Apple has reportedly struck a deal with several major studios to release downloads of their films on the same date the titles are released on DVD, and I can’t tell whether or not Jeff Wells is being facetious when he says that this plan will “obviously…really hurt DVD retail, which will in turn diminish the sense of community we all get from going to DVD stores and poking around the aisles and talking with the checkout guys.”
This is not a facetious question, I actually want to know: Is that an experience that anyone has had recently? Assuming you don’t live in New York and frequent Kim’s? It’s been my understanding that for awhile now, most people get DVDs from a) Netflix; B) a chain store like Best Buy, Virgin or Borders; or C) any number of online retail sites. So the idea that this could damage an existing sense of DVD store community seems wrongheaded, because that hasn’t that “community” already long ceased to exist?
As for the idea that this will hurt DVD sales considerably, the Apple downloads will carry Apple DRM, meaning they’ll only be playable on iPods, Mac computers, and AppleTVs. There are an awful lot of home theater junkies who will refuse to watch movies on computer screens, and I’m just not convinced that most of those guys own AppleTVs. I am the only person I know who owns an AppleTV.
So Wells had to be joking, right? To quote Chris Matthews, as Wells himself has been known to do: “Ha!”
I’m a big fan of my AppleTV, and I was super supportive of the recently-announced AppleTV Take 2, which allows all 12 of us who have one to purchase music and movies from the iTunes store directly from the TV, with no computer required. I finally got around to installing the software a week or so ago, and rented Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (yes, seriously) without incident.
But apparently, I’m one of the lucky ones––or, maybe it’s just that I have a newish (although kind of a shitty) TV which I connect to the AppleTV via RCA cables masquerading as component cables. BoingBoing passes along a report that iTunes movie rentals won’t play on some TVs, because of a DRM called High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection, or HBDCP. HBDCP apparently blocks rentals from being played on monitors that talk to the AppleTV via a DVI or HDMI connection––basically, anyone using a video projector or computer monitor, and pretty much anyone using a flat-screen TV purchased before 2005.
So, essentially, Apple’s DRM is so constrictive that anyone who hasn’t bought a new TV in the last three years will be forced to do so in order to rent iTunes movies. As BoingBoing’s Cory Doctrow points out, this punishes consumers to the point where it becomes hard to see why anyone would go the legal way when DRM-free films are easier to get.
I’m refreshing a couple of my favorite tech blogs every few minutes to glean the movie-related news from today’s MacWorld keynote. Here’s what I’m learning, in real time. Keep refreshing for new stuff.
12:21: It looks like watching video will become more feasible on the new version of the iPhone, which is set to ship in late February. From TUAW: “New features rolling out! Maps with location for iPhone. Webclips. Customize home screens. SMS multiple recipients. Chapters for video. Karaoke mode! (Lyrics displayable)”
12:29: The IPhone video updates, including subtitle options will be “available today as a free update for all iPhones.” [TUAW again]
12:32: ITunes sold 7 million movies last year — better than every other movie download service, but still below expectations.
12:33: “We think there’s a better way to deliver movie content through iTunes. So today, we’re introducing iTunes Movie Rentals.” [Engadget]
…Read more
Months ago, I wrote a post about rumors that Jaman.com (a service that lets you rent or purchase foreign and festival films online for less than five bucks apiece) was working on a method to make their films viewable on the AppleTV. As I explained then, this was exciting news for me, because I bought an AppleTV when I heard they were going to release a plug-in to allow you to watch YouTube videos on a TV, only to discover that the plug-in, well, sucks, and basically only allows you to watch the most popular clips on the site. My AppleTV has thus served as a $200 shelf for Netflix envelopes for the past few months.
Anyway: Jaman has finally released instructions to allow frustrated AppleTV owners like me to watch their films through the box. Unlike the YouTube thing, it works not through a plug-in, but via manipulation of the AppleTV’s operating system. I’m going to try it out this weekend, and will report back with my findings. If you’ve tried it already, let us know what you think in the comments.
If you’re not up to date on the current status of the HD DVD format war, trust me — you’re not alone. In 2005, when Engadget’s Ryan Block wrote this definitive side-by-side comparison of the two formats, it seemed like I might actually have to pick a side. But now that I have an AppleTV, the whole idea of a DVD format war seems completely meaningless. With more studios and filmmakers embracing online distribution every day, I seems like the HD DVD is destined to become the laserdisc of the late 00s. If you don’t believe me, compare Block’s piece from two years ago with this Engadget story from this weekend, through which we learn that customers are complaining that Sony’s high definition Blu-Ray disks have a tendency to grow some kind of mold which ultimately renders them useless.
So imagine my surprise when, moments after reading the rotting disk story, I scrolled down on my RSS reader and learned that Blockbuster–and, I swear, I’m not making this up–has announced that they will exclusively support Blu-Ray over Toshiba’s competing HD-DVD format in most of its stores. And yes, I triple-checked the date on the story–this decision was announced today. Tack on your own joke about the decaying state of brick-and-mortar, tangible product movie rental right … about … here.
Image of happy family enjoying a surely rot-free home entertainment experience courtesy of Blockbuster.com.
