better :P), the quality's good enough (it looks REALLY good even on my projector, and it plays great on my Mac and iPod), it's quick and easy to buy requiring no additional steps, and it doesn't tie up my machine while downloading, so I can be doing other stuff and not wasting time.
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Angel said 8:15PM on 11-08-2006
@Donald - An additional $12-$15 for letting your computer encode? I'm not really sure how you think that's the financial equivalent. If that's your logic, you should add a couple extra dollars to the iTunes movie since it's using up your bandwidth while downloading.
Besides, if you buy the DVD for $13.99 (a measly dollar more), you can EASILY play it anywhere...on all of your computers, all of your TVs, at another home, etc..
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Ruben Santiago said 8:52PM on 11-08-2006
Laurie, I really enjoyed the creativity in this post, very creative, spoken like a true fan! (Pixar and Apple alike) :)
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Wheels said 11:26PM on 11-08-2006
Doc Hudson forever! ---- Not to mention his sister, my Hudson, Hannabelle!
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Peter Kirn said 1:26AM on 11-09-2006
Yeah, I'll be buying this on DVD at the same price. I expect for a few more dollars we'll get extras. DVD forever. I have a physical backup, and I can play on the delivery mechanisms I want most (computer, TV). Cars just ain't gonna look purty enough on iPod, I'm afraid. Loses something when it's that small.
(Looked really good in high-resolution projection, but I think we'll have to wait a bit for this experience.)
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Randolph Lee said 2:19AM on 11-09-2006
Indeed! I had a bit of dampness in my headlights when Doc Hudson got his spinning wheels ovation when he showed up as the crew chief! One of the best jobs that Paul Newman has done recently IMO!
My Dad had a Hudson Teraplane before the war... he said it was one of his favorite cars... this from a man that had a M-Benz 300SL Gullwing from 55 to 79!
I really wanted more of Doc. in the movie... to me he was the best thing in it!
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icruise said 6:26AM on 11-09-2006
I don't know what kind of computer Donald Burr has, but my Intel iMac can easily handle ripping/encoding a DVD without a noticeable hit to performance. But regardless, how can anyone seriously argue that you should multiply the encoding time by the minimum wage to get the "true cost"? It's not as if you have to actually do anything while your computer encodes the video. It takes me maybe 2 minutes to set Handbrake to encode a DVD to the iPod format. Then you just press the button and you're done. No baby-sitting required.
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Gavin said 12:58PM on 11-09-2006
The DVD has bonus features. Does the iTunes version have bonus features? If not, I'd go to the store to buy the DVD for $1 more.
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Donald Burr said 1:36PM on 11-09-2006
I have a 1.83 GHz MacBook Pro with 2 GB of RAM. I use iSquint 1.5 to perform my encodes. (I have Instant HandBrake on my hard drive, but haven't tried it yet. Perhaps its encoding engine offers better performance than iSquint? I don't know.) I encode to H.264, 640x480, using the default quality settings ("Normal" I believe is what they call it, it's the center position on the quality slider).
It easily pegs both processors, and the fans spin up to full speed. The interactive performance of the machine is SEVERELY degraded during the encoding period. All apps feel sluggish, sort of like how I would imagine trying to run a marathon while underwater. To me, this is NOT what I would consider "productivity time," hence I usually wander off at this point to watch a movie or something.
I do in fact still buy DVD's. But it is just not convenient to use them in some cases. I have a 7" portable DVD player, as well as the MacBook Pro of course. So yeah, I could watch my DVDs on those. But even the 7" DVD player is a lot bulkier than my 5G iPod. (also, remember, you have to carry the DVD's with you too) And I'm okay with that. (Being visually impaired, I tend to hold things closer to my fact to read/watch them anyway, so the screen size is not such an issue for me. Still, I look forward to the supposed "real" video iPod when it comes out.)
Even if you don't equate this time with money as I did in my original post, it is still an inconvenience and an extra step or three that you have to go through before you can make your videos usable in computer form. Whereas with the iTunes Store, your movies/TV shows/whatevers are (literally) just a click away. (Yeesh, that sounded corny.)
As an illustration of that convenience factor: Recently I went on a trip and needed something to take my mind off the long car ride. Nothing is worse than sitting in a car for several hours with nothing to do, especially with the somewhat questionable taste in music of the person driving. This occurred shortly after the movies store opened, so I thought I'd hop on there and see what I could see. I realized I hadn't yet seen Pirates of the Carribbean, which I did NOT have on DVD, so I hopped onto iTunes, found it, clicked a button, and the download started. While I was there I picked up several episodes of Lost (I'd fallen behind in the series and needed to catch up). Within several hours I had them downloaded and on my iPod. While I was waiting for the download, I was able to continue my normal work, as well as do other things that need to be done before trips (packing, laundry, etc.). No muss, no fuss, no fiddling with encoding settings or ripping or anything.
Yes, the quality could be better. I noted with interest that Xbox 360's now can stream HD content from Windows Media Center. However I do not want to involve Microsoft in my life any more than I have to, and I have neither the time nor the inclination to buy/set up either an Xbox 360 or a Windows PC. Hopefully Apple will take notice and update their forthcoming iTV product accordingly.
But, as I said before, it's still good enough. The 640x480 vids look quite good on both iPod, computer screen, and projector. They are a distinct improvement over the older 320x240 videos (which I do have a lot of); but even those looked okay.)
Also remember that the Internet may not be ready for HD downloads yet. HD downloads are *HUGE*, and a lot of ISP's, especially cable companies, are doing some pretty heinous bandwidth throttling. Right now, I think that the 640x480 iTunes videos are pushing the limit of what is COMMONLY available, bandwidth-wise.
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icerabbit said 3:31PM on 11-09-2006
I like a bit of movies too, but I do not plan to purchase lower quality & rights restricted versions. They would have to be half price or something before I might consider it.
The thing that works with iTunes music is that you can pick & chose your songs and end up with pretty much the same thing as if you had purchased a disc and ripped. And there's some flexibility in the number of playback devices and burning. Only you didn't have to buy the whole disc.
With movies & tv programs. I might view something I converted on an iPod video during a flight, but that would be about it.
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niclet said 7:16PM on 11-09-2006
Aaargn! Why does iTunes Canada Store do not sells Movies ??? Just Pixar short footage. I bought a video iPod precisely to watch movies, Arrrgn, deception :(
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