At last, movies to keep arrive on Net

Six major studios plan to begin selling movies that can be downloaded and kept indefinitely.
The New York Times

The story "At last, movies to keep arrive on Net" published April 2, 2006 at 8:50 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from The New York Times expires after 7 days.

[jmcon28]

dvds still are better

the down loading of movies to a computer is great but if you can't put them on a dvd and watch them on a big screen i don't see why you would want them. the computer is just a way to get them. once you own them you should be able to watch them as you want to. so i will be buying the dvds for now. even old movies should be on dvds so the big screen with surround sound can be used. all for now.

[adrienne_am]

Probably won't take off

I agree with the statement that it is offering consumers less but
charging them more. One of the main reasons the iTunes MS took
off so well is that consumers were actually getting a *better* deal
than walking into a music store (be it in person or online) and
purchasing their traditional CDs. This pricing structure (and other
deterrents, such as no additonal features) just does not strike me
as something that's going to catch on with the general public.

[sda3]

Matter of time

It was only a matter of time, but at $20-$30 a movie it isn't worth it. It is still much cheaper to buy a DVD and watch it, or rip it and take it with you. Untill the prices drop to retail chain's or lower it won't be very popular.

[sda3]

Matter of time

It was only a matter of time, but at $20-$30 a movie it isn't worth it. It is still much cheaper to buy a DVD and watch it, or rip it and take it with you. Until the prices drop to retail chain's or lower it won't be very popular.

[sda3]

Matter of time

It was only a matter of time, but at $20-$30 a movie it isn't worth it. It is still much cheaper to buy a DVD and watch it, or rip it and take it with you. Until the prices drop to retail chain's or lower it won't be very popular.

[zincmann]

Let me see...FREE or $11-$30

Are they completely off their rockers? Youre going to charge me more than I can get a tangible product at a brick and mortar store with HIGH overhead? I think I will continue to download movies thank you very much for FREE!

[richtestani]

'Willing to view'...

They say that people are 'willing' to view movies on their computers
because most people watch their downloaded content on their
computers.

1)How do they know how we watch any of the downloaded content?
2) It is not that easy to move your downlaods to your TV set, so you
are kind of forced to watch it on your PC.

[SeizeCTRL]

You Got To Be Kidding...

$20-30 for a download??? The DVD on release day is usually $15. I can rip it for free after that and keep it forever as well. Why would anyone be willing to pay twice the price for an intangible format?

[Earl Benser]

An unbeliveably stupid marketing descision......

.... DVD's are better cheaper, and longer lasting, and faster to
get (No download time and I was going to the store anyhow)

This is nothing more than an misdirected attempt by the
incompetent marketeers at MovieLink and CinemaNow. And
since the movies don't come out until they are available on DVD,
who would pay $@0-$30 to download a movie that they can buy
for $15?

And the downloads don't include "the bonus features, like
deleted scenes and filmmaker interviews, that often accompany
DVDs"

So how dumb can you get?

[DaClyde]

Divx anyone?

Isn't this pretty much just Divx all over again? Lower quality, less control in a proprietary format for a higher price. Have these very same sutdios not noticed what's happening with Sony's PSP movies which followed the same model of offering something of inferior quality and versatility for a much higher price?

[umbrae]

Thats Crappy

Sounds like they are hoping no one will buy the d/l movies, so they can say "See! Only pirates want to d/l movies!". How about I spend less for the DVD then do whatever I want with the content?

Bet willing to bet there is TONS of spyware in the d/l version...

[fakespam]

iTunes Movies

Heard from a dude (real realible LOL) that in about two years, Apple
will be offering Disney's content in HD for an HD video iPod for sale
from iTunes. And that this iPod's A/V out port will have HD
connections.

I'll wait for that.

[KsprayDad]

next....

next....

[geteel]

It's about convenience, baby

I'll occasionally pay $2 for a loaf of bread at the corner convenience store just so I don't have to drive all the way across town to the megalomart. Yeah, I know it's stupid, and every dollar counts at my house, but sometimes it just seems worth it at the time. These download prices can be a bit more than point-of-sale purchases because you never have to leave your house (or your chair) to do it.

[kaufmanmoore]

re: It's about convenience, baby

I can sit at my chair and pre-order at amazon to have it arrive at my house the same day its released and have it still be cheaper.

[Earl Benser]

Nope....

.... This one is about lazy and stupid.....

[Zymurgist]

Not more convenient...

What does the premium (20-50%) over the price of
the DVD buy you in the way of convenience?

You can order DVDs online. If you're so
impatient that you can't wait 3 days for your
DVD to arrive, perhaps pay-per-view is for you,
it costs 1/5th as much. If you don't have cable
or fios broadband service, the download is going
to take you a while. And are the impatient among
us likely to download a lower-resolution video
with built-in-ads at exorbitant prices when you
can probably find something on a P2P network?

Honestly, it takes some gall: charge more than
the DVD price, but eliminate all the material
costs and most of the distribution costs
associated with the product. Make it so the
consumer can't enjoy it on their home theater
(without hacking it), or make a tangible copy,
and make the downloads slower than your
competition (P2P networks), and make sure to
shut out the disproportionate number of Linux
and Mac users that are using their computers to
view that sort of content.

Killer marketing, guys!

[mistergoodman]

They're kidding themselves

For way less you can order the DVD online (with better features and better picture and it's playable everywhere), rent it on Netflix or download it on bittorrent, all without leaving your chair. This is going to flop. Imagine if CDs you bought on iTunes cost more than music CDs at stores, but you couldn't burn them to disk or play them on a portable player. Wouldn't be a big success, would it?

[The user with no name]

nothing left to say except

That this was a GREAT CONCEPT with VERY BAD EXECUTION.

Too expensive

Too restrictive

Too concerned about potential threats this will cause my system (will there be special players needed or special/secret software installed to protect their movie and unprotect my personal data?)

Too compressed especially for the price. Offer that 7 GB movie compressed to 1GB on iTunes et. al for $3.99 and you might be onto something!


But hey, every venture requires a first step and hopefully the industry will worry about THEIR REAL CUSTOMERS------ US CONSUMERS----- instead of their affiliates at the brick and mortar buildings. LOL they are worried about upsetting WalMart or Best Buy when in reality it is the GENERAL PUBLIC, THE CONSUMER they should be worrying about 'offending'

idiots.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Poorer quality video for more $ -- Who are they kidding?

Think about it! These videos are about 1GB while your DVD can contain 3.7GB and they need 25GB+ to support the upcoming HD versions. Obviously this will be a lower than DVD quality video (shades of the PSP video format we were blasting last week :)) and missing all the extra you get with a DVD, can't be played on your DVD player even if you burn it to a DVD.

This is not a serious business plan so they must be planning to use this as another reason to subpeona a bunch more people for downloading content and the pathetic download numbers for this service are going to be their excuse for more inflated claims of damages from piracy.

[ddesy]

Jumping to conclusions?

The quality vs. size issue isn't that simple. If you are talking MPEG2 like DVDs use, then sure the quality will be worse. There are other codecs that could hold pretty high quality in a gigabyte of space, though. Ever watch a good quality MPEG4 based file? An average 1 1/2 hour to 2 hour movie at a bitrate that would fit it into one gigabyte would be pretty decent with MPEG4.

[Jackson Cracker]

It worked with music

Some companies sell low-quality songs for 99 cents each in
the name of convenience, so maybe it will work for movies too.
I think the long download time will be a problem however;
one hour is probably optimistic for many people in the USA
where "broadband" isn't always that broad. It will probably
cut down on impulse buying if people realize they have to
spend several hours downloading a movie.

[hahne59]

The Solution...

Here we go...
First, compress it to 320x240(iPod) and sell movies on iTunes.
"But what about special features?"
Make the movie like an album. You have the movie for, lets say, $7.99. Then the deleted scenes are an extra $.49 a piece. The other, longer features are $.99 each. If you want all of this it is only $9.99.
"I want a backup on DVD!"
When you download it, you get to burn one copy.
This will keep the studios happy. It will let you have something.

Please add anything....

[andersonwoods]

the big picture

There are tons of complaints. but the best reason for this to fail is quailty. Think of it, if you where one to use the service it would be because you are really into movies. This is their target audience. This being the case I am sure you have spent at least 2,000 on the TV. The latest HD set. You sound system is more then just two speakers and a component set. Bottom line You have spent some bucks. This is the customer that is likely to spend $20 $30 dollars for a movie. So why would you spend $20 to $30 dollars to watch a movie that is lower guality the a bootleg copy. This is why I would imagine even though bootlegs are everywhere you are not one to spend the $5 becasue the quailty is so bad. You wait till it comes to DVD and buy a copy. An now with the online DVD rentals (blockbuster,netflixs) you don't even have to drive. All of this being said here is my dilemma. Over the years I have collected hundereds of movies. problem is keeping track of them But the even bigger problem is that kids and DVDs do not make a good combination. when it was VHS they could survie the abuse. My solution is rip the DVD store it on the main computer then I have access to the movie from any room plus I now have a nice indexed catalog. I can search by actor,genre and a lot of other catagories. but the best part is I can restrict the kids to being able to only see certain movies. plus they do not have to handle the actual dvd. No more replacing scratched DVD can we say dollar savings. Back to the dilemma. this works great but to do it I am breaking the law by bypassing the copyright protection so I can rip and store the DVD for my own enjoyment. I distribute the copies to no one. But I still have an ethical problem. I was hoping the download services would resolve this. But the content is a joke. low quailty poor sound. I have seen better on bootleg. What are some of the solutions that other have come up with. For a while I was doing a DVD out to VHS in copy of the kids movies. My current setup is pc using grfore HDMI video card, turtle beach optical audio, and powerDVD pro. a couple of 500gig drives. for the kids I use the dlink 520 which is able to play content streamed from the main PC. that way I place in the kids folder only the movies I want the to be able to see. The other good thing is with the DVD on the hard drive. I can take movies that have questionable scenes edit them out for the kids. Rather then ban the entire movie. My point is cripplling content for the fear of piracy is like looking to doors on your car with the top down. What pirate would spend hours downloading a movie to redistribute. when it would be much easier to go to blockbuster rent the move 30 min later it is ripped and they could do what ever they want with it.

[robbtuck]

So....why would I do this?

1) It costs significantly more
2) I can't watch it on a standard DVD player
3) It doesn't have the extras

Congratulations, movie studios, you just assured the failure of this market.