OH NOW I GET IT
It just struck me now why Apple is doing this! In my twisted little mind, I see the game plan - and I think it's a good theory.
Apple wants us to get used to the subscription idea - of paying $9.99 a month for something. This, most people would say is obvious. And the movie industry wants that. They want the content sitting on their porch, pulled when they say, and put back as is. They would only accept a "rental"/Netflix-type philosophy.
But Apple wants us to be happy with its subscription. Happiness and satisfaction equals longer-term profit. And we are okay with a subscription, as long as we get to keep stuff. Most of us would be okay if Apple's subscription were more of a membership than a subscription - you get content as you keep paying, but you can keep the content even after membership.
So how can Apple reconcile this? By bundling.
"Huh," you say? Well, think of it this way, if you paid $29.99 a month for Apple content, and you got to keep all the TV shows, and got to watch a couple of movies that would eventually be defunct, that'd be somewhat OK. After all, you still get to keep South Park and The Daily Show.
It would be in their interest.... If you really wanted to movie, you'd get the DVD, wouldn't you? I mean, a family favorite is going to to be a family favorite. What Apple wants to hook are people who just want to watch on-demand movies on iTunes. They've been selling TV shows for 1/2 a year, and it's a great way to hook a higher-value subscription with movies to drive a vPod, while keeping us happy.
It's somewhat of a bait and switch, but it turns the value proposition around so that we get something in return and pits the TV show industry to compete with the movie industry, instead of both competing against Apple for profit!
This is the first foray. They want to see if the idea of a memberships works, and with some TV shows. It's a test run. And we all know they are interested in movies. So it makes sense if you think about it. Or at least it does to me.
