iTunes Movies to be sold for $9.99?

[MacRumors]

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Early this morning the first full length movie of was spotted on Apple's iTunes Music Store.

The iTunes link to High School Musical was accessible and offered a 1 hour 39 minute Disney Channel original TV movie. This 487MB file represents the first full length movie content that has appeared on iTunes. The movie was originally available for only $1.99 which was the same price as most iTunes Video content.

This content may have been posted prematurely, as the movie became inaccessible shortly after the original news item was posted. It has now reappeared, but is now priced at $9.99.

Apple is widely expected to offer a iTunes Movie service in the coming weeks, but reports indicate that licensing negotiations are holding up the release. Reportedly Jobs wanted to keep a pay-to-own download model rather than a monthly subscription based model. The High School Musical movie is being sold with the traditional iTunes pay-to-own model at $9.99

More evidence that this represents a conscious shift for Apple into movies comes from the url:

The url to the movie is:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...e?id=129860770

Older links are as follows:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...ewAlbum?id=xyz http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...ewVideo?id=xyz.

update: Resolution is 320x240; 29.97 FPS; 44.1 kHz audio

[berkleeboy210]

thought it was too good to be true....

[yankeefan24]

$9.99 is not bad. I can live with that. Just give me H.264 and 24

[Koodauw]

Do we get new iPods to play them on too?

[berkleeboy210]

Originally Posted by Koodauw

Do we get new iPods to play them on too?

Hopefully 2 Tuesdays from now we will. new credit card came today, not touching it until march 28th

[Kingsly]

I dont think I would pay $9.99 for a movie. Perhaps $5.00, but not $9.99.
I wouldn't even pay $.99 for a Disney channel movie.

[motulist]

320 x 240 is not worth $10 a movie.

[AidenShaw]

Originally Posted by berkleeboy210

Hopefully 2 Tuesdays from now we will. new credit card came today, not touching it until march 28th

When you "touch" it, I hope that you plan on paying it off when the bill comes.

Credit card interest rates are obscene - if you don't pay the balance in full each month you might as well toss your money in the fire.

No, that's wrong. Since it's winter up north, burning your bills will as least help heat the house. Paying interest to the credit card companies is worse.

-as

ps: Citibank just boosted the limit on my MasterCard to $29K - the idiots think that they can trick me into carrying a balance and paying them interest.

[asphalt-proof]

meh..
I also like the netflix model but then I usually watch a movie once and leave it at that. I really don't want to own a movie like I own my music. But that's just me. I know a lot of other people who have hundreds of DVDs. THough they usually watch them only once as well. I think a subscription model works better for movies and for TV programs as well. My .02$

[twoodcc]

i'm not gonna buy any with resolutions like that

[bloogersnigen]

With music I will listen to the same album or song 20 times but I'll only watch a movie once or twice. If they have a pay-per-view service like every time you watch it it costs $2/view or you can unlimited views (buying it) it for $10 that would be awesome.

[Porchland]

Boo. For movies -- and TV for that matter -- I would MUCH prefer the subscription model. I'm watching a movie or a TV episode once -- maybe twice. I don't need to own it forever.

[Oblix]

Sorry, 9.99 is a little to high for a Disney TV Movie to go, for that matter any TV movie to go! I could more appreciate 5.99 considering that I have to download it then burn it (otherwise I wont have any more room on the Hard drive).

If this is Apple's direction, I hope we wont start seeing movies from Hollywood come in above 9.99. Right now I'll wait a couple of months to by the DVD (I dont have time to go to cinemas anylonger) and I always wait till I can buy at Blockbuster when they are second hand for 12.00. For that 12.00 they are high quality and with additional Info / packaging etc. and better value.

Anything above 9.99 will also really be a drain on my wallet for what quality!

[Proud Liberal]

Originally Posted by berkleeboy210

Hopefully 2 Tuesdays from now we will. new credit card came today, not touching it until march 28th

I'm kinda thinking that the "30th anniversary event" - if there is going to be one at all - won't happen on the 28th...wouldn't we have seen an announcement from Apple by now - it's less than 2 weeks away...

[iShane]

Originally Posted by Koodauw

Do we get new iPods to play them on too?

I sure hope so.

[Cinch]

Apple is just testing the water at this point. This is a test strategy that many companies impliment to see constomer's reactions. Apple will change their model according to market forces. However, if they are to succeed, they must make this easier for customers to consume movies. It has to be simpler than going to the local Blockbuster and picking up a movie.

They should consider making this separate from iTunes. Use iMovies to download and keep video/movie. Keeping things simple perhaps, however, I do think that it is hard to move away from iTunes. iTunes has increasingly becomes complex for users to navigate. Housing movies in a separate application will keep things simple for customers.

A possible scenario it that, Apple will follow the NetFlix's model, and charge ~$35 per month for 3 movies in one's library at any given time. Some viewers will recycle through movies alot faster than NetFlix users. Recycle through movies at on-demand pace is the essential advantage here. It beats out NetFlix, because there is no need to wait. The monthly subscription model is dependent on movie studios willingness to negotiate with Apple. However, if apple is to succeed, they will have to make movies easier to access on the TV.

And iPod dock with the right connection to the TV is the critical hardware here. However, it doesn't have to be an iPod dock. It can be a device that links directly to one's computer. The cost of this device is dependent upon capability e.g. Wi-Fi, nevertheless, the cost should be comparable to a DVD player (~$50 to $200). This is an apportunity for Apple to sell new hardware in addition to the much talk about video iPod.

Apple and any wants that wants to play the video dilivery game in the future, will have to deal with the film studios. Apple is perhaps in the best position to leverage the studios. Be that as it may, Apple is a large and "legitimate" company that still have to play by the market and political rules. Here, I think the porn industry will again take the lead.

Cinch

[Chupa Chupa]

Anyone who thinks $9.99 is a good price for an iPod resolution movie is a true Apple lemming. You can get DVD "cut outs" now for $7.99. $9.99 for a movie that only looks good on a 2" screen is what we call in the trade, a "rip off." It's not unlike Sony's UMDs for PSP, though maybe a tad less expensive. Then again, I think .99 for a 128mbps encoded song is kinda pricey but people go nuts downloading entire albums when they could have the higher quality CD for about the same price.

[ijimk]

i agree 320 by 240 resolution should be $4.99, that would be decent because for one you also get no extras like on dvd.. no box art...etc

[EricNau]

I hope they make the quality of movies at least that of a DVD - but I know they won't. What should I expect for $10?

[EricNau]

Originally Posted by AidenShaw

Since a DVD is about $10 - one should expect nothing less.

Exactly. That's why I put the "" in there.

[beatle888]

Originally Posted by AidenShaw

Since a DVD is about $10 - one should expect nothing less.

no doubt. this is a joke. they need to offer something more. HD quality and i could understand but this?

[Mac Fly (film)]

$9.99

[Mac Fly (film)]

$9.99
for
320
X
240............joke!

[boncellis]

Anyone who promises that he would purchase this film if it were HD quality should admit to subsequently hoping for a lesser resolution once the download clock creeps past 2 hours...

Obviously HD is a pipe dream at this point. However, since Apple copped to marketing the Mac Mini as a device to integrate with the living room television, there has to be an upgrade on the horizon. I wouldn't even expect DVD quality, but I think 640x480 would be a marked improvement.

[InTheBand]

Originally Posted by AidenShaw

Since a DVD is about $10 - one should expect nothing less.

Originally Posted by beatle888

no doubt. this is a joke. they need to offer something more. HD quality and i could understand but this?

I agree that $9.99 should at least get us 640x480 resolution, twice that of the current 320x240 for High School Musical, or even better, 720 x [whatever this number is... I forgot]. However, the "they need to offer something more" I don't think is that necessary, or gonna happen.

The "more" that the $9.99 gets you is convenience. The same convenience that popularized iTMS. The one-click download from your home that eliminates the need to go to a store [as well as the time, hassle, and money associated with this] and putz around, looking [and hoping] that they got what you want at a reasonable price. Keep the liner notes, chapter selection, and most of that other stuff Apple, but give me "DVD Cover Art" the same way you give me "Album Art" in the iTMS. If someone wants all of that other stuff, then you know what you're options are. I just want the movie and the associated cover art to make a dvd insert so that I can shelf the movie until I watch it again later. If I bought it, then I like it enough to watch more than once no matter how much later that may be.

"ChrisA" posted "I can just set the VCR and get 4X better quality for free", but that claim is completely false. VHS quality is less than 300 [240?] horizontal lines of resolution which is obviously less than the 320 horizontal x 240 this High School Musical is offered at, but still not enough IMO. And if you're paying for cable/satellite service, guess what? It's not free.

"ChrisA" [I'm not picking on you ChrisA, just quoting you ] had also posted "I have experimented with [h.264] encoding. I've found that a 1GB file looks real good. People can't tell it from the wide screen edition DVD."

Okay. So since this High School Movie is 487MB's at 320 x 240 resolution with a duration of 1 hour and 39 minutes, then doubling that resolution should get us pretty close to the 1GB file size that you said "People can't tell it from the wide screen edition DVD." That's cool with me.
However that also disproves your earlier comment that "[you] can just set the VCR and get 4X better quality...".

$9.99 for at least 640 x 480 [preferrably 720 x whatever] as so many others have posted on here along with DVD Cover Art, and you'll have millions of customers Apple.

Here's my ideal Apple iMovie Video Store:

"DVD Quality"
- $9.99 pay to own
- $4.99 pay per view [limited views, 2-3 and/or limited time, 7 days] + $4.99 pay to own option afterwards [this will make a lot of customers just decide to buy it to begin with for $9.99]
- $19.99 unlimited viewing subscription service + $6.99, 30% off pay to own option afterwards.

"HD Quality"
- $13.99 pay to own
- $6.99 pay per view [limited views, 2-3 and/or limited time, 7 days] + $6.99 pay to own option afterwards [this may make a lot of customers just decide to buy it to begin with for $13.99]
- $29.99 unlimited viewing subscription service + $9.99, 30% off pay to own option afterwards].

Between the DVD and HD quality unlimited viewing subscription services, you get twice the quality [if DVD resolution is set to 720] for only 50% more.

Come on Apple, don't screw this one up!