Buy Option!

[BoulderBum]

So the good news is that there are TONS of brand spanking new movies like "Juno", "Cloverfield", "Walk Hard" that popped up on Apple TV all of a sudden, and the even better news is that the mysterious option to buy instead of rent a movie popped up all of a sudden, but the bad news is that all these super-new releases only have the "Buy" option, you can't rent them yet.

Weak!

I wonder if this is a marketing strategy on Apple's part, where the people who really want the movie have the option to buy for the first 30 days (because buying has a higher profit margin) then everyone else has the opportunity to rent only afterwards.

Not a bad or unworkable idea, but I think it would be annoying to have to keep checking back to see if you can rent a given video yet.

What do y'all think?

[mallbritton]

I think we can't rent these new releases yet because the studios and other copyright holders are still trying to protect their profits by staying with the "rental 30 days after DVD release" strategy.

I do think it is an improvement that we can now buy a digital copy on the same day as the DVD is released.

Regards,
Michael

[BoulderBum]

Hmmm. It appears that most of the new movies ("Walk Hard", "Juno", "Cloverfield") disappeared from the featured section, but I see now that there's a top rentals/top purchased section! Fantastic!

That takes care of my concern about having to check back to see when the rental is available.

Apple TV went up yet another launch in the quality scale today (and I already consider it one of the greatest pieces of technology out there).

[longofest]

This was added today, and Apple made a press release about it. We have a news story (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=478134).

[BoulderBum]

Sweet! I always go directly to the Apple TV forum (it's the most active Apple TV forum on the internet, even though it's associated with the rest of Mac rumors), so I didn't catch the story.

It looks like Cloverfield/Juno/etc. are available in the interface again, too!

[uva25]

What can you do with purchased movies. Can I legally burn a copy for use in my car? Will I be able to download them onto my Tivo so I can play them there?

[zedsdead]

Anyone buy one yet...I want to know about the resolution to see if it was changed or not.

[chuckles:)]

What can you do with purchased movies. Can I legally burn a copy for use in my car? Will I be able to download them onto my Tivo so I can play them there?

No, ipod to video in for the car, and ipod or apple tv for the tv.

[slate1]

Man - why the hell can't they just put a "new to rentals" section on the damn thing?!?!? Now I've got to filter through a bunch of stuff that's "buy only" to find something new to rent.

They're so close on this - yet they're making it so hard!

[BoulderBum]

Anyone buy one yet...I want to know about the resolution to see if it was changed or not.

I assume they're just providing an Apple TV interface to buying movies through the iTunes store (which you've been able to do through iTunes for a year or two).

I have "Monsters Inc.", and a couple of other videos and I think they're probably comparable to an SD rental.

Man - why the hell can't they just put a "new to rentals" section on the damn thing?!?!? Now I've got to filter through a bunch of stuff that's "buy only" to find something new to rent.

They're so close on this - yet they're making it so hard!

Hey, I'm just glad they have a "Top Rentals" and separate "Top Sellers" section. I usually just browse the "Top Rentals" and the special categories anyway.

While I'm thinking about it, does anyone know why there's no "Sweeny Todd" in iTunes yet? I'd think it would at least be available for purchase.

[MacFly123]

I checked it out and I noticed that some movies are ONLY buy with no option to rent now. What is up with this? It is turning a bit complicated now.

But this is a great step forward. I wonder how long till they add BUY HD???

[stephenli]

international release, please.

[fastbite]

Yes, we want movies in the UK!

[jonnyblobby]

Yes, we want movies in the UK!

Easy done. Setup your bank account or credit card with paypal.com and just find gift cards on ebay (US) have been doing this since launch and now buy from a seller directly (with a very small service charge of coarse) but well worth it. AppleTV works a treat in australia for me, SD movies can start playback almost instantly while HD movies take about 5 mins before there playable.

[Sir Cecil]

Let's say copying is legal. And let's say I have a newly-released, deluxe edition DVD movie you'd also like to buy. I tell you not to buy one yourself and instead pay me the full price (or thereabouts) of my DVD, and I'll send you a download or DVD-R of it.

Does that sound enticing?

I won't give you the original disc, or any packaging, or anything you can put on a home library shelf, and if ever you want to sell it on Amazon or eBay (say, when the next "Director's Cut" version comes out) you can't, because I've got it and all you've got is... well, nothing. But you've paid for it anyway. And if you try hard enough, you can even delude yourself into thinking you "own" it.

Fantastic. Thanks Apple. Great ruse. Looks like many here will be more than happy to play your game.

[asdavis10]

Good news. But the best part about Apple TV is that any new features that need to be added will come through a software update. So as one person mention how there isn't a new rental section, that will probably be added later if Apple sees that people want this feature. One thing is certain, the 40GB model won't be around much longer. I know my iTunes library almost takes up that much space.

[MagicWok]

If there were the option to buy a HD copy, and if there were an option to burn it a disc, then I'd be interested.

In the end, for the same price or cheaper I'd rather buy the DVD and have a physical copy, that won't magically disappear if my hdd were to fail.

Though that's all a mute point as I live in London lol.

[SvenSvenson]

Let's say copying is legal. And let's say I have a newly-released, deluxe edition DVD movie you'd also like to buy. I tell you not to buy one yourself and instead pay me the full price (or thereabouts) of my DVD, and I'll send you a download or DVD-R of it.

Does that sound enticing?

I won't give you the original disc, or any packaging, or anything you can put on a home library shelf, and if ever you want to sell it on Amazon or eBay (say, when the next "Director's Cut" version comes out) you can't, because I've got it and all you've got is... well, nothing. But you've paid for it anyway. .

So don't buy it - is that hard to understand? Go down to the shop and buy the DVD. Ok, you'll only be able to watching it at home on your DVD player, which is fine if your get time (which some people don't). If you want to watch it on your iPod on the train into work you can't. If you buy a kids film and they both want to watch it in their rooms, they can't.

It's a personal decision - you do what you want to do. If Apple didn't offer this service and removed the choice, no-one's better off. Some people like the iTunes buy/rent model - they're not being screwed (as you imply), they know what they're doing.

Steve

[Dagless]

This makes me want an Apple TV oh-so much more. I bounce between XP and OSX all the time so I'd rather have an Apple TV work without a constant iTunes connection. Sounds like its getting it.

Now give us TV shows and movies on the iPhone :)

If there were the option to buy a HD copy, and if there were an option to burn it a disc, then I'd be interested.

In the end, for the same price or cheaper I'd rather buy the DVD and have a physical copy, that won't magically disappear if my hdd were to fail.

Though that's all a mute point as I live in London lol.

I'm not familiar with the iTunes store - can't you redownload what you've already purchased?

[waldo99]

I bought my apple TV about 9 months ago and there it sits gathering dust, In the U.K. I can rent or buy British TV series that I have already paid the license fee, or I can get LOST or some other american TV series that I have already watched on SKY. Talk about money for old rope. Its really fussy about what it will play as well, so I can't even enjoy my own film library, without re-encoding everything.:mad:

[statler]

I bought my apple TV about 9 months ago and there it sits gathering dust, In the U.K. I can rent or buy British TV series that I have already paid the license fee, or I can get LOST or some other american TV series that I have already watched on SKY. Talk about money for old rope. Its really fussy about what it will play as well, so I can't even enjoy my own film library, without re-encoding everything.:mad:

My AppleTV is also collecting dust, mainly because I can't get it to sync with my Mac. It used to work then one day, after Apple updated iTunes, the Apple TV stopped appearing in my iTunes devices list. Some upgrade. Lots of other people have this problem too. I wish they'd just make the thing more reliable.

[I WAS the one]

you know what... if Apple give me the option to also see free regular TV and store my paid movies in the Apple TV, I will get rid of my cable tv contract right away. In fact with free content and rent and buying options I will only use Apple TV. honest. There's nothing great about Cable today days...

[frdmfghtr]

Anyone buy one yet...I want to know about the resolution to see if it was changed or not.

Good question...after giving it a try recently, I've decided to hold off on iTMS movie purchases. The quality just doesn't match what you can get when yu buy the DVD and re-encode it with Handbrake. It may take longer to get it on AppleTV and take up more storage space, but the picture/sound quality is better and I have a physical disk in case of data loss.

Occasionally the physical copy is cheaper than the download, making it even more enticing to buy the actual media.

[k2spitfire88]

So don't buy it - is that hard to understand? Go down to the shop and buy the DVD. Ok, you'll only be able to watching it at home on your DVD player, which is fine if your get time (which some people don't). If you want to watch it on your iPod on the train into work you can't. If you buy a kids film and they both want to watch it in their rooms, they can't.

It's a personal decision - you do what you want to do. If Apple didn't offer this service and removed the choice, no-one's better off. Some people like the iTunes buy/rent model - they're not being screwed (as you imply), they know what they're doing.

Steve

Actually, you can get DVD's that you have onto your iPod. There are a few freeware programs online that allow you to do that, so now, with the ability to buy movies on itunes, I have the best of both worlds. I have all my tv show's and movies on my iPod that I want, and I can buy new ones online. Sounds pretty good to me.

[amac4me]

I'll be more likely to purchase movies from iTunes now that I'll be able to get them the same day as the DVD release.

[SvenSvenson]

Actually, you can get DVD's that you have onto your iPod. There are a few freeware programs online

I know, but I've a few DVDs that I can't rip. Personally, I prefer to own the DVD as it's better quality & you get 5.1 Surround, but I've bought a few kid's films from iTunes - both my boys have Mac Minis for watching films and they'd just trash a DVD anyway.

Steve

[k2spitfire88]

I know, but I've a few DVDs that I can't rip. Personally, I prefer to own the DVD as it's better quality & you get 5.1 Surround, but I've bought a few kid's films from iTunes - both my boys have Mac Minis for watching films and they'd just trash a DVD anyway.

Steve

Just curious, why cant you rip them? And what program do you use, that makes you not be able to rip them?

[EricBrian]

Still not an option for me. Way too compressed, too expensive and too restrictive DRM.

I will continue to stick with NetFlix and hope they will bring out a set top box. Now THAT is the way to go!

[mambodancer]

So don't buy it - is that hard to understand? Go down to the shop and buy the DVD. Ok, you'll only be able to watching it at home on your DVD player, which is fine if your get time (which some people don't). If you want to watch it on your iPod on the train into work you can't. If you buy a kids film and they both want to watch it in their rooms, they can't.

It's a personal decision - you do what you want to do. If Apple didn't offer this service and removed the choice, no-one's better off. Some people like the iTunes buy/rent model - they're not being screwed (as you imply), they know what they're doing.

Steve

For the youngsters out there (I'm 48), here is my take on why I am done buying DVD's.

Bought a movie in the 80's on VHS video tape (glad I didn't buy it on Beta)

Bought my movies on Laserdisc (glad I didn't buy it on RCA video discs or DIVX)

Bought my movies on DVD

Buying movies as digital downloads (glad I didn't buy HD DVD)

After seeing how the medium changes from various formats of tape, disc and DVD formats, I've lost any interest in investing in the medium or the players required to play them. BluRay is only the latest iteration in a long list of format changes. It'll probably be around for at least 5-7 years before the next format change and the next "gimmick" to try and get consumers to repurchase the movies they may have already purchased in an older format. A digital copy protects my investment in the movies I like to watch (more than once) for the foreseeable future (probably indefinite future). I'm not interested in a piece of plastic that just takes up space on a shelf somewhere in my house and that really only has a shelf life of about 10-20 years anyway.

In my opinion, a good solution would be to place a digital download, at various resolutions, on the BluRay disc. The disc would have all the special features that some people seem to like and serve as a back up for those that wish to watch on their computers, media players, etc. It also has the advantage of being region independent and the most compatible of formats available with the smallest hardware requirements.

Anybody seriously interested in a Laserdisc collection of about 3-400 discs? Many criterion editions.

[macerroneous]

You might consider this way off topic, but Apple seems to be facilitating its internet-connected satellite devices (TV, Touch, iPhone) with ever-increasing iTunes store access.
Theory: new iphone will allow ACTIVATION over data connection or wifi without a "computer" connection (which is required by the old model). The point being, there are probably a lot of folks out there for whom the iPhone can now become their FIRST computer.

[Gibson424]

I don't have time to look through all the posts in this thread, so if this has already been answered, I apologize.

Is the resolution on these new purchases still 640x480? The one thing that has always bugged me about iTunes movie purchases is that they're not even DVD quality. They finally took the plunge with the rentals, offering DVD and HD qualities, but the purchases never changed. Did they finally increase the resolution?

[Sir Cecil]

If you want to watch it on your iPod on the train into work you can't.

Watching a major cinematic production on an iPod, on the train, in the rush hour, on the way to work... just about sums up everything we need to know about the mentality of the people Apple is reaching out to.

[chazmangus]

I have been waiting for this for some time i spend about 100 bucks a month on ITMS Movie Rentals i would rather buy them but i am to lazy to get up and go find them on ITMS.

[w8ing4intelmacs]

Sounds like someone's still living in the 90's (maybe 80's?). Do you still jog with your cassette walkman :)

Let's say copying is legal. And let's say I have a newly-released, deluxe edition DVD movie you'd also like to buy. I tell you not to buy one yourself and instead pay me the full price (or thereabouts) of my DVD, and I'll send you a download or DVD-R of it.

Does that sound enticing?

I won't give you the original disc, or any packaging, or anything you can put on a home library shelf, and if ever you want to sell it on Amazon or eBay (say, when the next "Director's Cut" version comes out) you can't, because I've got it and all you've got is... well, nothing. But you've paid for it anyway. And if you try hard enough, you can even delude yourself into thinking you "own" it.

Fantastic. Thanks Apple. Great ruse. Looks like many here will be more than happy to play your game.

[skellener]

For the youngsters out there (I'm 48), here is my take on why I am done buying DVD's.

Bought a movie in the 80's on VHS video tape (glad I didn't buy it on Beta)

Bought my movies on Laserdisc (glad I didn't buy it on RCA video discs or DIVX)

Bought my movies on DVD

Buying movies as digital downloads (glad I didn't buy HD DVD)

After seeing how the medium changes from various formats of tape, disc and DVD formats, I've lost any interest in investing in the medium or the players required to play them. BluRay is only the latest iteration in a long list of format changes. It'll probably be around for at least 5-7 years before the next format change and the next "gimmick" to try and get consumers to repurchase the movies they may have already purchased in an older format. A digital copy protects my investment in the movies I like to watch (more than once) for the foreseeable future (probably indefinite future). I'm not interested in a piece of plastic that just takes up space on a shelf somewhere in my house and that really only has a shelf life of about 10-20 years anyway.

In my opinion, a good solution would be to place a digital download, at various resolutions, on the BluRay disc. The disc would have all the special features that some people seem to like and serve as a back up for those that wish to watch on their computers, media players, etc. It also has the advantage of being region independent and the most compatible of formats available with the smallest hardware requirements.

Anybody seriously interested in a Laserdisc collection of about 3-400 discs? Many criterion editions.

Hmmm....I only purchased DVDs. They still work fine. They are digital. I don't have to repurchase anything. There's no 24 hr. time limit. New players can up-res them to look close to HD quality (sure, HD still looks better). The original may be in disc format, but it can be ripped into any format I like so I'm not locked to any single device. No one can "pull the plug" on the DRM and make the media stop working (like Google and MS have done).

I really don't see a problem by sticking with DVD at this point. :)

[slate1]

Good news. But the best part about Apple TV is that any new features that need to be added will come through a software update. So as one person mention how there isn't a new rental section, that will probably be added later if Apple sees that people want this feature.

Not true - all they have to do is add a New Rental Releases section in Top Movies like they just added a Top Purchased Movies section.

[gkarris]

For the youngsters out there (I'm 48), here is my take on why I am done buying DVD's.

Bought a movie in the 80's on VHS video tape (glad I didn't buy it on Beta)

Bought my movies on Laserdisc (glad I didn't buy it on RCA video discs or DIVX)

Bought my movies on DVD

Buying movies as digital downloads (glad I didn't buy HD DVD)

After seeing how the medium changes from various formats of tape, disc and DVD formats, I've lost any interest in investing in the medium or the players required to play them. BluRay is only the latest iteration in a long list of format changes. It'll probably be around for at least 5-7 years before the next format change and the next "gimmick" to try and get consumers to repurchase the movies they may have already purchased in an older format. A digital copy protects my investment in the movies I like to watch (more than once) for the foreseeable future (probably indefinite future). I'm not interested in a piece of plastic that just takes up space on a shelf somewhere in my house and that really only has a shelf life of about 10-20 years anyway.

In my opinion, a good solution would be to place a digital download, at various resolutions, on the BluRay disc. The disc would have all the special features that some people seem to like and serve as a back up for those that wish to watch on their computers, media players, etc. It also has the advantage of being region independent and the most compatible of formats available with the smallest hardware requirements.

Anybody seriously interested in a Laserdisc collection of about 3-400 discs? Many criterion editions.

Yes, but you will be subject to DRM (if that matters to you) - you can't every watch them outside of what the studio "lets you".

I'm hearing the studios want to go to pay-per-view for everything eventually.

Your LD collection, there are plenty of online places that will buy them from you:

http://www.laserdiscvault.com/


Some, not available on DVD, look like they've actually increased in price.

[InstantCool]

I would be more excited about this if I could buy movies in HD. What's up with that? We can rent them, but not buy them? Why?

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

I was wondering when they would add this. This is cool.

[digitalbiker]

I would be more excited about this if I could buy movies in HD. What's up with that? We can rent them, but not buy them? Why?

Most likely the movie studios are limiting the content to Apple. But to be honest Apple needs to label their HD content as pseudo HD.

I have a 60" plasma HD 1080p TV and Apple TV high-def looks like crap compared to Satellite and Blu-ray disc. They are highly compressing the 720p signal to make the download sizes smaller but the quality suffers dramatically.
I would rate Apple HD as comparable to SD DVD which really pales in comparison to true 720p, 1080i, and 1080p on blu-ray and satellite.

However this really only stands out on 50" or larger HD TV's. If you are just watching it on a 20" monitor screen it looks almost identical to good quality HD.

I suppose if Apple went to less compression and had 20 -30 GB files like blu-ray, then it would take 3 days to download the files!

[skellener]

I have a 60" plasma HD 1080p TV and Apple TV high-def looks like crap compared to Satellite and Blu-ray disc. They are highly compressing the 720p signal to make the download sizes smaller but the quality suffers dramatically. Absolutely. I've looked at them all too. Nothing can touch the quality you get with HD disc media (Blu-ray or the now defunct HD-DVD) as long as a decent transfer is made. I didn't see much of a difference between a 720p digital download (highly compressed as you said) and an upres DVD.

[slapppy]

I think its safe to say that ATV is no longer a hobby. :)

I can comfortably recommend the ATV to friends and family now.

[Avatar74]

Absolutely. I've looked at them all too. Nothing can touch the quality you get with HD disc media (Blu-ray or the now defunct HD-DVD) as long as a decent transfer is made. I didn't see much of a difference between a 720p digital download (highly compressed as you said) and an upres DVD.

What is the argument exactly? That spending more money on fixed media hardware will get you better fidelity? Conveniences notwithstanding (your time, the inconvenience of sifting through scads of HD discs versus an onscreen menu to buy/rent/preview, etc.), then I will argue this:

Nothing less than a 35mm motion picture projector should be in my living room... because HD is horribly inferior to 35mm. Just look at my 50 foot wall screen... you can see the difference.

The argument either works in both directions or it doesn't... cost differentials aside, even. Sure, 35mm is a gargantuan expenditure relative to BluRay. Either price is a factor or it isnt, in which case AppleTV is still a viable consumer solution and a step in a better direction even if the quality isn't up to snobbish standards...

But if snobbery is what you want, fine... I'll outsnob you by saying this: You're getting ripped off with satellite, blu-ray and HD DVD... because these are also highly compressed formats. You do realize that none of these formats are true 4:4:4:4 uncompressed HD, right? Then you do realize that HD is inferior to digitized film right? A single digitized frame of 35mm is about 40 megabytes uncompressed. That's right... one gigabyte per second.

So why aren't you screaming up and down at the industry for not providing you that ungodly degree of fidelity? Because you've made a conscious choice on what you're willing to settle for at what price.

And those considering AppleTV are no different...

[lord patton]

Anybody seriously interested in a Laserdisc collection of about 3-400 discs? Many criterion editions.

You know, Laserdiscs get a bad rap, but when you think about it, it was a huge success.

Not in that it dominated the video market... it didn't. But from it's introduction in the 70s to it's last days in the late 90s, it was _the_ premier and uncontested platform for serious video collection. Laserdiscs alone pioneered commentary tracks, deleted scenes, director's editions, and preserved the theatrical aspect ratios. What's more, it's abilities grew with time. Some of the late discs included AC-3.

Will we ever again see a physical medium keep its throne for over two decades?

So víva LD! And sorry, no, I'll pass on your collection. I'm quite happy with my 200 or so that I never watch. ;)

[Krevnik]

I have a 60" plasma HD 1080p TV and Apple TV high-def looks like crap compared to Satellite and Blu-ray disc. They are highly compressing the 720p signal to make the download sizes smaller but the quality suffers dramatically.

Sure, it isn't as good as Blu-ray, and the HD quality varies (depending on the movie)... but overall it still stomps all over Comcast's HD in my area. They overcompress it in MPEG-2, and then give you macroblocking in all the action sequences.

I also find that newer releases on Apple TV look cleaner and more crisp than older ones, which is usually true of HD rentals (as they may release the rental download before the master has been fully cleaned up for a BD or HD-DVD release).

But yeah, against Blu-ray, I wouldn't say the HD rentals are as good, but they beat the alternatives to HD rentals, and match the XBox Live HD rentals in overall quality.

[digitalbiker]

But if snobbery is what you want, fine... I'll outsnob you by saying this: You're getting ripped off with satellite, blu-ray and HD DVD... because these are also highly compressed formats.

This is not about snobbery or your ridiculous comparisons. It is a comment about video quality to inform others that not all HD is the same. There needs to be a better rating system for video quality because most buyers do not realize that there are big differences in what is called HD.

Apple sells their video as HD when in reality it is so highly compressed it is more like the old ED designation.

Satellite has a high degree of variability in compression of it's HD. For instance live sports feeds generally have very little compression due to the fact that highly compressed video results in bad motion artifacts for rapidly moving objects. However programs such as the Food Network are highly compressed because food displays don't change much from frame to frame.
Blu-ray is much less compressed and is the best realistic source available at a reasonable cost.

So when you go to rent your next movie and the choice is between AppleTV HD rental, On Demand Satellite, or a blu-ray rental from blockbuster people will know that even though the costs are about the same and all tout HD quality. The blu-ray option is best quality, the satellite is second best, and Apple TV is the poorest of the three.

[skellener]

What is the argument exactly? There wasn't one really. I was agreeing with digitalbiker that's all. :)

[Robbadore64]

Until I can buy HD content on my :apple:TV I don't see why I'd ever buy a movie there. For roughly the same price I can pick up the hard copy and my kid has a case too look at and destroy. HD purchases would be awesome for me because I don't watch enough to be compeled to purchase a Blu-ray player (yet) so it would be nice if my :apple:TV sort of served that purpose. HD titles costing similar to Blu-ray discs yet I don't need more hardware.

Still, Apple is moving forward so this is only good news in my opinion.

[ruckus]

Digital distribution is going to be wonderful. I am, however, waiting until we can re-download things we have already purchased. It is just my luck that I'll have a hard drive crash and lose everything. Even redundant backups aren't fail proof.

Let me re-download movies i've purchased and I'll be on board.

[MacFabulous]

How much does it cost? What´s the price compared to renting?:confused:

[mdntcallr]

So the good news is that there are TONS of brand spanking new movies like "Juno", "Cloverfield", "Walk Hard" that popped up on Apple TV all of a sudden, and the even better news is that the mysterious option to buy instead of rent a movie popped up all of a sudden, but the bad news is that all these super-new releases only have the "Buy" option, you can't rent them yet.
Weak!
I wonder if this is a marketing strategy on Apple's part, where the people who really want the movie have the option to buy for the first 30 days (because buying has a higher profit margin) then everyone else has the opportunity to rent only afterwards.

Not a bad or unworkable idea, but I think it would be annoying to have to keep checking back to see if you can rent a given video yet.

What do y'all think?
:apple:

I know that the movie studios have varying tiers on release windows. Some titles have 1 - 1 1/2 months avail on Blu-Ray, DVD and now Purchase on apple tv/itunes as well as other outlets, prior to its avail as a ppv/vod.

this is unfortunately the way they are getting home video outlets to keep their margins, if they let people ppv a movie for $3-4 immediately, they would lose their highest end customers of discs/movies

[pjarvi]

While I love that all movies now appear to be available for purchase, the AppleTV hard drive is too small to fit everything. Movies were the first thing I stopped syncing when I ran out of space.

[mambodancer]

Yes, but you will be subject to DRM (if that matters to you) - you can't every watch them outside of what the studio "lets you".

I'm hearing the studios want to go to pay-per-view for everything eventually.

Your LD collection, there are plenty of online places that will buy them from you:

http://www.laserdiscvault.com/


Some, not available on DVD, look like they've actually increased in price.

Thanks for the link. Now to see what I can get for my collection. Anyone want to buy a Pioneer laserdisc player and collection before I go to the laservault or ebay?

[sanford]

What can you do with purchased movies. Can I legally burn a copy for use in my car? Will I be able to download them onto my Tivo so I can play them there?

Yes, you can legally burn a copy for use in your car. (Which is kind of odd, really. I hope it's for your passengers.) But you can't *practically* burn a copy for use in your car due to the DRM. But, take heart, you're not purchasing the movie, you're licensing the movie for an infinite number of non-concurrent, non-commercial personal viewings. You own that license when you buy a DVD, a Blu-ray (or a heavily discounted HD DVD), or an iTunes DRM-protected digital download movie. And a license is a license is a license.

Oh, you could rent OR buy older movies for a long time via Apple TV, at least ten days. Just not new releases. So if that was a glitch it lasted a while.

[sanford]

For the youngsters out there (I'm 48), here is my take on why I am done buying DVD's.

Bought a movie in the 80's on VHS video tape (glad I didn't buy it on Beta)

Bought my movies on Laserdisc (glad I didn't buy it on RCA video discs or DIVX)

Bought my movies on DVD

Buying movies as digital downloads (glad I didn't buy HD DVD)

After seeing how the medium changes from various formats of tape, disc and DVD formats, I've lost any interest in investing in the medium or the players required to play them. BluRay is only the latest iteration in a long list of format changes. It'll probably be around for at least 5-7 years before the next format change and the next "gimmick" to try and get consumers to repurchase the movies they may have already purchased in an older format. A digital copy protects my investment in the movies I like to watch (more than once) for the foreseeable future (probably indefinite future). I'm not interested in a piece of plastic that just takes up space on a shelf somewhere in my house and that really only has a shelf life of about 10-20 years anyway.

In my opinion, a good solution would be to place a digital download, at various resolutions, on the BluRay disc. The disc would have all the special features that some people seem to like and serve as a back up for those that wish to watch on their computers, media players, etc. It also has the advantage of being region independent and the most compatible of formats available with the smallest hardware requirements.

Anybody seriously interested in a Laserdisc collection of about 3-400 discs? Many criterion editions.

40 years ancient here, and I briefly considered selling my couple hundred Laserdiscs, too. The only one not worth mere pennies on the dollar, even on eBay where you get a bit of a premium, is Wenders's Until The End of The World. There's a Wenders DVD collection sans UTEOTW available in the States, although hard to find, and apparently UTEOTW is available region-coded in the EU on DVD, but it's either out of print and hard to find, or barely in print and still hard to find, even if I cared to go to the trouble to import it.

Our Laserdiscs look great on our HDTVs which have built in upscalers of high quality; it's not pure HD quality, but it's just a tiny bit under DVDs upconverted by a good DVD deck. The audio is analog Dolby ProLogic, of course, but these were really, really good DPL productions; some of he 5.1 surround perception on some of these analog surround audio productions, interpreted by the DSP in my Onkyo receiver, is better than many 5.1 discrete channel Dolby D or DTS productions. I'd hang onto my LDs.

But then again, we opted for a Blu-ray player and movies, an educated gamble that format would win. And then when HD DVD did indeed collapse, I went out and bought an HD DVD deck selling for $250 3 months before, and about $450 3 months before that, for $68. With two HD DVD movies thrown in, at the time each still retailing for $30 a piece at the time, just $10 off MSRP. Plus at least $20 worth of 3-meter HDMI cable, I came out like $12 AHEAD. I've been cleaning up on cut-rate HD DVD films, especially the exclusives which aren't yet scheduled for Blu-ray -- most of these HD DVDs are $5 or $10 LESS in stores or online than standard DVD versions of the same films. And it's not like they'll self-destruct in July or anything. Plus the HD DVD deck upconverts a little bit, but still noticeably, better than our premium Blu-ray unit.

I should add, I'm too picky to buy a lot of digital downloads, be they HD or SD (do they even offer HD for sale?) but for our kids... We have Netflix for renters-not-buyers, but kids' movies, the ability to buy older or new movies, my iTunes movie spending -- I've bought a bit of children's TV programming -- is about to multiply by about ten, up from all but zero. The Golden Compass was an immediate Blu-ray purchase, but the new Care Bears movie, iTunes purchase all the way, with an Apple TV, a Mac connected to an HDTV and between us all two iPhones, an iPod and a current iPod nano cable of outputting movies to a TV, this is a vast improvement. Pretty recently, my four-year-old son wanted Garfield, and I wasn't about to pay $4 to rent it for a day when I could buy the DVD he'd watch many, many times, for $14, so I ran out, tracked down and bought the DVD, took a couple hours all together; but I'd have bought the iTunes version and been done with it in 15 minutes, saved $4, if I could have at that time. Without evening think twice about it.

[BoulderBum]

One thing is certain, the 40GB model won't be around much longer. I know my iTunes library almost takes up that much space.

Actually, I would still prefer the lower GB model. Apple TV can stream from any computer that has iTunes open, and since I have my computer on all the time and it has a terabyte of space, it makes a lot of sense to just stream from my hard drive rather than copy every single bit of media I have to the Apple TV.

I actually think the best solution is to have an Apple TV with a paltry amount of onboard space, then a large, scalable NAS like the HP MediaSmart Server (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FEX470-MediaSmart-Server-Windows-Drive%2Fdp%2FB000UY1WSK%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectronics%26qid%3D1209794249%26sr%3D8-1&tag=colsblo04-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325).

Right now there's a bug with that device that prevents you from safely adding extra disks (fix is due in June), but the concept is that you have a user friendly home appliance with several hot-swapple drive bays so that you can scale your storage space up to 4 TB+!

Apple probably won't have any sort of Apple TV with anywhere near that space or capability anytime soon (though I think Apple has a similar product that's not quite as robust as the MediaSmart).

In the end, for the same price or cheaper I'd rather buy the DVD and have a physical copy, that won't magically disappear if my hdd were to fail.

See, that's where a device like the above comes in handy, too. You can have automatic backup of all your files spread over multiple disks to safeguard your content.

Really, I think movies are going to be like music is now: I haven't bought a CD in probably close to a decade because digital downloads are so much cheaper and more convenient. You can take 20 movies and all your favorite TV shows with you on vacation (or whatever) with just an iPod in your pocket, but try doing that with DVD's!

[BoulderBum]

:apple:

I know that the movie studios have varying tiers on release windows. Some titles have 1 - 1 1/2 months avail on Blu-Ray, DVD and now Purchase on apple tv/itunes as well as other outlets, prior to its avail as a ppv/vod.

this is unfortunately the way they are getting home video outlets to keep their margins, if they let people ppv a movie for $3-4 immediately, they would lose their highest end customers of discs/movies

See I was just thinking about it today, and you figure that if you purchase through the Apple TV, it's probably the exact same distribution cost as a rental: you either get a 4 GB (or whatever) file that deletes itself, or a 4 GB file that doesn't.

Not a bad move by the studios financially speaking, and one I can sort of live with, but it's a bit lame that Blockbuster et al get rentals so soon when they hold Apple TV back!