Re: iTunes movies

In article <znu-3D6F31.03344119122005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, ZnU <znu@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> > > > Only problem is that you'd have to be at your Mac/TV/Projector to do
> > > > it, which is fine when you're sitting down to actually watch it, but
> > > > I usually tend to decide what movie to see and *then* turn on my
> > > > projector and roll down my screen. Most people don't have a
> > > > projector, of course, but the convenience of having them all up-front
> > > > and without a "next screen" arrow to see the next batch of movies in
> > > > the database is not unimportant.
> > >
> > > Err? I wouldn't consider it particularly important. It's still going to
> > > be easier to spot a movie you want in a properly designed desktop
> > > browsing interface than by looking at a bunch of spines. Now, maybe if
> > > you have all your DVDs pointing face out, like some movies stores tend
> > > to do... but most people haven't got an wall to dedicate to displaying
> > > their movies.
> >
> > Well, I don't agree. Being able to see everyone at once is more valuable
> > than
> > seeing the entire front cover to me.
>
> Well, by my calculations, this 1920x1200 screen could display 540 64x64
> pixel cover thumbnails, which could provide more visual richness than
> looking at case spines.

Yeah, but 64x64 is really tiny. For the covers to be recognizable on your TV
when you're sitting in your couch, they need to be a lot bigger. Think Front
Row and Apple Trailers.

> Knock a hundred off to account for the space taken up by interface
> controls and such, I guess... you're still in pretty good shape. Of
> course, not everyone has a screen this big... but we are talking about
> people in the target market for HD movies, after all.

Plus, my projector has a native resolution of 1280x720. Most LCD/Plasma TV's
are 1024x768.

> > Because people buy it like crazy, obviously :) It's pretty huge.
> > Consider that these kind of things where non-existant with VHS and
> > now they're everywhere.
>
> I'm not sure this has much to do with DVD vs. VHS.

No, I just mention it since the consumers are buying original movies like crazy
with DVDs, partly because there is no easy way to copy them from your friends
and also for the boxes/special editions. People really like to have a bookshelf
full of DVDs, more than they wanted CDs or VHS this way.

> > Heck, the turnaround on the box versions seems larger, so there have
> > been some cases where they have been *cheaper*. Movies studios seems
> > to have stopped making "plain" versions - most of the new releases
> > are "special edition" in digipack or paper fold-in. it seems.
>
> This might have something to do with providing more value vs. illegal
> downloads.

Sure, plus - people are stupid. If the box says "Extended Edition", they will
buy it, even if it means that it's an extra 30 second long opening scene (Alien
Vs. Predator). I know, since I am one of them. :)

> > I just can't think of any, though. They take longer to download than
> > to buy one on the local gas station.
>
> But you don't have to download them before watching them -- you can
> watch them as they download.

Hopefully, at least. Can you do that with the TV shows?

> > They require massive amount of HD space and backup.
>
> 4 GB, a typical size for a movie like this, costs about $1, with present
> hard drive prices, or fits on a $0.30 DVD-R. And most of the 'normal'
> users I know (i.e. not creative professionals) have 250 GB hard drives
> that are 95% empty -- unless they're *already* full of (illegally)
> downloaded movies.

Right, but a 250GB hard drive fills pretty fast, though. Plus I'm not sure if
people are ready to rely on a HD for their movie collection. Making backup of
their iTMS purchased music and imported CD's is no big deal, but making backup
of 400GB of movies is more of a problem.

> > Not that I know - and how would iTunes "support" that? I mean, how
> > does iTunes burn it to only be playable for X number of days?
> >
> > I know of specific CD/DVD media that will stop working after X number
> > of hours atfer being exposed to air, but I don't think that's what
> > you mean?
>
> If the Blu-Ray or HD-DVD formats support this, iTunes just sets the
> appropriate flag. I don't know if they actually support this, but it
> doesn't seem like a crazy feature to build in.
>
> Actually, my understanding is that AACS, the copy protection standard
> adopted by both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, allows for new content control code,
> which can be loaded from discs. So even if the standard doesn't support
> expiring discs out of the box, it's quite possible Apple could have
> iTunes burn a bit of extra code to discs to make them expire.

But that wouldn't play in their set-top box, right?





--
Sandman[.net]

"I am loyal to Apple and love my Mac because I have PCs to compare it to."
- Edwin
.

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