So it looks like, thanks to an all-but-announced deal between Apple and Fox, you’ll soon be able to rent Fox home video releases online via iTunes. Also, according to Financial Times, Fox will encode future DVD releases so that they’re easily ripped and playable on video iPods.
Question: Is this a big deal, a harbinger of the inevitable shift that will finally allow Hollywood to monetize its films on the Internet without having to worry (too much) about piracy? Will the other studios (whose relationships with Apple have been testy of late) follow suit? Or is this a one-time experiment that may sell a lot of video iPods but not really help Fox — or any other studio making a similar deal with Apple?
I guess I’d be a lot more impressed if Fox’s upcoming slate of video releases didn’t consist largely of such titles as season 5 of The Simple Life and Lake Placid 2. Still, maybe this is the sort of deal that iTunes and iPod users — and studios with their fingers in the wind — have been waiting for. What say you, PopWatchers? Are you eager to rent movies from iTunes? Would you be more likely to buy DVD titles that you can play on your iPod?
first! i would definitely buy more dvds if i could put them on my ipod
Not really. I suspect that I am one of the “old” folks (at age 31!) that is only using my iPod for music 99.9% of the time! I have watched a 1/2 hour episode of my favorite TV show on my iPod, but I still prefer watching them on my large screen TV. I dont ever see myself watching an entire movie on my iPod.
IMO, this has little to do with renting movies to watch on a tiny iPod screen. This is about Steve Jobs finally finding a way to get consumers to buy the company’s Apple TV module, which was launched quite unsuccessfully last year. Using Apple TV, people will now be able to download Fox films on a rental basis, saving a trip to the video store, and watch them at home on their big-screen sets. This is the beginning of the end of the DVD market.
My husband recently bought THE large screen TV he has shopped for for years. You can plug the video ipod into it – I’d say this is the future. On Demand will mean ANY movie – it doesn’t seem too far away.
Of course I need someone to come over and make it work anytime I want to watch one – but that’s not what the question was.
buy the dvd, rip to pc, convert to ipod video, pay once for the movie, have a nice day