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iTunes Rental Pricing Flexibility and Earlier Releases

I rented "Michael Clayton" on Tuesday, so that seems to me to be a ZERO-day delay from the DVD release!

I did rent it rather late in the evening (About 9:30 Central US), and it was there the first time I checked, so I am not sure about the exact time it was released. If there is a delay, it may be in hours, not days!

The HD version was ready to watch in less than 1 minute (I have a Cable modem). This AppleTV Take Two is really a great product!
 
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I really like the weekend deals and I hope that Apple continues to be able to run them. Also, the sooner they can get new releases on iTunes the better. Both of these items are reply good IMHO.
 
sounds good

Great. I haven't used iTunes for movie rentals -- or even purchases for that matter -- but from what I'm reading here, the development of iTunes movies is pretty encouraging. May even give it a try this weekend.
 
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macFanDave said:
I rented "Michael Clayton" on Tuesday, so that seems to me to be a ZERO-day delay from the DVD release!

I did rent it rather late in the evening (About 9:30 Central US), and it was there the first time I checked, so I am not sure about the exact time it was released. If there is a delay, it may be in hours, not days!

The HD version was ready to watch in less than 1 minute (I have a Cable modem). This AppleTV Take Two is really a great product!
Click to expand...

That's really cool. Thanks for the info. I hope more and more releases will come out in conjunction with the DVD release or shortly thereafter.
 
Love Rentals, My Apple TV has turned Japanese

I love the Apple movie rentals and I love my Apple TV.

One thing in comparison to a Red Box or BlockBuster, online movie rentals are guaranteed to be there. When you have a heart set on a movie and it's sold out it's hard to settle for something else.

Unfortunately, my Apple TV can't rent movies because it's somehow hooked up to the Japanese store. I can browse Japanese music, I see the Kanji characters, some western but lots of Japanese artists. Online Apple support hasn't been able to help me. I'm hoping the call in support will be able to help me reformat the drive and start over.

I still enjoy the movies on my Mac though.

Anybody had a similar experience of not having an American account when that's appropriate? Francais, Espanol, English.

BTW, One of my neighborhood BlockBusters just shuttered. Considering the extortion they put on you if you had a late movie, I am not sad to see it go.
 
I hope they start having some flexibility in the 24 hour period.
I am ok with the rest, but no rentals for me until I see a min of 48 hours preferably 72 hours. I vote with my wallet.
 
JimmyDreams said:
Rebdox is that 'movie in a vending machine' thing, right?

Let's compare the competition:
Redbox : $.99
iTunes Rental: $3.99 or $4.99HD

Gas to and from 'redbox' location: avg $3.25/gal
Time spent driving to and from and looking for parking space: 20-30 minutes
Etc. etc. etc.

Even an HD rental at $4.99 is cheap if you consider the time, gas, etc. Heck if your round trip is 30 minutes, and you earn $15.00/hr at work, your dollar-value for time plus rental is already $8.49, not counting gas and the inevitable 2 liter of Coke and chips that you spontaneously purchased!!!:rolleyes: And if you're like me, there's the risk of a speeding ticket and/or being in an accident with an unlicensed, no-insurance-coverage illegal alien.:eek:

Really, the convenience factor alone makes the rental price worth it.

I personally would like to see more like a 48 hour window to watch PLUS the option to flat out buy a copy of the movie....but I'm sure buying downloads will come over time.

Besides, I can rent from iTunes wearing nothing but my boxers. Last time I tried renting from redbox wearing that, I got arrested, and dozens of bystanders are STILL in therapy.:p

:D
Click to expand...

Nice post :D

Yeah, I agree, the convenience is hard to beat. Though they really need to expand their HD catalogue and especially bring out TV shows in HD. I think even though it is just 720p if they'd come out with TV shows and movie purchases at similar prices in HD I think I would even stop buying Blu-Ray for the most part (except maybe a few movies where the quality matters).
 
macFanDave said:
I rented "Michael Clayton" on Tuesday, so that seems to me to be a ZERO-day delay from the DVD release!
The HD version was ready to watch in less than 1 minute (I have a Cable modem). This AppleTV Take Two is really a great product!
Click to expand...

I see on Nertflix that the HD version of Clayton does not release until March 11th!! And I bet I would have to wait a couple of weeks after that to get it.
Way to go Apple!!
 
It just keeps getting better and better, Michael Clayton came out the same day as the DVD! Let's hope more films follow this!
 
UCLA-Bruin said:
I had no idea they had BFT at $0.99 - that's a great idea. Also, any suggestions for setting for SnapzPro on iTunes movie rentals? (Is that legal?)
Click to expand...

OMG so lame, Apple finally makes some progress in getting studio support and you want to find a way to steal content from it?
 
gwiller said:
Not sure if this is me but when I choose Power search in iTunes and look for movies to rent I only see 150. Are there more than that??

I am using my Powerbook not apple tv for this search obviously..

I have been looking everyday for the 1000 movies that Mr Jobs said would be available for rent by the end of Feb..
Click to expand...

Last time I counted (last week) there were over 750 movies available for rent, with over 80 being available in HD.

The only thing that I think is missing the ability to purchase movies from within Apple TV, movies that you can buy in iTunes you can only rent in Apple TV.
 
mbene12 said:
The first is ADVERTISE. This is not a product that is going to sell itself. Where the heck is the ad campaign?......... They seem to be adding maybe two movies a day, sometimes none..
Click to expand...

Absolutely: where are the ads?

Another post suggested a site that would notify readers of weekend specials; what about a site that does that and notes additions to the iTMS rental library? Sounds like a biz opportunity for someone.
 
Jeff Meredith said:
I love the Apple movie rentals and I love my Apple TV.

One thing in comparison to a Red Box or BlockBuster, online movie rentals are guaranteed to be there. When you have a heart set on a movie and it's sold out it's hard to settle for something else.
Click to expand...

Last week i went three times to my closest blockbuster looking for the dvd "The Rundown" with the Rock. (my kind of movie: chases, explosions, testosterone spewed across the inside of the tv screen).

The first time I just assumed they'd have it; the second time was a drive-by so not a great inconvenience; the third time i called ahead and they confirmed they had it: when i got there their computer showed it in stock but they couldn't find it.

I'm not faulting BB. Mistakes happen to all of us. But it is a circumstance that's less likely with the :apple:TV and my multiple efforts to get it from BB comprise a fairly significant inconvenience.
========
I assume they're waiting to advertise until they have enough movies to keep the inventory from being an embarrassment. I hope that's soon.
 
I think in time they will drop the price either everything by a Dollar or just the HD versions to the same price of the regular ones just as they did with iTunes plus. Just give it a year or so.
 
rtdunham said:
Last week i went three times to my closest blockbuster looking for the dvd "The Rundown" with the Rock. (my kind of movie: chases, explosions, testosterone spewed across the inside of the tv screen).
Click to expand...


Heh heh heh

They said 'spewed'!

heh heh heh
:D
 
JimmyDreams said:
Rebdox is that 'movie in a vending machine' thing, right?

Let's compare the competition:
Redbox : $.99
iTunes Rental: $3.99 or $4.99HD

Gas to and from 'redbox' location: avg $3.25/gal
Time spent driving to and from and looking for parking space: 20-30 minutes
Etc. etc. etc.

Even an HD rental at $4.99 is cheap if you consider the time, gas, etc. Heck if your round trip is 30 minutes, and you earn $15.00/hr at work, your dollar-value for time plus rental is already $8.49, not counting gas and the inevitable 2 liter of Coke and chips that you spontaneously purchased!!!:rolleyes: And if you're like me, there's the risk of a speeding ticket and/or being in an accident with an unlicensed, no-insurance-coverage illegal alien.:eek:
Click to expand...

Yeah, or you could add about 5 minutes to your commute by popping into the store along your commute and picking the movie up, and 5 minutes to your commute the next day to return it ...

That having been said, Redbox sucks because it has really crappy selection and, yes, a 24-hour window. Hitching on the commute means it needs to be returned in the morning, so effectively you have an overnight rental service like we used to hate in the 80s.
 
gwiller said:
Not sure if this is me but when I choose Power search in iTunes and look for movies to rent I only see 150. Are there more than that??

I am using my Powerbook not apple tv for this search obviously..

I have been looking everyday for the 1000 movies that Mr Jobs said would be available for rent by the end of Feb..
Click to expand...

You have to hit the "More Results" button/link at the bottom of the screen. The Power Search results are limited to batches of 150. So, you count how many times you can hit "More Results", multiply that by 150, and add in the number of results on the last screen to get the total number of matching movies.

Do note that last time I looked there were some glitches in "PowerSearch" not finding all rentable movies ...
 
gwiller said:
Not sure if this is me but when I choose Power search in iTunes and look for movies to rent I only see 150. Are there more than that??

I am using my Powerbook not apple tv for this search obviously..

I have been looking everyday for the 1000 movies that Mr Jobs said would be available for rent by the end of Feb..
Click to expand...

It isnt showing every movie. Pick an obscure title in the rentals section and then look for it in that 150 power search list.
 
Power Search Count is 435

jettredmont said:
You have to hit the "More Results" button/link at the bottom of the screen. The Power Search results are limited to batches of 150. So, you count how many times you can hit "More Results", multiply that by 150, and add in the number of results on the last screen to get the total number of matching movies.

Do note that last time I looked there were some glitches in "PowerSearch" not finding all rentable movies ...
Click to expand...

Counting today, I received two screens of 150 plus one of 85. If it says View Movie in the Power Search Column you can rent or buy it, if it says Rent Movie you can only rent.

So they have a way to go to a 1000 but they're getting there. I'm looking forward to seeing the catalog grow.
 
Jeff Meredith said:
Counting today, I received two screens of 150 plus one of 85. If it says View Movie in the Power Search Column you can rent or buy it, if it says Rent Movie you can only rent.

So they have a way to go to a 1000 but they're getting there. I'm looking forward to seeing the catalog grow.
Click to expand...

Alright for you iTune's movie counters, here is the easiest way to find out the total number of movies available in iTunes.

1. Start iTunes
2. Select iTunes Store
3. Select Movies from the store links
4. Under Categories select the All Movies link
5. Now this is where it gets tricky, there are 38 pages with each full page have 21 movies, so we need to go to the last page to see how many movies there are on the last page, so click the U-Z link (which moves us to page 36), move forward to the 38th page.

Alright there are only 6 movies on the last page so we have to do some complicated math.

(Movies per page x number of full pages) + number of movies on last page

(21 x 37) + 6 = 783

That means there are currently 783 unique movies available to either buy or rent from the iTunes store.

Pretty tough to figure out I know, but there you go.

Now I have a quick question, has anyone tried to move a HD movie from an Apple TV to an iPhone on iPod Touch. Is that possible. The reason I ask this is that this might prevent Apple from removing non-HD movies and only off everything in HD.
 
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