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iTunes Movie Rentals Coming?
- Thread starter dan-o-mac
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Not necessarily. There could just be a time-bomb within the individual DRM'ed file itself. They would need to re-encrypt the file for every download (but, if they're able to limit you to replay on certain devices, they probably already do something like that anyway), so that each download has a unique expiration time.
So, when your player goes to view a movie, if it's within the 30 day window encoded in that movie's file, then it will play. If not, then the player says "you're past the movie rental date, you need to re-download it".
The other option is that you also download authorization signatures into your player that give you the right to watch a certain rental movie file for a window of time. Then, if you miss your time window, you don't have to re-download the movie, just get a new authorization signature.
Neither of those require that you have a live, central, connected authority at the time you watch the movie. The latter one does require some form of central source of auth signatures, but then, you've already got that in a way: the iTunes store itself. But, my two schemes don't require an invasive and connected authority. And, if the authority dies today (ala divx), then your rentals are still good for X days. You just wont be able to rent new ones after that.
I don't think theTV is the media server, I think your Mac is. The
A rental type of service on
tv removes the notion of a media server from the equation because you're not archiving the stuff.For the casual move watcher, this service would be the most economical:
Local Blockbuster Rental:
--$4.99
--confusing rental period...usually 2 days but no late fees unless it is really late. huh?
--often movies are unavailable
--requires pick up and return of media
Oceanic Cable Video on Demand:
--$3.99
--24 hr period
--Movies are always available, but selection is limited
--No return required
DVD Rental Kiosk:
--$.99
--1 day
--Limited selection
--requires pick up and return of media
So basically this service would compete most heavily with VOD... but almost certainly with a better selection, much longer period, and portability to at least one device. The only negatives I can possibly see are download times.
Local Blockbuster Rental:
--$4.99
--confusing rental period...usually 2 days but no late fees unless it is really late. huh?
--often movies are unavailable
--requires pick up and return of media
Oceanic Cable Video on Demand:
--$3.99
--24 hr period
--Movies are always available, but selection is limited
--No return required
DVD Rental Kiosk:
--$.99
--1 day
--Limited selection
--requires pick up and return of media
So basically this service would compete most heavily with VOD... but almost certainly with a better selection, much longer period, and portability to at least one device. The only negatives I can possibly see are download times.
I've noticed these kiosks in several grocery stores around my area and they are a very intriguing deal. What if there were such a thing as an iTunes kiosk though? You just plug in your iPod and you could buy songs/movies or even rent movies. It would work like the new wireless iTunes store they just announced. Once you get home and plug your iPod into your computer, the purchased content would be synced up to your iTunes library.
These could have a very compelling business model. Businesses would love having them because they would be basically maintenance free and could provide a percentage of all sales (updates and new content could be downloaded electronically) They could start popping up all over the place. Also, this could be a better way to get high-def video to people who don't have lots of bandwidth. Rental pricing could be very competitive too since there would be no overhead.
Are you sure about this ? I have my dought because Apple tracks the number of authorised computer a title is assigned to. I had a motherboard failure that was replaced and i had to get Itune support to remove the CPU on the Itunes server. So there is a notion of where media is played at apple already today. They could allow only one CPU per rental and that would be the way they could track where it goes.
I would not be supprised also that rentals works only on the newer devices, the old IPOD's did not had a permanent clock which is required to have time based content.
My 2 cents
Cheers !
Placement is often the key too, and it seems like the kiosk folks know this. Often the kiosks aren't buried somewhere where you'd have to pay to park, walk forever, and then finally get to it. They're in places where you can stop on the way home.
An iTMS kiosk is definitely compelling for those larger downloads. I wonder who would own and operate them though? The kiosk would have to have a forward cache of all the content you'd want to buy. Hmmm... maybe while they're installing all this stuff in Starbucks they should just go ahead and make Starbucks the kiosk. The whole open-air store could be the kiosk?
thinksecret posted sumthing like this a while back, the name of the article was take two: itunes store movie rentals
Wonder how this fits in with those old rumors that bittorrent technology would be incorporated into Leopard.
Would this be a temporary movie file downloaded to the computer, or would you physically receive a dvd in the mail? Either way, sounds good!
Apple will team up with NetFlix for this service.
It was rumored a few months ago remember?
I'd say middle/end of September we see it.Right before Leopard release.
It was rumored a few months ago remember?
I'd say middle/end of September we see it.Right before Leopard release.
I'd finally buy an iTV also if it had a TV subscription ---> UNLIMITED would be required otherwise it wouldn't even be an option for me and I imagine most others.
Add a Netflix style movie download shop, unlimited downloads also [as Netflix is now] or a realistic limit per month and I'd pay double than the iTV sells for now. Since Netflix is unlimited but has the advantage [on their side] of taking a few days in the mail to limit the actual real number of 'unlimited' movies you get, I'd expect there wouldn't be a good way for Apple to compete or make a viable option for completely unlimited downloads. At the normal 3-at-a-time Netflix package with unlimited per month for about $18, even .99 would be pushing it though. Again this is where a specific package of a set price [people LOVE set prices. people don't like to think about keeping track of everchanging bills. I think most people like the option of having a set price per month and getting x amount of things for it. No brains required, and yes I'm talking about us lazy movie watchers].
I really hope they add a viable and attractive TV subscription service to this. It would literally change the entire industry overnight and I don't think that's just a fantasy, I think it really would. Until a few years ago, cable companies [and telco companies] thought, rather stupidly insisted that they would be around forever. There wasn't much to stop them from ridiculous overpricing. If Apple pulled this off in a way that made users happy and the TV networks at least content, the world would be forever changed. Every livingroom and person would finally have some type of option to get around the giant 'untouchable' cable giants for good. I'd love to see the look on Comcast, Time Warner, Adelphia, etc's faces when that service is announced by an industry outsider.
A nice dream? Surely yes! Impossible, no. Likely, I really have no idea but can sure hope.
Ah yes. Attaining media away from the computer. It's a fantastic pipe dream, slowly coming into light through that iTunes mini store thing.
The number of people I know with iPods and without computers is quite surprising. They always come to me with piles of CD's. But without a computer they can't get an AppleTV.
Am I the only person left on the planet that doesn't like digital distribution? I for I like having a hardcopy of my content. You have backup things you download, and stamped CDs and DVDs are much more durable than any recordable media. Downloaded materials are alot much more compressed. I want the highest quality possible. Why download an album on iTunes for $9.99 when I can get a used CD on Amazon for the same or cheaper? The CD is much better quality and I have a backup.
Considering there hasn't been any upgrades made to the
TV since it was introduced I would suspect if and when Apple starts a rental system through iTunes it would be an ideal time to update the TV. Bigger hard drive and whatnot.
actually if you look close at the screen shot it also shows that there is a itunes list for items/songs downloaded from Acquisition....
For God's sake...
Don't tell me people are still downloading songs illegally...
That'd be because David Watanabe who posted the image is the developer of Acquisition
[edit: see the copyright notice right at the bottom of http://acquisitionx.com/ ]
Considering there hasn't been any upgrades made to the
Well, they did add 160GB model to the line up.
And as I think about my
TV experience, the streaming on my .g wireless network has been outstanding. I have high-bit-rate/file-size encodes that stream without an issue over my network. So, if I can store the media in my iTunes library on my 500Gb external firewired into my iMac and share with just my TV, I'm good. For most uses I can imagine, the HDD in the TV is just there for ballast and buffering. 
rentals are a must
to make the itunes movie store a serious venture, apple really needs to offer movie rentals. i think music is much different than movies. i will listen to the same song over and over again (and therefore want to buy to own), but rarely do the same with movies (i'd rather watch another movie than the same one over and over again). occasionally, i do watch the same movies again, but the ratio is like 1 to 10 of repeat vs. new movie. i think a rental service would work in everyone's favor: apple, the studios and us consumers. bring it on!
p.s. while they're at, they might want to also consider a rental version of the season pass for TV shows.
to make the itunes movie store a serious venture, apple really needs to offer movie rentals. i think music is much different than movies. i will listen to the same song over and over again (and therefore want to buy to own), but rarely do the same with movies (i'd rather watch another movie than the same one over and over again). occasionally, i do watch the same movies again, but the ratio is like 1 to 10 of repeat vs. new movie. i think a rental service would work in everyone's favor: apple, the studios and us consumers. bring it on!
p.s. while they're at, they might want to also consider a rental version of the season pass for TV shows.
This actually tells us a lot about how Apple develops... I'm surprised to see they include development code in releases. I would have expected them to branch the code base when they start working on a new feature... This is far from the first time this has happened, and you'd think it would lead to stability issues.
Yes, Apple keeps track of how many computers you authorize, but the authorization is just a simple file on your computer that contains the encryption key which is hashed with your machine's serial number.
In fact, there's a trick to get more than five authorizations where you back up this special file, deauthorize the computer, restore that special file, then authorize a sixth machine. The machine you "cheated" on will be able to play the downloaded music forever unless you try to authorize it under a different account, at which point Apple's server will go "hey, you're not authorized" and remove the errant authorization.
I like this way. It keeps honest people honest, while at the same time giving you a way to play/recover your hard-earned music collection if Steve Jobs throws a tantrum and shuts down the iTunes store. Provided you have good backups of course.
-Z
In fact, there's a trick to get more than five authorizations where you back up this special file, deauthorize the computer, restore that special file, then authorize a sixth machine. The machine you "cheated" on will be able to play the downloaded music forever unless you try to authorize it under a different account, at which point Apple's server will go "hey, you're not authorized" and remove the errant authorization.
I like this way. It keeps honest people honest, while at the same time giving you a way to play/recover your hard-earned music collection if Steve Jobs throws a tantrum and shuts down the iTunes store. Provided you have good backups of course.
-Z