I couldn’t bring myself to rent from iTunes
Published on 25 Jan 2008 at 12:48 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under dvd, hd, itunes, movie, rental.
I’ve been planning to rent and watch a DVD tomorrow. My usual way of doing this is heading down the street to Hollywood Video, paying $4.50 or so, coming home to watch the movie, then returning it at some point in the next five days. I figured now would be a good time to try out iTunes rentals.
Let me back up a little first. I’ve never actually bought anything from iTunes. Never even considered it once. When iTunes plus was announced my feelings went from “I will never buy anything from iTunes” to “I might consider considering buying something from iTunes.” Then Amazon MP3 came along and I was back to the stance that I’ll never buy from iTunes.
I currently have a Product (RED) 4GB Nano, a black 80GB iPod and a silver 160GB iPod Classic. I’ve owned countless iPods before these as well. I have over 700 CDs on my shelf and over 8,000 tracks in iTunes (all ripped from these CDs.) I’m not adverse to paying for music. I’m adverse to paying for something that isn’t really mine (read: DRM,) and I also like having a physical disc as back-up.
I’ve had a $25 iTunes gift card sitting on my desk for a few months with no real plans to ever use it. When iTunes movie rentals came along I thought “I’ll finally get to use this gift card.” And since something I rent was never going to be mine, the DRM shouldn’t bother me. And really, it didn’t. This is essentially a free rental since the gift card was free (thanks Apple!) But what it came down to, and why I’ll be renting the movie from Hollywood video tomorrow, is this… features and flexibility.
With a rented DVD I get extra features such as commentary, bloopers and deleted scenes. With iTunes I’ll get just the movie. Hollywood Video also gives me five days to watch it. With iTunes, once I start, I get just 24-hours. With my job, and my own inability to stick to something, the 24-hour limit worries me. I don’t anticipate it being a problem, “but what if it is?” I’d rather pay for a “full” rental, than get a free, but more “limited” rental.
The iTunes movie rental proposition isn’t a bad one though. In fact, had just one thing been different I’d have rented from iTunes. That’s if they had it in HD. Why would HD have been worth it you may ask? Basically just for the experience. I’m pretty sure that I will rent from iTunes when the right HD movie comes along.
I did realize one thing while writing this. iTunes movie rentals are designed to compete with Pay-per-view, another something I’ve never spent a single cent on.
Taner Terzioglu on 5 Aug 2008 at 2:19 pm: 1
Hi I was wondering, if you are never going to use that gift card, can you e-mail me the code. It would be a great thing. Thanks a lot,.
Tanert007@aol.com