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0/10 for your troll attempt. Next time convince us that you only own a laptop and you don't feel like lugging it out to watch a movie.

I'm only chiming in here to dispel your belief that someone claiming to consume their movie and tv content solely on computer is a troll.

My wife and I watch all of our movies on my laptop connected to a larger desktop monitor and speakers. We lug it out every time we watch a movie together (i.e. once a week). We also each watch one or two of our own shows on our own computers.

We don't have a TV. It's not a money issue either; we've turned down more than one free tv that was offered by people who were moving or upgrading. Why? The average individual tv consumption in American households is at least 4 hours a day (statistics say 150 hours/month but I still find that hard to believe). We have lots of friends and enjoy athletic activities. We don't want to come home from work anymore and watch 3+ hours of tv and possibly more on weekends. So we changed our way of consuming content.

We end up watching 3-4 hours of "television" per week instead of per day. The budget that would have been spent purchasing cable/satellite service pays for rentals consumer on computers. We're certainly not the only people that I know who consume much of their content outside of conventional tv service.

My only intent here is to respond to your challenge that watching tv in a conventional manner is a foregone conclusion.
 
You're impression isn't unfounded! However, the problem isn't Apple... It's the studios/content-owners who got 'spooked' by Apple and decided to hold back on many of their titles entirely and offer SD (standard def) quality only versions of the titles and TV shows they were willing to allow Apple to sell/rent.

The problem is the studios don't want internet sales to happen. Period, end of sentence. The want you to buy bluray (now) and bluray 3d (a few years from now) and then bluray 4k some time later on. They had a really nasty (aka COSTLY) war with HD-DVD and they want to have BRD succeed (at all cost).

At all cost? YES! Consider a watered down 720p movie with ZERO features and 1 soundtrack cost/sells for MORE (on iTunes type services) than a boxed bluray disc with the full treatment of extras @ full-on 1080p resolution and SOMETIMES with a 'digital-copy' included in the box with FREE s/h taboot!!! Yes, it's quite clear that the Studios want iTunes and internet movie purchasing to die. They will only embrace it when they feel they've squeezed every dime they could from BRD sales.

Translation....

Netflix streaming wouldn't even exist had it not been for a loophole in the Stars contract it signed with the content owners that allowed Stars to RESELL their rights to streaming services (this may have been either just as the net got traction or maybe even before the high-speed web really took off) and when netflix came knocking Stars was all too willing to take their money in trade for a low(er) quality back catalog of movies that Netflix could in-turn stream legally!

However, this is something that I'm sure the content owners will NOT resign as contracts come up for renewal.

Who else sells legal access to movies? Amazon, Microsoft Marketplace and a handful of other players all with equally PISS POOR catalogs of movies (as compared to iTunes*) and/or overly restrictive DRM appendages. :(

*This isn't something I want to debate... if someone has an opinion that XXX and YYY or ZZZ have "WAY BETTER" streaming/selling catalogs then I concede now to avoid the argument. I'll GLADLY buy from ANY online service that can offer me a 'respectable' catalog of 1080p / 1080i / 720p titles and a reasonable price and reasonable means that I can't search Amazon and find the same thing cheaper and with added content!

Just wanted to say - DaveGee made a terrific post here - he's completely right
 
Oh and I still buy Blu-ray's of movies i REALLY like.

Same here. Nothing compares to DTS-MA + Blu video quality on a decent setup. I use Netflix for streaming stuff I don't care about buying (Tv shows I somehow never watched, Anime that's too expensive to own and classic movies) but still purchase anything I seriously love.
 
You're impression isn't unfounded! However, the problem isn't Apple... It's the studios/content-owners who got 'spooked' by Apple and decided to hold back on many of their titles entirely and offer SD (standard def) quality only versions of the titles and TV shows they were willing to allow Apple to sell/rent.

The problem is the studios don't want internet sales to happen. Period, end of sentence. The want you to buy bluray (now) and bluray 3d (a few years from now) and then bluray 4k some time later on. They had a really nasty (aka COSTLY) war with HD-DVD and they want to have BRD succeed (at all cost).

At all cost? YES! Consider a watered down 720p movie with ZERO features and 1 soundtrack cost/sells for MORE (on iTunes type services) than a boxed bluray disc with the full treatment of extras @ full-on 1080p resolution and SOMETIMES with a 'digital-copy' included in the box with FREE s/h taboot!!! Yes, it's quite clear that the Studios want iTunes and internet movie purchasing to die. They will only embrace it when they feel they've squeezed every dime they could from BRD sales.

Translation....

Netflix streaming wouldn't even exist had it not been for a loophole in the Stars contract it signed with the content owners that allowed Stars to RESELL their rights to streaming services (this may have been either just as the net got traction or maybe even before the high-speed web really took off) and when netflix came knocking Stars was all too willing to take their money in trade for a low(er) quality back catalog of movies that Netflix could in-turn stream legally!

However, this is something that I'm sure the content owners will NOT resign as contracts come up for renewal.

Who else sells legal access to movies? Amazon, Microsoft Marketplace and a handful of other players all with equally PISS POOR catalogs of movies (as compared to iTunes*) and/or overly restrictive DRM appendages. :(

*This isn't something I want to debate... if someone has an opinion that XXX and YYY or ZZZ have "WAY BETTER" streaming/selling catalogs then I concede now to avoid the argument. I'll GLADLY buy from ANY online service that can offer me a 'respectable' catalog of 1080p / 1080i / 720p titles and a reasonable price and reasonable means that I can't search Amazon and find the same thing cheaper and with added content!

While I agree with most of what you say the issue still stands that my ISP (Comcast) wouldn't allow them to stream 1080p DTS-MA movies without charging me $500/month so that's why I, and others, stick with the Blu for now.
 
Just wanted to say - DaveGee made a terrific post here - he's completely right

Yes he is right and I have resisted buying a Blu-ray player. I haven't even gone digital other than the content that I buy on iTunes and will continue to do so especially because the studios don't want me to do so. Last DVD purchase I made was in 2006 and it was a concert DVD.

I'm a little behind in technology. The newest piece of tech I own is my nearly one year old MBP that I bought last March and my iPhone 4. My TV is a 27" Sony Trinitron from about 1997 and my DVD player was purchased about 1998 or so and it still works fine as well.

I have unlimited DSL service through Qwest and they are really pushing there all you can use internet service on TV right now.

I once sat here and downloaded every episode of the X-Files, Desperate Housewives, five seasons of lost and a few other series all in one week. All but the X-Files were in HD of course and my ISP never once complained.

I did try Netflix once but canceled after a few weeks since all I could do was use my computer or my iPhone.

I'm fine with iTunes as I watch most TV shows maybe 6-12 times a year. What I've lost interest in, I've deleted such as Lost and Supernatural.

Lots of people feel the same way though about downloads and that's why all these brick and mortar stores keep closing up.
 
trinitron?

with the electricity it sucks up you will probably save money by buying an LCD TV through lower electricity bills
 
trinitron?

with the electricity it sucks up you will probably save money by buying an LCD TV through lower electricity bills

Maybe but I've been perfectly fine with it after all these years. I'm thinking of keeping it till it breaks even if it runs another ten years. Why replace what isn't broke? I only use it to watch a handful of DVDs that I own and my local channels.
 
i don't like to pay an extra $20 a month for electricity. it's like burning money. i could buy an x-box game for that

i do leave my laptop on sometimes, but since i don't have a desktop anymore like a lot of people playing itunes content will mean booting up a laptop. with 3 iphones and 3 laptops in the house it's a mess to have everything on and out all the time

My iMac stays on 24/7, 365 days a year. It does go to sleep on its own using about 11 watts. Computers last a lot longer if they aren't constantly turned on and off.
 
My iMac stays on 24/7, 365 days a year. It does go to sleep on its own using about 11 watts. Computers last a lot longer if they aren't constantly turned on and off.

I believe this is not true anymore. It used to be the case with old computers but modern circuitry takes care of this so if someone does not need the computer running 24/7 it is better (both for electricity bill and computer) to turn the computer off.
 
Just wanted to say - DaveGee made a terrific post here - he's completely right

While I agree with most of what you say the issue still stands that my ISP (Comcast) wouldn't allow them to stream 1080p DTS-MA movies without charging me $500/month so that's why I, and others, stick with the Blu for now.

Thanks for putting up with my long winded (yea I'm aware of it) posts and it's extra nice when someone else agrees. :D

Oh and as for bandwidth, yes duly noted. The pipes in most locals isn't really ready for unmolested HD content over the net. Someday... hopefully sooner rather than later.

I was giving this more though and I think I hit upon something that the studios are REALLY scared of....

Why do we buy movies (VHS, LD, DVD, BRD, Streamed, Digital Download, etc)? I can think of a few reasons.

#1 - The connivence factor of having something 'in the house' that you will (or think you will) want to play at the drop of a hat. No running down to the video store (old media) or the redbox or queing something up in netflix and waiting for it to be delivered... The need to 'have it available to me now'.

#2 - The kids... Yea they watch things (the same things) endlessly and buying the item is by far the easy fix.

#3 - The obsessive compulsive disorder hiding away in MANY of us. I love Stargate SG1 and had seasons 1, 2 and 4 and so I MUST have the rest of the 10+ seasons or my life will forever be in a state of madness. (this is often me and yes I have the entire series of SG1 plus atlantis, BSG, all of the star treks, andromeda, babylon 5, Firefly... given my clearly obvious OCD I can/could go on and on but you get the idea)

#4 - Someone gifted it to you so you are stuck with it but would have returned it for the cash had you been given the chance.

Now... Lets think for a moment and really think.

Imagine if you had a single box and a super fast connection that would give you access to 'everything' all in one really gorgeous UI. You could browse it at will and watch trailers and know that at the press of a button and a digital payment you could watch it all in unmolested HD quality. For me someone (err a sucker) who has a 600+ dvd collection (not counting TV seasons - lots of them) I'd kill for this and it would be my dream come true. Instant access to just about everything imaginable without paying for it up front but still being just a click away.

Personally I'd pay $19 a month (maybe even $29 - thats what my provider charges for HBO alone) for the privilege of 'accessing the service' and maybe 5 free views per month plus a $3 +- view fee for anything over that - provided that 'view rental' was good for an unlimited number of views in say a 48 hour period or from Fri to Mon on the weekends.

I'll bet most people if they really gave it some though would sign up with me simply due to the fact that it has 'everything' (so I don't need to try and maintain my own video-store in my home - something the studios so want to encourage) and given I've only seen each movie in my collection (the vast majority anyway) 1x or 2x -- scifi generally has a much higher view count I'd save a fortune in buying stuff I really shouldn't be wasting money on.

It'll never happen since it would be EXACTLY what I'd want but it's something that I'm sure the studios are doing their best to make sure NEVER happens.
 
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Currently using:

iTunes via AppleTV (1G)
Amazon On Demand via Panasonic Blu-Ray HTIB
Netflix via Panasonic HTIB & Xbox360

I have purchased over 180 movies from iTunes and rented countless others. Except for the last few months iTunes has had great 99cent rentals, lately they've had huge movie sales for $4.99. There selection is also quite large and varied with content old and new, indie and mainstream. It doesn't surprise me they're on top with how much effort they actually put into it. I just wish the AppleTV (1G) wasn't so damn slow and buggy. Removing the purchase option from the 2G killed any desire to buy it for me.

I've been checking out Amazon lately since they have been giving away $5 discounts with various purchases from the website. So far i've bought 3 movies from them, but have only been using them as an alternate to get movies that are not on iTunes (Amazon at least has some softcore porn). One thing I do not like about them is the lack of local storage. I know I can use the computer app to download the movies, I just wish I could do so directly from the set-top app.

Netflix is my go to service for movies that I want to watch but don't want to spend $10+ to buy. Most of these are old movies that as far as I am concerned shouldn't be sold for more than $4.99. If they were available at that price on iTunes I would buy every last one of them. Netflix has also had some recent movies that I only have watched since I didn't have to pay anything more than the monthly service cost to watch them. The service is more than worth the cost.

I have also purchased a handful of TV shows from the Zune marketplace on Xbox 360 that I bought only because I had some random Live points left over to waste, but since I cannot access that content outside of the Xbox360 and have to use the 360's interface for browsing the content, I have no interest in buying from them further.

You can access them if you download Zune but i'm assuming you have a Mac so you are correct.


I only watch TV shows and moives on my TV though....keep in mind i don't own a laptop.

Best thing i ever did was just ripping all my DVDs to my desktop for streaming.
 
Wow. I never knew Apple was #1. I was under the impression they were a really small player in video. I based that on the scorn I've received as an Apple TV user all these years.

Perhaps I was underestimating how many iPod users consume iTunes video content. Or maybe the VOD market isn't as big as I thought it was?

No, the story is very misleading if you don't read it carefully - there's a BIG qualifier there. A better headline would be:

"Apple continues to dominate the teensy tiny portion of movie downloads/streaming that excludes Netflix and cable companies Video On Demand services."

On a side note: I've ripped all the DVDs we own, and we use an old MacBook Pro to stream them to our Tivo via pyTivoX (pytivo & streambaby). That laptop uses a lot less power than our iMac, which would be overkill for serving video anyway (unless you're using bloatware such as iTunes to serve something like an AppleTV).


Netflix streaming makes up something like 20% of all internet usage in the United States.
 
I signed up for the 1-month free-trial Streaming membership with NetFlix and was greatly underwhelmed.
  • Old movies
  • TV-series are a minimum of 2 seasons behind.
  • Limited High quality streams (they call it HD)
  • Limited subtitle availability

Streaming from NetFlix simply cannot compare to BluRay quality and offerings. In addition, the public library down the street has a huge Blu-ray collection, so I am hard to please :)
 
iTunes will never get a dime out of me on movie or TV rentals... Here's why:

-Much cheaper and better quality video on Amazon VOD (although doesn't play on my Apple TV 2 but does on my sony TV)

-Redbox only 3 blocks from my house, Blu Ray for $1.50, much better quality and I don't mind getting fresh air and exercise to save $3.50!!!

-Torrents and newsgroups have 720 and 1080p blu-ray quality files for download, with a 25mbps internet connection I get them in less then half an hour

$5 bucks to rent a movie is YESTERDAYS NEWS. That's why Blockbuster is going bankrupt and most of the other video stores have closed down.

For those curious, my setup:

-AppleTV 2 (Jailbroken) with XBMC installed
-Netgear ReadyNAS Duo with dual 2TB hard drives RAID1 mirror
-Sony 32 inch LCD with built in Amazon VOD, Netflix, etc etc...
-PS3 for those moments when I do need to play a blu-ray disc
-Netgear WNDR3700 (n600) wireless router
-Surfboard 6100 modem with 25mbps cable connection
-Installed NZBGet on ReadyNAS to download newsgroup files - use NZBMatrix to search, and my provider is Newshost
-Use built in Torrent client on NAS to download torrents
-NO computer needed, no transcoding (XBMC rocks) everything streams flawlessly on my network
 
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Gosh! Apple is number one in video streaming and they still haven't caused a brownout on the eastern seaboard with that server farm in N.C. Will that shoe finally drop in June??
 
And you risk getting a nice warning letter asking (demanding) you to stop or legal action may follow.

Sounds like he's in a newsgroup so he's covered there.

However, you can't come into a thread and try to compare legal ways to consume entertainment with illegal.

Not everyone is willing to go the illegal route but yes, XMBC eclipses all in terms of UI.
 
Do they still make you wait 4 hours before you can start watching an HDX title? From what I remember, they would limit the download rates to 4 Mbps no matter how fast your Internet connection was. I don't think that's called solving the bandwidth problem. :D

No.

HDX streams immediately for me. Of course I have an 8 MBit line... so that might help.
 
BTW - while I have Netflix, Apple TV and Vudu.... I too still buy (and rent) Blurays for most of my movie watching.

You just can't beat that quality. When you have a serious home theater setup where you can see and hear the difference.... it is hard to use compressed streams for movie watching.

All I'm saying about Vudu is that its quality certainly caught me off guard. I was expecting crazy macroblocking and stereo sound... and what I got was nice compression and Dolby Digital Plus (not as good as any actual HD sound stream... but better than most DVDs).
 
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I've rented a few movies from iTunes but usually just do the RedBox BluRay for $1.50 and watch and hear the movies I really want to see in HD. Netflix has some good old movies, but my issue is once I watch a movie, I'm pretty much done with it. I can probably count the movies I've watched more than once on one hand, I recall movies rather well and just don't find them interesting enough to watch more than once.

I have never purchased/owned a VHS, DVD or BD movie, I goto the theatre, rent em on BD and move on to the next one. I don't usually have an issue renting on VOD from iTunes but download speeds vs driving 2 blocks to a Redbox usually makes my decision.
 
Actually, large LCD and Plasma tv's use a lot of power.

No, they don't. Not compared to CRT. CRT is easily double the power usage per square inch of screen size. And that was before they went all "green" and managed to cut power consumption of flat panels in half.

I suppose if you compare a 5" CRT to a 65" plasma you could come away thinking a plasma sucks too much electricity.
 
All of this is going away over the next twenty years. The current generation of thieves society has pumped out will close down the theaters and large scale production of movies and television shows will scale back eventually. Getting things for free is nice but of course if its free then it stops getting made.

But of course we will all be movie stars of the future thanks to youtube. Lets all try to write better scripts and take time to make better productions. Perhaps community theater groups could produce youtube videos for streaming to replace hollywood video blockbusters someday? Don't just slap a silly video up there. Write a script. Do some editing. Make a real movie. I want to watch something you put some effort into. Not some 30 second clip you just uploaded.

The irony is that everyone will get ready for the latest 3D with 1080p but there won't likely be anyone producing those movies anymore. The locals filming videos for youtube will probably not be able to afford that type of equipment.

But hey, it will all be free like it should be!
 
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