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Disney/ABC and Apple partnership the most interesting part of video iPod announcement
I have some thoughts on the video iPod, of course, but I think the more fascinating part of the announcement from Apple is that you’ll be able to buy Disney-owned shows that aired on ABC the day after the show airs on television.
A lot of people were expecting Apple, via iTunes, to eventually sell music videos and movies. I didn’t see people predicting that an intermediary step before movies would be the purchase of television shows, however. And it’s a logical step — before asking people to commit to purchasing longer, probably more expensive content, why not see if they’ll commit to purchasing shorter television shows for $1.99 each?
Portable movies have been done before, anyway (portable DVD players, PSP-formatted movies) — just not downloadable portable movies. A question that remains to be answered, however, is how people will feel about downloading very large movie files? A 4megabyte song is one thing. A 50+megabyte movie is another.
Another question — will the shows be commercial free? I would hope so, as you’re paying $1.99 for them. But perhaps the $1.99 is just a delivery fee — and the commercials are still included?
Having personal access to television shows so soon after their broadcast is the next step in an impending paradigm shift regarding television. It started with TiVo allowing you to watch your favorite shows when its convenient (and without the hassles of VCRs). This is the next step. I doubt television will ever fully move to an on-demand format (people learn about new shows through surfing, of course), but choice for the viewer is always a good thing.
I’ll be interested in seeing how popular this becomes. Will people eat up the chance to watch their favorite shows whenever they want, without TiVo? Or will people scoff at the idea of paying for something they can get for free?
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Wed October 12th, 2005 5:33 pm
Filed under Business, Gadgets, Televsion
6 comments
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I have trouble with the $1.99 price tag. That seems awfully cheap for all the work put into the process. I realize it’s only a short show (is the price set, whether the show is half-hour or whole-hour?), but it seems to sell the product short.
Though, of course, in some shows’ cases, $1.99 might be a little pricey. Hm. I don’t know. Now I’m starting to think about the $.99 price tag on iTunes for a single song. I’m glad it’s not more, as a consumer, but I also feel like all of this is somewhat cheap, from the artists’ ends.
The full first season of Lost (25 episodes) via iTunes is $34.99; the box set of the same on Amazon is $38.99 (discounted from MSRP of $59.99.) I think $1.99/episode is roughly comparable.
Similarly, if you compare $0.99/song to the cost of a CD, it’s roughly comparable. A little less, depending on the circumstances, but it varies. Assuming the same cut (which may be wrong), I don’t think the artists are any worse off overall under $0.99 downloads. It does sound cheap, but when you compare it to the price of an album–or a DVD set– which also factors in packaging, manufacturing, etc (things that a download doesn’t have to deal with)–I don’t really think that it is.
I’m going to assume that the people who can afford and our technically savvy enough to own a Video iPod also have a Tivo or a system similar. What’s the point of downloading a tv show for 1.99 to watch on a 2 inch screen when Tivo is just as convenient?
I saw some interview with a kid explaining the benefits of the video ipod and he said “now i can store 35 of my dvds and instead of bringing two binders full of movies to my friend’s house i can just take my ipod.” This seems like a bit of a stretch to me….for one, how hard is it to call your friend before you come over and ask what dvd you want to watch and how many of ya’ll bring your DVD collection to your friend’s house in the first place?
our=are…:-(
I think you’re overlooking video resolution when it comes to this stuff. A song from iTunes sounds good on an iPod, and better on a good stereo system. A 320×240 episode of Lost looks decent on a video iPod, but lousy on a TV, especially a large or hi-def one.
It seems like a reasonable deal for plane or train commuters who want to watch stuff on something small with a decent battery life, but if it’s a choice between picking up a DVD set and a bunch of shows on iTunes, I’ll go with the former.
Yeah, now that I’ve seen/held/toyed with a video iPod, I think it’s a superfluous product. As Andy said when we checked it out last night, it wouldn’t make sense for people who don’t commute or take frequent, long plane or car trips. Why else would you need such a tiny portable movie player, if not to kill time when your senses are free (from, say, driving)? These video iPods are also very different from the notebook-sized DVD players; the latter have a much larger screen.
The picture is rather amazing, though.