Along with us and many of our readers, many of TUAW’s readers are also “noticing that rental titles reach iTunes more quickly than expected,” Erica Sadun reports for TUAW.
“Didn’t Apple promise new titles 30 days after the DVD release? TUAW reader Robbie Taylor wrote in to let us know that Michael Clayton hit the iTunes ‘shelves’ within just a day or so of its February 19th store release,” Sadun reports.
Sadun invites readers to let TUAW know if they are seeing “early” releases, too, the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MacVicta” for the heads up.]
how about this headline “where are the movies? still only 358 movies to rent from iTunes”
Patience young Jedi. Like songs to iTunes, the movies will come.
remember SJ said: “1000 by the end of february”. something isn’t going as smoothly as it should here, i suppose.
Apple fan or not, I must agree with “ralph from berlin” that the selection of rental movies is woefully inadequate, even for a brand new service. If Apple wasn’t ready to stock the shelves, they should have delayed the launch of the rental service.
why Ralph? are you actually renting movies via iTunes… or just complaining for the sheer heck of it?
got a DVD player? go to a video store. what’s the problem?
wait for the titles to accumulate. they’re coming. can’t wait…
the brick n’ mortar boutique awaits.
I too, wonder at the lack of titles. When the rentals first appeared, I thought “great!” and rented one right away to try it out. But when I checked back over the next couple weeks, I realized that only a handful of titles had been added to the micro-thin selection.
NetFlix and Blockbuster don’t have to worry just yet. But I really hope they start ramping up soon. I really enjoyed the experience of renting, it was fast, easy, and if the selection was broad I would do it pretty frequently.
Hmm… I wonder if this change is due to a change in philosophy of the studios. Our *wonderful* cable company, Time Warner, has been promoting their pay-per-view service which now features movies the same day they are available for rent. Doesn’t the movies studios dictate when movies are available to what service?
Peace.
Exactly! I have long wondered why article after article that has reviewed the new Apple TV has NEVER touched on the library size!
I just got my “Aple” TV and I am still waiting for a real selection of rentals….a little frustrated to say the least.
MDN Magic Word: “help”….Exactly.
I actually get 382 on doing a quick calculation of the list… so perhaps it’s growing by a couple dozen a day? Might not make 1000 by March 1st at that rate, but that would give it 600-700 by then if it grows at that rate.
No insider info concerning this, just running some numbers and making a guess based off of it…..
If it’s in their hands, I bet Apple staff will find a way to fulfill SJ’s promise of 1000 movies for rent. I could see them adding 400 on Feb. 29 at 11:59 PM!
However, if the movie studios are the roadblock, there’s no telling how long it will take!
Yes, there could be more and there will be but I’m in no hurry.
With gas at $3+ a gallon, I love my Apple TV. I rented my first movie, Good Luck Chuck and laughed my ass off.
Enjoyed popcorn with my wife on the couch and after a all those sex scenes, we paused it for a while…. and finished watching the show later. The whole thing is great and I don’t know about others but I was able to start watching them movie about 20 seconds after I rented it. I guess my 802.11n is really the key to getting it fast.
Not enough title? Fine for me but then again I have a life, wife and kids and have very little time to watch every movie that comes out right when it comes out.
It takes time to do the encoding for each and every feature. You can download the movie far faster than it takes for the encoding process. Remember there’s different languages, closed captioning, etc. that’s involved with the prep process. 12 movies a day translates to 24 hours of video, so if they’re adding 12 a day, I’d say that they’re doing pretty well. Be patient. The company I work for is swamped with Apple work. It’s coming people… it’s coming.
“remember SJ said: “1000 by the end of february”. something isn’t going as smoothly as it should here, i suppose.”
Ummm, it’s not the end of February.
In all fairness, a lot new releases are appearing in quick succession on iTunes, including a few films I had previously rented from a local video store. The iTunes rental service works well — it’s quick and painless. Downloads take about 20-25 minutes. I don’t mind watching the movies on my laptop while I recline on my couch, as the sound output is hooked up to my audio receiver. For solo movie watching, the convenience factor can’t be beat.
@Here and Now:
Oh man, you actually got to “pause the movie”?! My wife’s always asleep 10 minutes after any movie starts, so no pausing for me….
🙁
Glad you have better luck at home!
They just added a bunch today.
In addition the now have 99¢ movie of the week!
“Celebrating the Academy Awards®, this week’s $0.99 rental, The Hours, won a Best Actress Oscar® for Nicole Kidman’s portrayal of author Virginia Woolf. Enjoy this smart drama about three generations of women, and check back every Thursday for a new $0.99 rental. The special is available Thursday through Monday, but you still have 30 days to watch it.”
Rented Michael Clayton in HD today. And the supply seems to be increasing daily. I say show Apple the love by hitting those earlier-than-expected release rentals, and even sending them customer feedback. I am thrilled by this expansion for both my Apple TVs, and happy to be part of the gradual extinction of disc devices, no matter how long it takes.
industries are not disrupted overnight. apple is re-lent-less. they WILL own the rental business.
360 movies + jesse james, that’s it as of today. (from your apple tv go to ->movies ->genres ->all movies and count) i was renting a couple of movies. the experience is great. as it should have been all the way from the beginning. the big internet movie renting store is finally there (almost). if they just had the selection …
but i think it’s the studios fault. they realize that apple will own this and they draw back now. it could have been wonderful.
magic word strength: as in “i wish apple had the strength to make this happen”
It’s not the “end of February” yet. Why not wait to complain until AFTER the date as passed…?
The 30 day “waiting period” before release has obviously been waived due to competition and greed. I don’t think the studios got together and mutually agreed to wait 30 days before letting iTunes have their titles for rental. That would probably be illegal. So if one studio provides their titles a few days after release, the others have to follow or risk losing out on rental revenue.
It’s the same thing that happened with music. Apple can strategize and act as one entity. The content providers must compete with each other and act to promote self-interest. Therefore, over time, negotiations for movie distribution contracts will favor Apple more and more.
Since Apple wants to profit from selling hardware by making digital content available as inexpensively as possible, this is all good news for consumers.
Does anyone else see the adds above for the all new imac and all new macbook pro and say….. NO they are still waiting to be updated….that just aggravates me….. like the yankees