In the second half of our iTunes movie rental debate, Christina takes the "Con" position on extended-duration rentals, and in the process will probably draw ire from all the parents out there.Let me start by saying that I'm not opposed to a rental extension period. As a single, non-breeder with no plans to join the Momfia (as coined by Michael Rose), I'm not immune to things happening that interrupt my 24-hour viewing window for a movie; that's life. Let me also say that I completely sympathize with the struggle that juggling kids and a job must entail and I appreciate that finding uninterrupted time to enjoy a movie can be difficult.
But while I would gladly welcome the opportunity to add a few hours onto the rental time (or another day), I have a small problem with the basic argument that it is impossible for parents (or anyone for that matter) to find the time to watch a movie within a limited time frame. These arguments strike me as pretty unrealistic for what will happen 95% of the time and while I have no problem criticizing Apple's rental model on a number of levels, the rental duration is not one of them. In fact, I would argue that the options we have now are significantly better than they have ever been in the past.
More than twenty years ago, my parents were able to rent videos and watch them in the 24 hour window (and this was when video rentals were, with inflation, probably $10 a night and the late fees were insane -- often far more than just renting a title for another day) without a problem. In the early 1990s, when Pay-Per-View was all the rage, people were able to adjust to sitting down and watching a movie, despite the fact that flexible start times didn't exist until the late 1990s (meaning that if you ordered the movie at two minutes past the start time, the movie started two minutes in, and in the OLD school days, you couldn't even order from the cable box, you had to call an automated number, which could delay the time it took for the film to arrive on your box). Plus, there was no option to pause or rewind a movie on the fly. If Little Johnny needed a drink of water, your recourse was to either record the movie on your VCR (but you would still have to wait for the entire movie to finish recording before you could rewind) or you would wind up renting "Cliffhanger" four times in one month at $5.99 a pop (which my own family did do, not because of bedtime hijinx but because we were really bad about telling one another when we were renting something).
Again, I appreciate that finding time to watch something can be difficult for parents, but I find it hard to believe that the behavior of even young children has devolved the level that stealing some time to watch a movie is impossible. And really, if you can't find 24 hours to rent a movie, either consider buying it for $10 or rent the DVD from Netflix. If an emergency does come up, well, spending another $3 or $4 isn't the end of the world. It's less than half the price of one movie ticket.
I hardly see why Apple (or any company) should have to answer for parents' inability to get their kids to stay in bed. Do things come up? Absolutely, but that goes for everyone -- not just parents -- but the idea that there is absolutely no way a movie can be viewed within 24 hours because your kids have such erratic bedtime issues seems to be a problem the family might want to address, not Apple.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
3-04-2008 @ 11:38AM
Jan said...
If you ever have kids, please, do revisit this post of yours. I hope you will still agree with it, but I seriously doubt it ;o).
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3-04-2008 @ 11:46AM
terevos said...
I agree - it is clear you do not have children. It's not that we CAN'T watch a movie in a 24 hour period, it's just that sometimes it can be inconvenient to allot that amount of time for a single night.
And when the competition is Netflix, where I can take all the time I want to view the DVD or I can just play it at anytime with the Watch It Now feature.. Apple's solution comes up short.
3-04-2008 @ 12:44PM
Zack kitzmiller said...
This is a seriously inconsiderate post. Please, read over this again when (if) you ever have children. You obviously have no idea what it's like.
3-04-2008 @ 2:45PM
S said...
Inconsiderate? No one is required to drop everything and cater every product to your whims. You make your own choices. Christina made a well-argued point that there's no competing product that gives you more than 24 hours of viewing, and that for years, and still today, many video stores only gave you a day to watch anyways. That's not inconsiderate, it's debate. Develop a thicker skin, for Pete's sake.
Did you also catch the point that you can leave the recording paused for days on end if you want? If you have to stretch a 90 minute movie over three days, you can as long as you don't leave playback after 24 hours. It even warns you if you try to leave. You don't really need to start another 90 minute movie while you're frantically trying to watch another, do you?
3-04-2008 @ 6:09PM
ZeroCorpse said...
Oh, BOO HOO to the parents.
Look: You made your choice. You made the decision to sacrifice your free time in exchange for little clones of yourselves. You made the choice not to pull out.
And now you want those of us without kids to show you some sort of special respect for your decision to generate spawn? I think THAT is inconsiderate!
I'm really, really sick of parents thinking they're better than those of us who are adults (well past our 20s), married, and chose NOT to have children. There's this constant disdain for us, as if we're not part of the human race if we don't contribute to overpopulation.
You made the choice. You have to deal with it. Expecting that everybody else is going to make it easier for you to have free time just because you decided to have children isn't very considerate at all.
You can't have the best of both worlds. Sorry. It doesn't work that way. My spouse and I chose not to have kids, and therefore we can go out whenever we want, don't need a babysitter, don't need to worry about bedtimes, and don't need to ask other people to adjust their schedules for us.
You chose to have kids, and in exchange for the joys of parenthood you have to suck up the annoying parts. Deal with it and stop acting like you're owed something. If you didn't want to give up your free time, then you should have waited and adopted an older child, or maybe gotten a dog or a cat.
If your free time is so valuable that you'd argue passionately about 24-hour rental limits, then you probably should have left the condom on.
Sorry to be rude, but I fail to see how I or any other childless person owes parents any special treatment.
You want more time to watch movies? Hire a nanny. Don't have kids. Send them to summer camp. Watch during school hours. Get a more flexible job.
Just stop putting YOUR choice off on the rest of us, or expecting corporate America to save you from your decision to give all your time to offspring.
Childless people have rights, too. Among them is the right to not be treated like we're "inconsiderate" just because we don't bow and scrape at the pedestal of mommyhood.
Some of us made the conscious decision not to have children; However, that doesn't make you better than us.
3-04-2008 @ 7:25PM
Matt said...
@ZeroCorpse
Nice diatribe. But one small problem, for a parent to say, "man if you had kids you would probably agree that this option isn't very practical or economical" is not asking you to "bow and scrape at the pedestal of mommyhood!" I am also a young married adult with no children. True, maybe it was a bit extreme to say that this post was "inconsiderate." But I don't think that any parent out there is saying that Apple "owes" it to parents to extend the viewing period. I think the question is more "why would someone who might not have the time (parents or non parents) specifically chose to rent from Apple when other options (Netflix, Blockbuster, RedBox) can be cheaper with less restrictions.
I do think it is "inconsiderate" to say to a parent that if they want to have free time they should have decided not to have children. It just always amazes me how apparently someone who finds one point of view too extreme must always respond in the most extreme way they can.
"What you want more strict gun laws? I'm ought to blow your brains out!"
"What you're a conservative? Well you must then hate homosexuals and disbelieve global warming!"
"You use Apple products? Well I guess you just think you're better than us!"
It just drives me crazy!
On another note, getting back to the actual post, I think the comparison to high rental and late fee prices isn't a very apt comparison. As when you have a VHS or a DVD out from the rental store, no one else can and the store can't be making any more money from it. That is entirely untrue for digital downloads. So wouldn't you think it would be LESS restrictive?
3-04-2008 @ 11:39AM
Noah said...
I dunno. What if you start to watch a movie, something comes up, and you can't sit down and watch it again until the following night? Chances are you're going to miss that 24 hour window.
If anything, you should get 48, if not 72 hours to watch the movie. What do they think you're going to do... have a Happy Gilmore Movie Weekend w/ all your friends?
Give me a break.
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3-04-2008 @ 11:41AM
Noah said...
One more thing...
You said, "If an emergency does come up, well, spending another $3 or $4 isn't the end of the world. It's less than half the price of one movie ticket."
My response? I'm sure that's why you go out and buy the most expensive gasoline you can find... I mean, it's only 5-10 cents more a gallon, right?
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3-05-2008 @ 2:05PM
quandmeme said...
Exactly, it's all about the comparative cost. $10 (inflation-adjusted) might have been fine because the alternative was getting a sitter and going to the cineplex. But now there are other competitors for both time and money. Extending the time would push many over to the downloading side.
Agree that its the studios looking out for existing channels, though.
3-04-2008 @ 11:42AM
Peter said...
I'm more baffled by the requirements you must start watching the movie within 30 days. If there's a reasonable reason for the 30-day window, I have yet to hear it. Why should it matter when I start to watch a movie renting it? Unlike with physical copies, keeping the movie on my computer for two months doesn't hinder anyone else from renting it as well. Apple and the studios get their money upfront at the time of rental. And the movie still expires within X number of hours/days after it is begun.
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3-05-2008 @ 7:08PM
mabhatter said...
It's a way of making it "blow up" so they ensure it's a RENTAL and not yours to keep. The studios want to make sure to rub your nose that it's not permanent so you'll buy the DVD!
3-04-2008 @ 11:48AM
Erik Haug said...
Here was my experience and subsequent complaint to Apple:
I attempted to use the iTunes movie rental system last night to rent the movie Waitress. After clicking "rent movie", I waited for about 10 minutes while the film began downloading. At this point, the download progress appeared to be moving as fast as my cable internet connection allows (~1MB/sec). A quick calculation let me know that this was fast enough for me to begin watching the movie. I clicked "play movie" in iTunes and the film began -- great! Unfortunately, after the film started playing, it seems like iTunes throttled my download speed such that I was only downloading ~0.1MB/sec (I checked that my internet connection was still running ok, and I found that I could download other files from the internet at the same 1MB/sec speed). This meant that it would now take me between 4 and 8 hours to finish the download. I was somewhat upset that I spent $4 and now haven't been able to watch the movie since the time expired this evening before I was able to watch the re
maining 1 hour and 40 minutes.
I am requesting that I be given a credit to re-download the movie (this time I will not begin watching it until it has completely downloaded).
As a general note, I would suggest that iTunes "7.6.2" should be updated so that users are warned before playing their purchase that the film may not have cached enough or that download speeds may vary and lead to delayed playback. Ultimately, a better fix would be to actually have iTunes calculate the download speed and determine whether the film should begin playback or if there will be some buffering problem because of a slow download speed. I think users generally agree that 24 hours is an adaquate time to start and finish a movie, but not if they are confused about whether the film will play in its entirety based on buffering and download speeds.
I apologize for the inconveniences you have experienced concerning your download of "Waitress". I know how exasperating this can be and I am more than happy to offer any assistance I can to bring about a swift and efficient resolution for you.
I have posted a fresh copy of this movie to your account "ewhaug@gmail.com" in the download queue.
NOTE: Downloading this movie again will reset the 30 days during which you may start watching the movie, and once you start watching it, you have 24 hours to finish watching it. You may watch it as many times as you like during those 24 hours. As you have already noted, it may be helpful to make sure the download completes successfully before you begin watching the movie.
In regards to future versions of the iTunes application, Apple recognizes that no one is better qualified to provide feedback about iTunes than the people who use it.
I encourage you to use the iTunes Feedback page to submit your comments:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html
Your efforts to share your feedback are very much appreciated. I hope this information is helpful. Should you have any further questions, comments or concerns please do not hesitate to reply to this email and I will assist you promptly.
Sincerely,
Sarah
Your iTunes Store Customer Support Representative
Tuesday - Saturday
12:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (PST)
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3-04-2008 @ 5:24PM
steveg said...
Erik - you should edit out your email address in this post.
3-04-2008 @ 6:16PM
ZeroCorpse said...
Just to clarify: TV won't LET you press "play" until enough of the movie has downloaded to ensure it will play all the way through.
You did this in iTunes, and it's cool they covered you, but TV does work differently.
3-04-2008 @ 11:53AM
adrenalin said...
I'm sure some will take offence to this but oh well. If you can't watch a movie within a 24 hour period why would you even bother renting it. I am baffled as to why this is a debate. You have 30 days to download it and 24 hours from the time you start the movie to finish it. All the local rental places in my area cost more than the rentals on Apple TV and from the moment I pick up the movie, I have 24 hours to return it or be subjected to late fees that basically equal the cost of the rental. Shame on Apple for just doing what people have been used to for over 20 years (yes that was a sarcastic remark). It just annoys me so much when I hear people saying they don't have time. If you really wanted to make the time you would, and yes, I am a family man and I make time for my family and still have plenty of time to do what I want, including watching a movie every weekend. I don't see Apple changing the rental period when it only "really" affects a small group of people.
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3-04-2008 @ 11:54AM
Scott said...
(another single, non-breeder)
While I too feel that 24 hours feels like a short period of time to rent a movie, I can not remember the last movie I rented from iTunes or otherwise that I did not finish within the first 24 hours. Though I can understand that life happens and other things may come up in the middle of movie watching. I suppose I tend to watch my movies at night when nothing could possibly come up.
I won't profess to know how to parent either, but barring crying babies (being helpless) it is my opinion that when children are sent to bed they should stay there until the next morning. Of course there are exceptions to this, but children shouldn't be getting sick on a daily basis either and "I'm thirsty" means they should plan ahead. Parents will probably tell me I'm wrong, but I'm going to stick to my guns on this one. My parents didn't give up parenting if I came crawling out of my room an hour after they sent me to bed, I was told to go back to bed.
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3-04-2008 @ 11:55AM
Kee Hinckley said...
Young kids aren't the problem. It's when the kids go to bed later than you do that there's a problem.
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3-04-2008 @ 11:58AM
Dan said...
I think the option to extend a rental for additional coin is stupid.... I agree that apple shouldn't have to re-work their process to allow for this scenario.
HOWEVER!!!!!!
The basic premise has nothing to do with kids... Fact is if you start watching a movie at 9 PM and can't finish it for some reason. The next night you'd have to start watching that much earlier in order to finish it prior to the 24hr / 9 PM deadline! Add an additional 12 hours to the base rental period and at least you could sit down the next evening and finish it without having to schedule your entire evening around a movie.
Just seems logical and wound't require much effort on apple's end.
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3-04-2008 @ 2:00PM
cynyc said...
It has already been established that you can continue watching the movie just before the 24 hours are over and it will allow you to finish watching. So you don't have to start "that much earlier", you just have to start watching again ONE minute earlier.
But I agree that the rental period should be 30 hours (or more.)
3-04-2008 @ 12:02PM
jus10 said...
I'm also a single, non-breeder and kids are the farthest thing from my mind (if anyone is thinking of having them, go to a baby shower or have your significant other drag you shopping for a gift they're taking to a baby shower. My god the prices ...).
Anyway, I'd still like 72 hours. I figure if I accidently hit play or something, I want to be able to stop it and then find some time to get comfy and watch the movie.
I understand where you are coming from but the days of "the video store" are over. Netflix obliterated that idea.
Personally I'd love Apple to move to the Netflix model. Download as many as I want during a month and pay a monthly rental fee. Hopefully Netflix's watch it now can put the pressure on Apple to comply.
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