iPod Amazon.com starts video download service

[milo]

The bar has been set.

Pricing is a little high, but lower than what was originally rumored. And they have sales AND rentals, now if apple only does sales they'll get slammed for it (although I think amazon's rental price is too high to compete with netflix).

Looks like amazon also allows re-downloading material, which is a bit of a surprise.

Apple is going to need to match or beat them on price AND quality, they're already at a disadvantage not having as much of a selection.

A new ipod (doubtful) or streaming solution would be very cool from apple, but I don't know if the iTunes/iPod "monopoly" is strong enough to overcome a weak movie store offering compared to Amazon. If they're going to follow amazon's fairly impressive announcment, they REALLY need to beat them in a number of ways or get really slammed.

It's going to be a tough decision whether or not to sell my apple stock before tuesday's announcements.

 

[milo]

I'm pretty sure Parallels will choke on DVD quality playback.

Parallels and Bootcamp just aren't good enough for this.

Don't write it off until we know for sure. Anyone tried it yet?

 

[BrianMojo]

A new ipod (doubtful) or streaming solution would be very cool from apple, but I don't know if the iTunes/iPod "monopoly" is strong enough to overcome a weak movie store offering compared to Amazon. If they're going to follow amazon's fairly impressive announcment, they REALLY need to beat them in a number of ways or get really slammed.

A question: when was the last time you saw an Amazon.com tv ad?

No one I've talked to knows this product exists and I doubt they will anytime soon -- and I live on a college campus.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

they need to offer a macintosh version of their software!!!

 

[Cooknn]

2.2Gb is a fair chunk out of my 10Gb (in & out) monthly allocation and then I have to pay for additional storage. I think I'll just continue to get off my back-side and go buy a 'real' DVD or CD.

As mentioned by many others including myself, I hope Apple doesn't just offer a 'buy' option for the forthcoming feature length movies. I've purchased maybe 3 movies in the last 3 years. I watch about 2 or 3 a week though

 

[baleensavage]

The harsh restrictions of this service do not bode well for Apple's offering. You can only put it on 2 computers (5 for iTunes) and one media device per computer (unlimited for iTunes). Also, NO DVD burning (CDs unlimited TV shows none).

If this is what the movie studios want for restrictions, it's unlikely that they will cave in for Apple, which means that this looks like what we'll probably get from them.

On the whole, this is a very dissapointing example of how DRM can be so restricting as to make it almost unusable. Apple's DRM is a pain, but to most users it isn't noticable. I for one won't buy movies from any download service with these kinds of restrictions. A couple TV shows, maybe, but movies, no.

 

[mcs37]

Am I the only one who doesn't want to pay $3 per movie rental? I'd rather pay a flat fee of $10-15 per month and rent as many as I want. Why don't they GET it? Goddammit I don't want to pay per movie, that's why I have Blockbuster online all-you-can-eat. I'll stick with Blockbuster until they have unlimited movies/month, DVD quality, $15.

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

Not a fan of the user interface (at least, not the online-user interface.) Amazon strikes me as being very, very busy (too many buttons, too many pictures, too much text...just, too much).

 

[ipodG8TR]

No Thanks!

Windows-only -- what a joke.

$9.99 for The Matrix -- buy the DVD at Target for the same price. Older popular movies are always on sale for $10 or less, and they come with extras!

 

[LethalWolfe]

How did the iPod jumpstart the market? It allowed people to rip the CDs that they already owned into MP3 (or AAC) so it could be transferred to the iPod. More of a wish than a prediction, I hope we see an "iFlicks" app that allows people to rip their DVDs into it, in a format that could show on a TV and play on a video iPod. Sure it would take a while, but it can be done already with Handbrake and let to run overnight. They could get around DCMA by limited the movie to the computer and "client" devices (not a lawyer, just guessing)
[/LIST]

That'll never happen unless the laws change. The MPAA has spent a lot of time and money lobbying to stop people from ripping/copying movies. You can't rip a movie w/o breaking/circumventing the copy protection and you can't break/circumvent the copy protection w/o violating the DMCA. And considering the complete lock down around HD-DVD & Blu-ray I don't see the MPAA going, "Oh, never mind. He is an app to break to copy protection we spend millions of dollars developing."


Lethal

 

[supremedesigner]

Not a fan of the user interface (at least, not the online-user interface.) Amazon strikes me as being very, very busy (too many buttons, too many pictures, too much text...just, too much).

+1

It's like my eyes is leaning off the computer screen.

 

[donlphi]

Amazon and Apple are not banking on people that know how to rip a DVD and format it to an iPOD to purchase their movies. They are banking on people that either 1. Don't have time to do that. 2. Don't want the hassle of doing it (or what they consider to be a hassle) or 3. Are in a hurry and want something NOW, can't wait for netflix to deliver it, and ON DEMAND doesn't offer it.

There have been many times I planned on putting a few new dvds onto my iPOD before leaving for a long flight and wished I could have just downloaded them because I never got around to doing the converting (particularly on my slow 933mhz G4 - 1 movie takes all night long).

It will be nice to be able to go online at the airport and purchase a movie or even rent a movie so I can watch it on the plane. I have no problem watching 2 full length movies on my iPOD when flying from Seattle to Chicago (4 hour flight). My laptop, not possible with the poor battery life.

I have a 60 GB Video iPod with about 6000 songs and 20 movies that I keep on there. I love it for travelling, but hate when I forget to put something new on there. If it costs $10-$15 to buy a movie, it's still going to be cheaper than DRIVING to best-buy, checking to see if they have a copy of the movie I want on the shelf (if they don't then more driving), waiting in line, driving home, either RIPPING the DVD to iTUNES or just watching it.

I know there are people out there that think... oh I'll just rent the movie and rip that, but even then you are still waiting for the delivery of your DVD, not to mention it's friggin' illegal.

I'm not saying I'll be buying a lot of movies, but it will be nice to have the option if I need to. Kind of like having the option to buy a CD at the store or download the CD from iTunes. Nobody thought that was going to work either with that OUTRAGEOUS 99 cents per song or those EXPENSIVE Television Shows nobody is going to buy.

I think Apple, Amazon, and their stock holders will be just fine for now.

 

[admanimal]

My favorite part is how it says that if your device is PlaysForSure compliant, it may work with these videos. This must be another Windows Genuine Advantage courtesy of Microsoft.

 

[JGowan]

Music never gets stale. In-fact, it gets even better over time. And movies...I don't remember last time I saw any movie for third time.

I dissagree. I've got some porn I've viewed dozens of times

 

[k2k koos]

Laughable

Yes, that's what this is, what an unrealistic system spec, come on, 200MB disk space min, and the portable device version of a movie is more than 500MB already, who are they kidding?!

Let's see what Apple makes of this on the 12th.....

 

[mixgrafix]

Cami, My Dog Made Up My Mind

Blockbuster is three blocks from my house, and she loves the four time a month stroll down the boulevard to pick up some flix. She does her business, chases a bunny or two, and loves the pettings she gets from the people coming in and out of the store.

I have only bought a few dvd's in my lifetime, and those are all music DVD's that are very rare, so meh on the UnBox.

 

[Snowy_River]

That'll never happen unless the laws change. The MPAA has spent a lot of time and money lobbying to stop people from ripping/copying movies. You can't rip a movie w/o breaking/circumventing the copy protection and you can't break/circumvent the copy protection w/o violating the DMCA. And considering the complete lock down around HD-DVD & Blu-ray I don't see the MPAA going, "Oh, never mind. He is an app to break to copy protection we spend millions of dollars developing."


Lethal

Here's an interesting thought...

Suppose iTunes (or iFlicks, or whatever) encoded DRM into the movie as it ripped it. Then this wouldn't be a file that could be shared indiscriminately. But it would allow the functionality that GryphonKeeper was suggesting.

Of course, if they wanted to get fancy, then they could produce two versions of DVDs. One version would be available exclusively to rental outlets, while the other would be available to consumers. Content wise, these could be exactly identical. But when you go to rip a rental DVD it would create a rental movie file, subject to whatever restrictions are negotiated with Apple.

I know that people would still crack this scheme and rip movies from rentals using Handbrake, or whatever new software comes along. Maybe someone would even figure out how to crack iTunes (or iFlicks) so that it could rip DVDs DRM free. But, that's the real world.

This idea would provide a means for users to do something legally that would otherwise be illegal. Being illegal doesn't mean that it wouldn't be done, either. Why do you think Handbrake is so well known?

 

[benpatient]

unless apple's store offers pretty great resolution (dvd quality), I may start using this service. Nice that you can keep things online in your digital locker instead of storing a bunch of huge files on your harddrive unless you want to re-buy them. Honestly this is a lot more appealing to me than what Apple is currently offering. For the 90-something percent of people who don't have a Mac, it's great.

I haven't ever bought a tv show from apple because I downloaded one or two of the free episodes they offered and the ipod-centric quality of the video is unwatchable on my 50" TV. I don't watch TV on my iPvideo very often because you have to go through all that conversion trouble and i never have time to sit around and watch a movie on a tiny screen anyway.

Maybe apple will start offering all of their shows at TV resolution, or DVD resolution at least for things like the Office or Lost, which are in HD and already widescreen. If not, Amazon (who is almost as big as Apple from a revenue standpoint) will take their already huge customer base and tap into it in a new way.

Amazon's offerings are so diverse now that I almost don't buy anything anywhere else...

 

[JGowan]

Being illegal doesn't mean that it wouldn't be done, either. Why do you think Handbrake is so well known?

Me loves me Handbrake.

 

[nbs2]

I didn't see this anywhere else - what are the French and Scandanavian responses to the decision to restrict the computers that will support the service and the tigher DRM?

 

[iSee]

Don't write it off until we know for sure. Anyone tried it yet?

I tried the unbox player from within Parallels and it doesn't work.

It starts to play, stutters, and then stops altogether. (MBP 2.16, 2GB, Parallels VM running XP SP2 with 512MB)

I didn't think it would, but it was worth a try...

 

[jettredmont]

That's not any worse than Comcast On Demand. Really, should it take more than 24 hours to watch a 2-hour movie? It's a RENTAL!

Well, it would switch up movie night SOP here in my house.

Often enough that it'd be expensive, I'll pop in Movie 1 of 3 that we rented, we'll get through the forced-viewing-torture bits and sometimes even through the opening credits of the movie, and my wife will say, "You know, I'm not in the mood for a comedy tonight. Throw in the slasher."

Yeah, yeah, I know, make up your mind earlier and that won't be a problem. And, maybe, such a service would finally teach her to make up her mind before I've put the DVD in and settled into my spot on the couch ... but likely as not, it wouldn't, and she'd realize that the request to watch the RoCom the next night would mean paying for and downloading it again (because the service says they don't just deactivate the movie, they delete it when done renting!), then sit grumbling through the movie or go to bed in the middle of it or get her fix of senseless bloody violence in some other manner (help us all!) After the second grumble, I'd roll my eyes and put the slasher on anywaay, and we'd have to rent the RoCom the next night (or, more likely, never) instead ...

Makes for a crappy experience, which in turn would make us less likely to use the service for viewing movies.

 

[supermacdesign]

Crappy Interface

Very ugly, this is where Apple will kill them. iTunes is so easy to use and nice to look at. I can;t see this going over very well at Amazon. Atleast not yet. Not sure how apple is going to convince me either but we will see I guess.

 

[gauriemma]

Without iPod support I smell failure. If the rumors are true how did Amazon swing 30 networks and studios while Apple only has a few?

The fact that it will have limited uses is probably what convinced the studios to take part. Less risk of abuse, and fewer royalties concerns, if hardly anybody's going to be accessing it.

 

[jettredmont]

There have been many times I planned on putting a few new dvds onto my iPOD before leaving for a long flight and wished I could have just downloaded them because I never got around to doing the converting (particularly on my slow 933mhz G4 - 1 movie takes all night long).

It will be nice to be able to go online at the airport and purchase a movie or even rent a movie so I can watch it on the plane. I have no problem watching 2 full length movies on my iPOD when flying from Seattle to Chicago (4 hour flight). My laptop, not possible with the poor battery life.

1. How long are you going to be sitting in that airport? Last time I was in an airport with wireless, the speed was around 128kbps. Get there the night before, pay $10-$15 for 24 hours worth of airport internet, and start downloading? Driving to Best Buy makes a heck of a lot more sense to me.

2. If you rip the DVD directly to your hard drive (bit-for-bit copy, which is generally considered covered by fair use, and which doesn't break DMCA because the CSS is transfered intact) then you'll get pretty good laptop performance watching the movie. But no, running the DVD drive full time you'll not get through the entire movie before the average PowerBook battery dies on you.