“Why is notoriously secretive Apple giving sneak peaks at its new movie gadget? Fortune’s Peter Lewis says the company may be trying to show Hollywood that it intends to dominate movie downloads — and the studios better cooperate,” Peter Lewis writes for Fortune.
“Steve Jobs and company are now taking on a new frontier: movie downloading. At a media event earlier this month, Jobs unveiled iTunes 7.0, which features the Apple iTunes Movie Store and other upgrades to the omnipotent software,” Lewis writes. “At the same time, Apple gave a sneak peek at a new gadget code-named iTV, which will go on sale next spring for $299. Assuming it works as advertised, the iTV box will be the missing link between the Mac and the TV, allowing movies downloaded from iTunes to be streamed wirelessly from the PC or Mac to the big-screen TV in the other room.”
“Why did Apple, notoriously secret about future product plans, show off the iTV prototype months ahead of availability? My guess is that it was a warning shot across Hollywood’s bow. Apple was demonstrating that it does movie downloads better than anyone else at this point, and that it will only get better. The message: Apple intends to dominate movie downloads just as it now dominates music and TV shows,” Lewis writes. “Jobs will hold firm on pricing, and now he has evidence from Disney that there is demand, and that legal downloads can add to studio revenues. The studios can see the allure of iTunes today compared to disasters like Amazon.com’s (Charts) Unbox or MovieLink, and extrapolate that iTunes will become even more popular when Apple releases new video iPods and the iTV set-top box. So, Apple is saying, resistance is futile. Assimilation is inevitable.”
Full article here.
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I think the prices of movies will come down to, esp for the older ones, i think 4 or 5 bucks it what we can expect to pay for a copy of back to the future.
i couldn’t agree more
MW: movie studios have been ‘TOLD’
oh, and first
This is about Pop-Under ads on the MDN site:
I’d never experienced a MDN pop-under add on my Mac until just today at work. I was shocked. At home I check MDN multiple times on my Mac each evening and on weekends and I’ve never seen an ad before…
Looking at my behavior at home I think that maybe I’ve figured out the difference…
I have a Mac group on the Safari bookmarks bar. When I control-click the group the entire series of tabs (including googlefinance, thinksecret, mdn and a few others) all open at once, each in a different tab, and I NEVER get an ad.
Could there be something about opening this site into a tab that circumvents the pop-under? Let’s figure this out so we can beat it. Manipulative marketing maddens me.
So you’re tyelling me that it’s a bad thing to offer movies online? This article makes it sound like Apple is stealing something! People please, it’s a vehicle to make themselves droves of money. You oly “have to do it” because it makes too much sense not to you dumb some of a bitch. i can’t take this any longer, this ” Apple is evil because it’s trying to corner every digital market on the planet”idea. Make a better system and you will too. But you can’t cuz you suck. Live with it, and open your pockets the apple way and watch the money fall in assholes… Geesh!
on a side note, I downloaded a movie and the quality wasn’t very good on my apple 20″ I still rip my own
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> but 250,000 downloads can’t be wrong!
shogun
You know what- you are right.
I open in tabs also.
I am constantly wondering what all this yammering about pop -unders is all about.
(Command-click, not control-click.)
Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
I just won’t buy these movies until they are of the same audio and video quality as DVD.
Jobs to Hollywood, “All your base are belong to us”
DAMN YOU CECILLE, DAMN YOU TO HELL
I love seeing Apple have so much clout. 5 years ago no one would have imagined Apple to be in this type of position.
Many people will argue that Apple having too much control is a bad thing, because of the misconception that Apple will charge an uber high price for its products. I say bollocks.
Apple having control of this means a product that works well and is usable by everyone, not some hacked up PC-like solution that leaves people wondering what they spent their money on.
Sure Hollywood would make tons out of iTS, but they think they can make more by themselves or with others.
It’s all about the money dude.
WanderingJoe: you need to wander into a remedial English class.
I purchased a couple of titles from iTunes and put them on my iPod. I have a Universal Dock with remote hooked to my HDTV via S-Video. It doesn’t look much different from a DVD when you are sitting on the couch.
I open MDN in tabs as well, and never a pop up. But on opening there’s a smaller window noticable for a fraction of a second before disappearing … Very strange.
MDN: Might, as in ‘What might this be?’
Lazy… I see the window for a fraction of a sec as well.
Something to ponder…
Maybe Safari’s pop up blocker is just a tad slow?
A clue for botvinnik: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AYBAB2U
botvinnik,
He is referring to a Japanese video game that had a hilariously bad English translation.
Don’t feel bad though, I fell for that too when I saw someone else use the quote before.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
I don’t think Apple will make them DVD quality until the movie houses are on board.
That way the DVDs still appeal to collectors… and they don’t feel bad… like they’re getting ripped off… because after all… it’s a higher quality product.
I would download movies if the resolution was better. I want dvd quality or better–time is not a problem for me, i want the quality.
Yup…I have MDN as a tab with other mac sites and I also wondered about this pop under thing. I compatred two Safari windows of MDN, one from using a tab and one npot, guess which one gave me a pop-under.
Tabs are now my best friend!!!!
Good call Shogun!!!!