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+--- Thread: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... (/showthread.php?tid=47312)
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - M A V I C - 01-15-2008
[quote Robert M]Mavic,
I'm not sure if your post is sarcastic or serious. But, if it's sarcastic then you're definitely off-base. I'm willing to bet if you ask the average consumer about purchasing TV shows and movies or renting them via the ITunes and watching them via the AppleTV, they'll still likely say, "Okay. How much does it cost?" Show them the price tag for the AppleTV and they'll lose interest pretty quickly. And, remember, the average person has no interest in watching TV shows and movies on their computer. They want to watch it on their TV and not need _another_ big gadget to do it. a little dongle, maybe but something like the AppleTV? Nopes.
Robert
I think you misunderstood me. I don't think the success of iTunes movie rentals will come from TV. I think more of its success will come from the already large group using Windows MCE, with which they can use iTunes and watch movies.
Many consumers already buy DVD players, and soon HD DVD/Blue Ray players, DVRs... so buying a Windows MCE box is not much different. It can combine all of those. Why buy four boxes when one can buy one?
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - michaelb - 01-15-2008
I agree and am interested, but my problem is that I am cheap. So the price of the apple TV is key. The movie rental idea is great and the price is right. Currently I run a dongle out the back of my imac and through a hole in the wall using a long RCA cable, to the extent I want to watch itunes tv shows on my old TV. So I could use an upgrade there.
Maybe it is just me, but DVDs often seem to get skip or get stuck and don't play properly. Maybe this is my 5 year old black friday DVD player I bought for $20. I have been meaning to buy a new DVD player now for years, but instead of that and instead of buying an upconverting one or a blue ray playing one, an apple TV is at least a possibility.
I may not be typical, but I may be more typical to the average consumer than most here. So I agree with the overall idea that Apple is getting close to getting this right.
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - Jem - 01-15-2008
[quote Robert M]Mavic,
I'm not sure if your post is sarcastic or serious. But, if it's sarcastic then you're definitely off-base. I'm willing to bet if you ask the average consumer about purchasing TV shows and movies or renting them via the ITunes and watching them via the AppleTV, they'll still likely say, "Okay. How much does it cost?" Show them the price tag for the AppleTV and they'll lose interest pretty quickly. And, remember, the average person has no interest in watching TV shows and movies on their computer. They want to watch it on their TV and not need _another_ big gadget to do it. a little dongle, maybe but something like the AppleTV? Nopes.
Robert
Robert,
A LOT of people have paid in the range of $200 for a device that makes their lives simpler, or improves their experience watching movies or TV. Think Tivo, or the money spent on upgrading to DVD players from VHS over the past 10 years.
I'm not saying the AppleTV is exactly analogous in this respect, just that people will and DO pay a small premium if something is shown to have some inherent value for the way they want to live their lives.
For some (many?) on demand hi-def movies rentals without a monthly contract could be that kind of value. add in the other features I mentioned above and it only gets more compelling.
I think Apples big challenge IS going to be how to market this so it makes sense to a populace that is used to think in terms of DVD players, Cable boxes and Tivo.
If they can get past that I think the public will take to it in the same way they did the iPod and iTunes.
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - TheTominator - 01-15-2008
[quote Jem]Being able to rent/buy movies on a whim will be a big plus for him and my mom, since they are at least 40 minutes (round trip) from the nearest video rental store.
They are that far from a video rental place and also have a high bandwidth Internet connection? I'm impressed. I wish I were that lucky.
I'm about 50 min round trip from a video rental place, and technically I do have a high bandwidth connection now, but it is very unreliable.
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - Jem - 01-15-2008
[quote TheTominator][quote Jem]Being able to rent/buy movies on a whim will be a big plus for him and my mom, since they are at least 40 minutes (round trip) from the nearest video rental store.
They are that far from a video rental place and also have a high bandwidth Internet connection? I'm impressed. I wish I were that lucky.
I'm about 50 min round trip from a video rental place, and technically I do have a high bandwidth connection now, but it is very unreliable.
Tom,
Yeah, they were on dialup for the longest time, then ponied up for DirectPC satellite (which frankly ended up not being much better with the bad latency times), and eventually MetroCast cable came up their road, which is what they are on now.
They've leveraged their cable cost by going with a 3rd party VOIP phone provider (ViaTalk), so cable internet has been a big help for them in many ways.
Hope your internet service improves in the near future!
Cheers,
Jem
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - Ombligo - 01-15-2008
I just wish the AppleTV had a DVD player. I'm pretty sure a USB2 external DVD player could be plugged in, but just incorporating a player (even if it won't record) would be enough to make me bite now.
Without it I'm waffling and may just stay with a mini.
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - Jem - 01-15-2008
[quote Ombligo]I just wish the AppleTV had a DVD player. I'm pretty sure a USB2 external DVD player could be plugged in, but just incorporating a player (even if it won't record) would be enough to make me bite now.
Without it I'm waffling and may just stay with a mini.
I agree. I have a Mini as *my* mediaPC, and I like it with FrontRow and with EyeTV, etc. for my 42" LCD... but I'm a bit concerned that Apple will not treat FrontRow with the same feature parity it preserves for AppleTV. So while I have a DVD player, will I be able to use all the same features as are in the AppleTV... or will Jobs leave those out hoping to get me to buy and AppleTV *in addition to* my Mac Mini, MacBook Pro and G4 MDD?
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - Robert M - 01-15-2008
Jem,
Back then. Not now. What functionality does it really offer that makes it compelling enough for someone to buy? The only thing that comes to mind for me is TV and movie purchase and rentals. I'm not going to spend $200.00+ for that. The AppleTV is a step in the right direction but it still has a long way to go before the average person will drop the bucks for it. At the current price tag, I'm willing to bet someone will be more inclined to get something like a TIVO HD. At least that offers DVR functionality and can also replace a cable box because of its cablecard slots. If I want to watch movies, a cheap DVD player does the job quite well.
Special note to Michael... It sounds like it is time for a new DVD player. One of my cheapies suffered from similar issues and replacing it with another dirt cheap model solved the problems entirely.
Robert
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - M A V I C - 01-16-2008
Robert, maybe it's just Jobs testing the market to see if people will really buy a $200 box from Apple even though it only does a fifth of what other devices in that price range do, just because it's an Apple product.
It could also be some sort of tool he's leveraging with movie studios to make other products fly.
Re: AppleTV movie rentals are the real story here... - Robert M - 01-16-2008
Mav,
Maybe so. But, if that's the case, Steve (and Apple) are going to have to work their butts off to convince people to buy it. If Apple wants to find success in the living room/home entertainment room, then it has to reach the average consumer, not the Apple enthusiast.
Apple reached me with the ipod because it was the best product in its class. Apple has to do the same with its video oriented offerings. The AppleTV doesn't even come close to doing that and I'm an Apple enthusiast. If it can't reach me, how will it reach the average consumer?
Hopefully, Apple has more products in the pipeline both software and hardware that will do the job.
Robert