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Apple Reportedly Set to Test Lowering Prices for Some Television Downloads to $1
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Why not just introduce a $1 rental option? Most people don't watch these downloads more than once anyway.
I'll tell you what'll drive sales here - actually having TV shows in the iTMS. We don't even have films either.
While this may me true for the consumer, the reality is that 1 tv show costs a studio FAR MORE to produce than 1 song...
I completely agree. I'm currently watching all of Battlestar Galactica and I'm getting it from the library because it's free. I like the show but only want to see it once. There's not way I'm going to pay over a hundred bucks to see the show one time. If they can let me rent a movie, why not a tv show, for cheap.
Those damned public libraries. Pirate dens, all of them! Imagine offering a place where anyone can go and get FREE copies of books, magazines, music albums, movies & TV show DVDs.
They ought to be illegal. They ought to be sued out of existence.
I'm surprised the RIAA and MPAA haven't done more to try to shut libraries down.
I'm also surprised your library has TV shows for borrow; but I haven't been in a library for at least 20 years...
This interests me for a few classic shows, and some newer episodes that I think are good enough to watch twice, or even on a long road trip with nothing else to do. However, some of those shows are a season behind on release dates (on iTunes), or are simply missing seasons all together.
Basically. With cable finally debuting multi-room DVR's, TV's with built in internet, etc
TV and their download model are basically dead in the water. Perhaps the iPad can help...It would probably take free streaming to spur
TV sales. That product was DOAActually they've shifted 6.5 million units according to sales reports, so it's actually the best selling device of it's type worldwide. I think apple would argue that the mac mini is the bridge between apple tv and mac.
My brother has apple tv, he loves it. There's so much software out there that increases/replaces the devices functionality.
it seems to be that these limitations are being imposed by content providers, not apple - it's not legal to allow ripping of DVDs openly, and any video content Apple provide has to be subject to DRM, it's a demand of the content provider. So Apple is currently stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I'm pretty sure there are on-going discussions between apple and the content providers.
The iPad is the ultimate Macintosh
I hate to break the news to you, but the iPad and its future iterations are the next-gen computer. The iPad brings computing back to the original model that Jobs had with the Mac; an appliance.
The iPad is more a Mac than anything else we've seen. It is the re-incarnation of the original vision from Jobs.
I hate to break the news to you, but the iPad and its future iterations are the next-gen computer. The iPad brings computing back to the original model that Jobs had with the Mac; an appliance.
The iPad is more a Mac than anything else we've seen. It is the re-incarnation of the original vision from Jobs.
I've never gotten into paying $2 for an episode. I guess it is because (1) I already pay for cable TV and (2) Hulu is free and (3) Sometimes what you want can be had on YouTube.
Those three things make it feel like a waste of money to pay two bucks for 23 minute episode of something. I suppose the first time I realized this was when I bought something that I wanted someone else to see, and then I found the exact same thing on youtube.
It really seems that we're in this really messed up model right now. We needed some sort of complete 180 paradigm shift 10 years ago when digital media was prepared to make its entrance, but nobody on the big media side embraced it, and now we're getting little exploratory trials and half-committed efforts only when big media is in big trouble.
From the consumer side, I want this: much like I add on a DVR to my cable plan, I want to add on the "digital plan." For $XX a month extra, It lets me watch live TV on any device I own (without additional hardware, such as slingbox) and lets me download content for offline access (perhaps under a rental model.)
I realize the major problem is that to make this work, the cable companies and networks have to work together. And still you have the problem of the incredible amount of revenue that advertising brings in is potentially lost, and thus must be reinvented somehow to subsidize the digital plan so it is $XX a month and not $XXX a month.
Those three things make it feel like a waste of money to pay two bucks for 23 minute episode of something. I suppose the first time I realized this was when I bought something that I wanted someone else to see, and then I found the exact same thing on youtube.
It really seems that we're in this really messed up model right now. We needed some sort of complete 180 paradigm shift 10 years ago when digital media was prepared to make its entrance, but nobody on the big media side embraced it, and now we're getting little exploratory trials and half-committed efforts only when big media is in big trouble.
From the consumer side, I want this: much like I add on a DVR to my cable plan, I want to add on the "digital plan." For $XX a month extra, It lets me watch live TV on any device I own (without additional hardware, such as slingbox) and lets me download content for offline access (perhaps under a rental model.)
I realize the major problem is that to make this work, the cable companies and networks have to work together. And still you have the problem of the incredible amount of revenue that advertising brings in is potentially lost, and thus must be reinvented somehow to subsidize the digital plan so it is $XX a month and not $XXX a month.
What about movie rentals?
If they lower the prices to buy TV shows, you can't rent or stream them, then lower the prices on movie rentals as well.
You can go to Netflix or Blockbuster and have 8 movies (2 a week, 4 weeks in a month) for $10 a month. Apple charages anywhere from $2.99 to $4.99 per movie rental, thats $23.92 a month.
Or cut all of the costs to your customers that use or own Appe TV, which is a small percentage of their customers.
Show some support to your loyal customers that continued to buy your products through this economic crisis that allowed you to be profitable.
If they lower the prices to buy TV shows, you can't rent or stream them, then lower the prices on movie rentals as well.
You can go to Netflix or Blockbuster and have 8 movies (2 a week, 4 weeks in a month) for $10 a month. Apple charages anywhere from $2.99 to $4.99 per movie rental, thats $23.92 a month.
Or cut all of the costs to your customers that use or own Appe TV, which is a small percentage of their customers.
Show some support to your loyal customers that continued to buy your products through this economic crisis that allowed you to be profitable.
$1 is about a dollar too much
Make it free...add some commercials. There is no way that I am going to pay for a TV show.
Make it free...add some commercials. There is no way that I am going to pay for a TV show.
This is a good move... lowering the price per episode (and therefore season pass prices) will help bring the price lower than the cost of the same content on DVD or Bluray. TV content sells very well on these platforms, and this move will likely convert more people over to the digital download world. I'd definitely welcome this since I stopped paying for cable and went to purchasing via iTunes whenever available a few years ago.
In the end game, we will get all of our "TV" content via the internet. We will pay a monthly fee like we do for cable or satellite. We may access some of our content via the other methods if we have it, but even DirecTV will be a subscription we receive physically over fiber in urban areas.
Side comment, why can't an apartment complex have one single satellite dish and 12 wires to units instead of 12 dishes?
For a monthly fee you will get X hours of TV, with some fraction of that "premium content".. Want to record/save a show for more than time-shift? Buy it. Want to subscribe to premium content, no problem.
The main thing that will be different then is instead of being given a pre-set selection of channels for a price, you will choose the 20 channels YOU want, or the 200 hours from any channel YOU want.
Rocketman
Side comment, why can't an apartment complex have one single satellite dish and 12 wires to units instead of 12 dishes?
For a monthly fee you will get X hours of TV, with some fraction of that "premium content".. Want to record/save a show for more than time-shift? Buy it. Want to subscribe to premium content, no problem.
The main thing that will be different then is instead of being given a pre-set selection of channels for a price, you will choose the 20 channels YOU want, or the 200 hours from any channel YOU want.
Rocketman
So you're saying it's going to start costing less for a 30 minute TV show than it is for a 3 minute song?
What a fresh idea...
What a fresh idea...
