arstechnica.com— A recent report by the NPD Group says that while paid downloads comprise only a small percent of video downloads on the Internet, of those that are paid for, iTunes takes the (ridiculously large) lead.
Dec 20, 2006View in Crawl 4
I have - I don't have cable. I wouldn't watch TV at all - except I f**king *need* Battlestar Galactica. And if you only watch a few shows, it's far cheaper on iTunes than pay for cable (and you avoid advertising!) The math is:* Basic cable: $30/month = $360 per year, (up to $90 per month with the expensive packages).* iTunes: $1.99 per episode, between $14 and $40 for an entire season, let's say an average of $36.So if you watch less than 10 seasons of any ~20-episode shows in a year - it's cheaper to buy them on iTunes. The catch is the shows you watch every day or live - news, weather, late night talkshows. Although MSNBC has a free daily video news podcast on iTunes, which is pretty good.Cable TV providers: this is what happens when you refuse to sell channels a-la-carte - you become obsolete when the internet allows the consumer to bypass you.(..and I'm assuming you have broadband internet for iTunes - that's another expense in it's own right).
@node3: That's fine if you want to limit yourself to Apple products and proprietary solutions. Some of us like to have the choice of where we want to play our media. With iTunes Movie Store downloads, you can only play them on your computer if you have iTunes installed. Note that iTunes doesn't run in Linux, or classic MacOS, or Windows 98, or a great number of computers people might like to use. You can play them on your iPod, but what about your Creative or Archos whatever, or MS Zune? Cell phone? PDA? Why should you be restricted to only your iPod? For TV playback, all we've got is the (unreleased) iTV (whatever it'll be named). What if I want to use some other device? What if I need to bring it to a friend's house, but they don't have an iTV or a video iPod? With a DVD, I know I can play it pretty much anywhere there's a TV or computer screen. With an iTMS download, however, the playback options are much more limited. Why the hell would would anyone spend their hard-earned cash buying media that's completely tied to some very limited and expensive hardware, when they could just buy a DVD or download a torrent, and use the content however they want? If you buy a DVD, you can rip it, and convert the content for use on your iPod, or your Zune, or your cell phone, or PSP, or whatever you want to do with it. With an iTunes Movie download, you can't do anything with it. Same applies to all those other stores selling locked-down DRM-infested downloads with no option to burn to DVD. Just say no to the lock-down!
RationalBiker...The leeches wear suits and profit from creations of others. As for thieves, you'll first need to show me what's been stolen (hint: nothing).For an atheist, you sure seem to be in a fervor over something entirely imaginary. And you call yourself "Rational"!If you want rational, then align your morals with reality. Technology has moved on. How rational is it to remain in the dark ages?
Weasel, there's really no problem. Apple products are not expensive to me (and I am *not* wealthy). They provide value, and for all intents and purposes, I can play an iTunes purchase in every single possible situation for which I want to. Anywhere there's a TV, I can play my purchases. Anywhere there's a stereo, I can listen to my music. Why *wouldn't* I use a system by which, for less than the cost of a trip to the theatre, I can watch a movie, instantly, at the click of a button? A system by which I can *very* easily watch a movie absolutely *anywhere* I want to? A system which can fit dozens of movies in a package smaller than a deck of cards?What's the difference in playing a DRM'd movie anywhere I want through an iPod vs playing a DRM'd movie on any DVD player?
and0Dec 21, 2006
%90 of 100 per month is how many?...
and0Dec 21, 2006
The other 100,000% of us will go back to our torrent clients.
aurreaDec 21, 2006
"paid video downloads" = .01% of video downloads.
chrokoDec 21, 2006
I have - I don't have cable. I wouldn't watch TV at all - except I f**king *need* Battlestar Galactica. And if you only watch a few shows, it's far cheaper on iTunes than pay for cable (and you avoid advertising!) The math is:* Basic cable: $30/month = $360 per year, (up to $90 per month with the expensive packages).* iTunes: $1.99 per episode, between $14 and $40 for an entire season, let's say an average of $36.So if you watch less than 10 seasons of any ~20-episode shows in a year - it's cheaper to buy them on iTunes. The catch is the shows you watch every day or live - news, weather, late night talkshows. Although MSNBC has a free daily video news podcast on iTunes, which is pretty good.Cable TV providers: this is what happens when you refuse to sell channels a-la-carte - you become obsolete when the internet allows the consumer to bypass you.(..and I'm assuming you have broadband internet for iTunes - that's another expense in it's own right).
wiseweaselDec 21, 2006
@node3: That's fine if you want to limit yourself to Apple products and proprietary solutions. Some of us like to have the choice of where we want to play our media. With iTunes Movie Store downloads, you can only play them on your computer if you have iTunes installed. Note that iTunes doesn't run in Linux, or classic MacOS, or Windows 98, or a great number of computers people might like to use. You can play them on your iPod, but what about your Creative or Archos whatever, or MS Zune? Cell phone? PDA? Why should you be restricted to only your iPod? For TV playback, all we've got is the (unreleased) iTV (whatever it'll be named). What if I want to use some other device? What if I need to bring it to a friend's house, but they don't have an iTV or a video iPod? With a DVD, I know I can play it pretty much anywhere there's a TV or computer screen. With an iTMS download, however, the playback options are much more limited. Why the hell would would anyone spend their hard-earned cash buying media that's completely tied to some very limited and expensive hardware, when they could just buy a DVD or download a torrent, and use the content however they want? If you buy a DVD, you can rip it, and convert the content for use on your iPod, or your Zune, or your cell phone, or PSP, or whatever you want to do with it. With an iTunes Movie download, you can't do anything with it. Same applies to all those other stores selling locked-down DRM-infested downloads with no option to burn to DVD. Just say no to the lock-down!
node3Dec 21, 2006
RationalBiker...The leeches wear suits and profit from creations of others. As for thieves, you'll first need to show me what's been stolen (hint: nothing).For an atheist, you sure seem to be in a fervor over something entirely imaginary. And you call yourself "Rational"!If you want rational, then align your morals with reality. Technology has moved on. How rational is it to remain in the dark ages?
node3Dec 21, 2006
Weasel, there's really no problem. Apple products are not expensive to me (and I am *not* wealthy). They provide value, and for all intents and purposes, I can play an iTunes purchase in every single possible situation for which I want to. Anywhere there's a TV, I can play my purchases. Anywhere there's a stereo, I can listen to my music. Why *wouldn't* I use a system by which, for less than the cost of a trip to the theatre, I can watch a movie, instantly, at the click of a button? A system by which I can *very* easily watch a movie absolutely *anywhere* I want to? A system which can fit dozens of movies in a package smaller than a deck of cards?What's the difference in playing a DRM'd movie anywhere I want through an iPod vs playing a DRM'd movie on any DVD player?