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Disney's "Pirates" sells 5 Million DVDs the first day. Good News for Apple?

theappleblog.com — Movie studios are thought to share the opinion that downloadable movies means the death of DVDs and their profit margins, However, “Pirates” is available at retailers as a DVD purchase and on the iTunes store. Apple could use this success in negotiations with other movie studios, showing them that downloads and DVDs can coexist

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 8, 2006

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  • iching, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16OK, I confess, I bought it yesterday on iTunes which was my first movie purchase from them. I usually buy the DVD of a film. I wanted the film to travel with for the holiday season and it will play in Europe from iPod on PAL or in NTSC back here in the states.

    If I had bought the DVD here in the States it would not have been compatible on their DVD/ TV. I played it last night on my bedroom's 19' widescreen LCD and it looked and sounded fine although, I know it will never compete with a DVD played on my living room system.

    OK
    I know I could have put the DVD on my hard-drive then placed it on my iPod but this was easier and less time consuming for right now than ordering it or going to the store.

    Would I rather have the DVD? Yes, but this works for what I want it for.
  • tsunamisteve, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Balanced is absolutely right. Back in the day, PAL and NTSC were built to take sync from wall outlets, hence the difference in NTSC and PAL framerates. 60Hz in America, 30 frames per second. 50Hz in Europe, 25 frames per second. I know this wasn't a very good lesson in video, but PAL and NTSC were definitely not made up as DRM.
  • Balanced, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10The difference is that PAL and NTSC have technical reasons behind them... They're standards for broadcasting images.

    You need common standards for things like resolution and FPS, especially if you're talking about early televisions that didn't have processing power equivalent to a circa 1960-something computer.
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I bought a movie off iTunes (The Sixth Sense) just after the movie section was released mostly just to try it out. I don't own an iPod that displays video (nor will I until the screen is at least 4-inches), so I watched it on my iBook during a long flight. Pretty good on the 14-inch screen and in a wide format as well.

    I haven't downloaded another movie since. I also prefer the better quality output from a DVD. I do regularly buy Heros and BSG from iTunes because I never seem to be home when the show is first run. Yes I know I can easily get it from Bit Torrent, but a $1.99 isn't bad for a quick fix and I don't have to bother with video conversion or wonder if the quality is going to be decent with no commercials.
  • mikeazorin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Why the hell doesn't iTunes actually make their videos DVD quality?
  • twtmc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Lets see the MPAA say how much they lost from Pirates.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I don't know about most ppl, but for me, watching Pirates was like being a kid again and reading Treasure Island. And if anyone other than Johnny Depp had been cast in the role, i'm not sure it would have fared as well. He basically took the movie to a level it wouldn't have reached with his nuances.
  • Shivetya, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Gotta laugh. Apple is going to get bit in the ass with the decision on price and quality of picture. I love my iPod and iTunes is by far the best solution to music that I have found. But damn if I am going to throw money down that rat hole for low quality films when I can get the DVD for nearly the same price.

    Combine that with the fact that no one I know with an iPod or even Macs has even bothered to buy anything movie related from iTunes. Same thought in almost every case, why? If it doesn't play on the wide screen tv most people just won't do it.

    Now, should Apple's new box coming next year make it transparent for connecting your iTunes movie library to your wide screen TV it might take off. Yet at the same time the video quality is going have to be improved dramatically or they will face lots of angry customers and kill their chances. What looks good on that small screen is going to look like ***** on anything that people have in their living rooms. with HDDVD/Blueray around the corner basic DVD quality is the minimum acceptable for display on the big tv
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The Zune isn't selling outside the US yet. Once they go to other markets, I'm sure they'll tailor it to fit that market. I could make the obligatory Zune joke here, but isn't everyone bored with that now?
  • AceTracer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Apple's CEO pretty much owns Disney now, he's their largest shareholder. So I would think they're one and the same.

    Jobs owns more of Disney than he does of Apple. In fact, I don't think he owns any shares of Apple. I remember him selling all of it a while back.
  • dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Holy cow! 19-Foot Widescreen?!
  • rheaume, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2But...But... The movie industry is in trouble!
  • Bootes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's coming out on Blu-Ray. I don't think it has actually been released yet though.
  • zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There's nothing wrong with a sequels when the base material is good.
    I like pirates and I look forward to the final chapter.
    I don't look forward to them trying to turn this into a Saturday morning cartoon.

    I will continue buying DVDs long before I'll ever download video for pay.
    I like paying for things once. Not in every format for every hardware device I own.
    They liking it or not. I'll just rip a version for my Ipod.



  • magicRob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Anyone know why the US release was delayed? Was it so it could be shown on cable first? I've had the 2nd installment on DVD for nearly a month now (released here in Australia back in the middle of November).

    Also, did it come out on any "hidef" formats, if so how did they do?
  • IQ70, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6I dunno if it is good news for Apple or not.

    BUT, unable to rip store bought DVDs to my video iPod legally is definitely not good news for me, a consumer. Apple should make the MPAA make ripping DVDs to iPods legal, officially. But then, why would a cash hungry company like Apple do that for me?
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Really the only reason Downloads and DVDs co-exist TODAY... is because our broadband providers suck ball-sack and don't offer people in the USA the same speeds as those in say South Korea. When we have a 100 Mbps connection to the home, that will start to change, and they will see the same thing the RIAA is seeing - people won't play along with their extortion pricing-scheme.
  • mutatron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Arrgh, be this the same lusty band of Pirates who cracked the Vista Activation Server? What say ye, will the Flying Spaghetti Monster smite them or bless them with his or her noodly appendage?
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That's odd. As I remember it, the Mac mini was an offering from Apple in the lower price range. As far as I know it's done pretty well. Apple doesn't usually hold on to products that aren't selling very well (like the G4 Cube).

    The ROKR was from Motorola, not Apple. But you being so plugged in knew that right?
  • iDrinkKoolAid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I just bought Dead Man's Chest off of iTunes. Just to try it out. I have to admit that a DVD is more flexible. That said, if iTunes can eventually make their movies HD with Dolby Digital surround sound, then I may think twice.
  • BOSyooper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3DVDs will always be popular during the holidays. Most people wouldn't give a burned dvd for a stocking stuffer.
  • kingstarscream, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Wow, 5 mill in one day. Goes to show how popular Captain Jack Sparrow is. I went to get it the day it came out and it was practically sold out at my Target store.
  • silverj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It's not about Jobs though, it's about Apple the company.
  • francisidada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1DVD vs video downloads? As with DVD vs theater or VHS or other media formats, video downloads would continue to grow and continue eating into DVD market share. The advantages of video download over DVD are that of immediacy and with continue improvement in the mathematics of digital encoding, in a few years, the quality of video downloads may even surpass DVD.

    Sounds crazy? no it doesn't why this may happen is because traditional DVD players have limited processing capabilities with is just enough to decode mpeg 4, bluray, HD-DVD or what format is proposed for next gen DVD formats, but the limiting factor is that users must upgrade their players before the new format gains traction which would limit fast adoption. But with video download, the decoder can be downloaded to a high processing machine like xbox, ps3 or a pc and this can easily be offer greater quality than traditional DVD, hd-dvd or blu-ray.

    So for the number cruncher continue your good work with encoding algorithms, On-2 did very good work with flash to give us youtube and other smooth video technologies, I hope investors see more value in these base providers than in celebrity companies like youtube that have no technology just applications.
  • sam10685, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1of course i'll buy the DVD. if i don't, i'll be watching it on my 12" powerbook. not my 36" tv. (or whatever size i have)
  • iching, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just out of curiosity does Zune play or switch to a PAL mode as easy as it does with my iPod?
    I really couldn't find the answer from the official Zune sight or Amazon and a few others sites I looked at.
  • nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I bought a music video or two... not any significant number, no. But if Apple could figure out the rights to sell tv shows and movies here in Canada then I would've been all over a couple tv shows, maybe even a movie or two to try it out. I can find any show I want on bittorrent and put it on my iPod, and I do frequently do just that. But IF I could get commercial-free shows on the iTS I would gladly pay a couple bucks for that. Yes it's expensive, but so is cable and with the online purchase I wouldn't be paying for something that's ad-supported anyway!
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was essentially a commercial for Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I agree that movies that lead directly into sequels doesn't sit well with me. Back to the Future 2, SW: The Empire Strikes Back. Here's a thought, make a movie and have the story be complete at the end. Sequelitis shows the lack of original thought from most Hollywood studios.
  • DucksofAnaheim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1RDF is the idea that Steve Jobs is able to convince people to believe almost anything with a skillful mix of charm, charisma, slight exaggeration, and clever marketing.
  • luxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's interesting that you say that. The reason that they seem to finish like that is based on a 3 part Act, which is what movies most often are based on. The problem with the 2nd act...or in this case, the 2nd movie, is that it sets the story up for the resolution, which is the 3rd act. If the 2nd act resolves the problem, then there is no need for a 3rd act, and therefore all you have is 2 movies, not 3. I'm looking forward to the 3rd movie and loved the set up of the 2nd. I have no idea how it's going to be resolved (apart from a few obvious things....like the return of Captain Sparrow) but if it's as good as the first 2 movies, then it should be fantastic.
  • Escamillo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Xbox Live's service uses VC-1 (the "standardized" version of advanced WMVHD), the same compression that most HD-DVDs use.
  • dacomputerfreak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's difficult to make a sound choice sometimes. If I download, I feel like I'm helping to show that there is truly a market for this and that they're not wasting their time in making it available. On the other hand, I could purchase the DVD and be restricted to a DVD player or having to rip it and fuss with all the copy-protection schemes. If they removed copy-protection from the download and change the way they restrict content we would have convenience, compatibility, and a great deal of flexibility to watch anything anywhere on practically any device without a whole lot of problems all the while staying 100% legal. I'm not exactly sure why they still use ineffective DRM schemes because it has proven to be completely ineffective in battling piracy. I assume that the MPAA has not heard of the saying "where there's a will there's a way?" Anyone here that has adequate bandwidth could download a movie for free this very moment quite easy, rendering all the DRM in the world useless. Reducing price and promoting flexibility and choice would greatly reduce piracy. I realize that not everyone can be trusted, and there will always be piracy to a certain extent but it could be greatly reduced if the MPAA wouldn't hang on to such outdated, ineffective, and counter-productive ideas.
  • reconflux, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Am I the only one who thought the movie wasn't that good?
  • MScrip, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0To all of you who purchased Pirates 2 in iTunes to watch on a 14" laptop screen... you could have bought the DVD and watched it on your laptop, or ripped it so the disc wasn't spinning constantly.

    Then, you'd still have the DVD with multichannel surround sound, special features, and oh yeah, better quality to boot!

    I think digital downloaded movie are the future, but it's just that... the future. For now, I'd still rather own a plastic disc with far more data than a highly compressed video file.

    Facts like "5 million DVDs sold in one day" prove that there's still plenty of life for physical media. Heck, look at the crazy first day sales of CDs, despite iTunes, P2P, torrents, etc.
  • thanks, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Most likely a size/compression issue. Although, does anyone know what the Xbox 360 uses for it's video compression? The quality for the download size is seriously amazing.
  • dacomputerfreak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Agreed, I was pissed to spend my time watching the whole thing let alone the few dollars. I won't ruin it for those who may enjoy the movie more than I did, but I can definitely say I was greatly disappointed with the so-called "ending". If I thought it was worth watching again I would have tried out an iTunes download without any hesitation.
  • drjekelmrhyde, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0You're right if they brought the dvd they could use dvdfab to burn it or send it to thier ipod and still have the original copy
  • DucksofAnaheim, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2And in related news...remember the Mac mini that was supposed to revolutionize computing? It`s a flop. With Apple is all about hype. ROKR anyone ?
  • ChrisHentchel, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1OK i confess too. I torrented the movie the day it came out, downloaded it at about the same speed as itunes would so i could have it bigger size without DRM. Then a converted it to MP4 ipod format and copied it onto my ipod with videora, and THEN i copied from my ipod to my friends computer with more freeware, ipod2PC. so i guess apple doesn't get their $12.99, but i would rather have it faster, in better quality and without DRMs for FREE.

    sorry apple, but i think I'm not the only one.
  • turbopro, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1For Music and movies that I really like or enjoy I will go out and buy the movie or CD. If it's just like eh, whatever. I'll dowload it(legally of course). Mainly due to quality and features. It's nice to have the album art of the latest Tool CD. Im sorry but its just something that cannot be replicated in itunes.
  • AceTracer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I've never understood the "Pirates" phenomenon. What about this movie excites so many people to go out and see it? Does Johnny Depp have some kind of mind lock on people I don't know about?
  • psg1883, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0http://www.battledawn.com/refer.php5?ref=15
  • anticult, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2I would rather get the torrent.....

    I already paid once in the theatre to see the damn thing.
  • WarPirate, on 10/12/2007, -13/+7You do realize that PAL and NTSC is the Original form of DRM it is what forced you outside your normal purchasing habits.
  • silverj, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1I don't care about Apple. Well done Disney.

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