Movies on demand has grown to be a very popular tool. I use it very often at home -courtesy of Adelphia OnDemand-. Downloadable services have also been growing in popularity, and I include Netflix and Blockbuster in that category.
Now with Apple being the leader in media power with iPod’s and iTunes, the only logical step would be for Apple to offer downloadable feature films to it’s growing number of users. That is what the experts over at Apple Insider are predicting -and they have predicted the last handful of Apple products and services-.
Apple Computer may be in the intermediate stages of developing an iTunes movie download service that would serve up full length feature films to iTunes customers with a broadband Internet connection … A survey distributed this week through Coyote Insight, a Fullerton, Calif.-based market research firm, asked that participants answer a series of questions related to a potential “iTunes movie service” that would provide on-demand access to movies that could be downloaded to a computer or iPod … This iTunes service would provide access to 1,000 movies … With the click of a button, users would be able to quickly download any of the movies through iTunes, which could begin playing as flick is downloading
For any of you who currently use iTunes for music or catching The Movie Blog’s audio edition podcasts, you are already familiar with this concept. The big question is, will these movies be offered for buy-to-own or a monthly subscription only allowing you to view the movies? The article continues to address this very issue and explain how both of these approaches would work.
The survey asked participants to rate the described service on a scale of 1 to 10. Based on the same scale, it also asked that participants indicate how likely they would be to subscribe to the new iTunes service for a monthly fee of $9.99.
However, the survey noted that this option would not allow users to burn a copy of the movie to a DVD for playback on a home entertainment DVD player. “The cost of purchasing movies individually would be approximately $12.95 per movie or roughly the equivalent of buying a DVD at a store.
As yet another option, a followup question asked participants to again rate their interest in the same $12.95-per-month subscription model if it allowed DVD burning.
A very interesting look into the future of iTunes. I own a iPod with video and I use it all the time – in fact, I’m listening to it right now (Flash Gordon Soundtrack). If I were able to download movies on a regular basis and view them on my iPod, I would be able to watch them at work -discreetly-, on the subway, on a plane, on the crapper or pretty much any were.
Give the article a look see and let us know what you think. Would you use an iMovies service?
“I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.” – Norma Desmond
Movies should be big. I agree with Sam. I dread the day when major motion pictures are made for a 2″ screen.
This somewhat relates to the PSP, as the guys in the audio edition have talked about before, watching a movie on a tiny screen (with Ipod video being even smaller than PSP (I may be wrong on that one)) is a nice gimmick at first, but is not the way to watch movies. I would far sooner buy the DVD or go see it in the cinemas than watch it on a 2″ square screen.
Until people start making movies specifically for small screens, large fonts on titles, not much detail in the scene etc etc, I don’t think that it is anymore than a 5min fad that people will get bored with in a week or 2.
However downloadable DVD rips with all the trimmings and the service being cheap and legal, that’s what I will be looking forward to, there may even be a service like that already.