Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iTunes Store Features Limited $9.99 HD Movie Sales

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,444
40,546



002806-itunes_999_hd_movies.jpg


Macworld notes that Apple has launched a new bargain bin of sorts for HD movie sales in its U.S. iTunes Store, featuring 30 titles in a dedicated "HD Movies $9.99" section [iTunes Store] of the store, although a handful of the films are priced even lower.
No, Apple has not (yet) managed to finish dragging the studios into the 21st century en masse. But it has introduced a $10 HD movies section and stocked it with 30 films including 3:10 to Yuma, American Psycho, and The Doors. Of course, Witless Protection and Disaster Movie also made this bargain-HD-bin debut, but I guess Apple needs to take what it can get for now.
Click to expand...
Apple launched HD movie sales in the U.S. iTunes Store in March 2009, setting a standard price point of $19.99 for most titles, although some have been priced lower. A dedicated $9.99 section marks a new pricing low for anything more than a handful of titles, however, and users can obviously hope that the discount offerings will expand over time.

Article Link: iTunes Store Features Limited $9.99 HD Movie Sales
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/30/itunes-store-features-limited-9-99-hd-movie-sales/
At least the article addresses the fact that DRM'd 720p video purchases are not worth more than $9.99 tops in 2010.
 
Testing the waters

Maybe this might actually help them build the case for pricing supply-demand - and demonstrate whether lower price points might actually result in higher revenues and profits for the studios. At least this is a step in the right direction.
 
I'm sorry but movies are different from music. You definitely want to own music, but movies?? Most of them you just rent. That's why Netflix is so popular.
 
I was very excited until I saw the list of movies, there's a couple that are alright but I'll just hope they add more in the future.
 
Considering you can get loads of blu-rays for $10 these days this doesn't seem to be that noteworthy. I can't imagine who is dropping $20 on these.

Only 720p? DRM requiring apple tv to watch on a television? No sale.
 
SpaceKitty said:
I would rather own them then rent. It's been several years since I've rented a movie at a store. I've never rented from Netflix.
Click to expand...

So you're the kind of person who owns a big movie collection huh? Did you have fun moving from VHS to DVD? Having fun with the Blu-ray transition? It's pointless owning movies unless you're honestly going to watch it like once a month.
 
macintologist said:
So you're the kind of person who owns a big movie collection huh? Did you have fun moving from VHS to DVD? Having fun with the Blu-ray transition? It's pointless owning movies unless you're honestly going to watch it like once a month.
Click to expand...

I only bought some movies on DVD and I have a ten year old DVD player. I don't even own a blu-ray player. I own about 110 movies in iTunes and I bought one just last night. Some of the movies that I have in iTunes, I've watched dozens of times. Yes, I do buy movies that I will watch repeatedly.

Mostly I buy TV shows. I have 2178 TV shows and those are mostly HD copies. I don't even have cable or satellite TV because I prefer to do all my TV viewing through iTunes. My TV hasn't been used since last summer. And yes, I watch those many many times. I've watched all the seasons of the Office more times than I can count, same with Reno 911 and I am currently making my way through season one of desperate housewives and will watch them all the way to the latest season. I've done that three or four times over the last few years.
 
iTunes content way to expensive for what you get.

Along as those prices are not way below bluray disk prices ( like the quality if you compare them )i realy don't understand why people would by for that 20 dollar price online, wgen you can get full 1080p HD on a disk for the same price or a dollar or 2 more.
Just like with the music, it's almost the same price or alittle lees then the disk, it's drm't, and the quality of what you buy is atleast half of what you get on disk, with music it is even less, about 30% of the quality you buy on a disk.

iTunes is takeing away quality from music and video in my opinion, but it seems most people find mp3/aac or 3mb/s so called hd movies good enough, iguess if you dont know how good things can sound and look, you will never miss it.

So now that that is of my chest i'm gonna order some disks online, instead of files ;-).
 
Data said:
iTunes is takeing away quality from music and video in my opinion, but it seems most people find mp3/aac or 3mb/s so called hd movies good enough, iguess if you dont know how good things can sound and look, you will never miss it.
Click to expand...

+1

Sadly, most people think all HD is this same, irrespective of format and for those who watch/listen on their laptops or a basic HD TV then there probably isn't much in it. But pump an online HD video through a half decent home cinema setup and the superiority of a well-mastered Bluray over the online equivalent is so painfully evident.
 
BigJimmyC said:
Considering you can get loads of blu-rays for $10 these days this doesn't seem to be that noteworthy. I can't imagine who is dropping $20 on these.

Only 720p? DRM requiring apple tv to watch on a television? No sale.
Click to expand...

No, you can hook up your computer to many of the flat panel sets nowadays which have VGA and DVI hookups...
 
gkarris said:
No, you can hook up your computer to many of the flat panel sets nowadays which have VGA and DVI hookups...
Click to expand...

my preference is still buying a BR movie with a digital copy included. that way it can be played in most computers, players, PS3, Apple TV, iPods, etc. this option does offer (to me) the best flexibility and price value.
 
Who cares?
Call me back when iTunes "HD" movies finally look and sound better than standard definition dvd's!
You can currently get American Psycho in full 1080p glory and DTS for 10 bucks from Amazon as well.
 
I don't think anyone is arguing that 720P media from iTunes looks better than a 1080P blu-ray. Well, okay, maybe some people are. The thing is the convenience factor. An entire library of movies ready to search, download and watch almost instantly... that's primarily why I use an AppleTV and the iTunes store. In time the quality will improve and until then convenience trumps quality in my house. Not to mention my big screen is 720P anyway so I would get no benefit from 1080P.
 
macintologist said:
It's pointless owning movies unless you're honestly going to watch it like once a month.
Click to expand...
There is truth in this statement, but you're being very misleading by using it. Sure, purchased DVDs are made somewhat obsolete with the arrival of Blu-Ray, and it's possible that might happen again. But purchases on iTunes are no more safe-guarded than physical media. That "HD" movie you bought on iTunes, which is lower quality than DVD but costs more, will be just as obsolete in the future when iTunes offers higher quality copies of the same movies. If you want to see the new better version, you're going to have to buy it from iTunes again. The only difference between buying physical discs vs. iTunes downloads is that you pay more for less quality all in the name of convenience.

Also, renting vs. buying is a matter of personal preference. I would never buy music. I prefer having the "unlimited" music library that is streaming audio. But I do buy movies. They're too big to stream at acceptable quality, I don't need so many that I can listen to them for 8+ hours a day like I do music, and I do frequently want to re-watch a title that I liked instead of just whatever's playing like with music.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back