September 14, 2006 at 14:58First impressions of iTunes video store
After the release of iTunes 7 on the Internet, the first impressions of buying movies in the online store Apple iTunes 7 Store. In general, the opinions sound positive, because the owners of Apple products are exclusively loyal users. But the reviews can not be called admired.
The first disappointment is the extremely small selection of movies. Only Disney products (Pixar, Touchstone, and Miramax Studios) are featured here. Apparently, with the rest of the film studios, it has not yet been possible to agree on the terms of cooperation. As you know, it would be beneficial for Apple to set minimum prices for videos in order to stimulate sales of its equipment, which brings it the main income. The latest iPods are already equipped with 80 GB hard drives and can play video files. In addition, the online movie store should drag in sales of new branded set-top boxes iTV, specially designed for downloading movies from the Internet and watching them on a TV screen (set-top boxes will be available in early 2007 for $ 300).
The second disappointment is the rather high prices. Perhaps it would be logical to assume that the prices of video files will be significantly lower than the prices of tangible media such as DVDs. But this is not so. In fact, prices practically do not differ from each other. Fresh films are sold for $ 13 (upon pre-order) or $ 15 (after going on sale), old ones for $ 10. Short films, music videos, and parts of series are sold for $ 2 apiece. In addition, many films can only be downloaded by American users. Availability for a given region varies from film to film.
And one more disappointment, which, however, is “planned,” so to speak. This is a video file format. Instead of high-definition video, as some optimists had hoped, the Apple Store presents files with a resolution of 640 × 480 with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. This video format can be called optimized for mobile "iPods" rather than for modern ultra-high resolution plasma digital TVs. On a 5-megabit channel, one video can be downloaded in half an hour.
The advantages of the iTunes online store can be said briefly. The main thing is that the films in the store will appear on the same day that their release on DVD. This usually happens a few months after the premiere of the film at the box office. Viewing files in a proprietary program is organized very conveniently. On theThe screenshot from the movie “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” shows that all the content is described in episodes that are shown in the context menu with the right mouse button. Thus, you can quickly jump to any episode of your choice. The video is accompanied by Dolby Surround sound quality.
The first disappointment is the extremely small selection of movies. Only Disney products (Pixar, Touchstone, and Miramax Studios) are featured here. Apparently, with the rest of the film studios, it has not yet been possible to agree on the terms of cooperation. As you know, it would be beneficial for Apple to set minimum prices for videos in order to stimulate sales of its equipment, which brings it the main income. The latest iPods are already equipped with 80 GB hard drives and can play video files. In addition, the online movie store should drag in sales of new branded set-top boxes iTV, specially designed for downloading movies from the Internet and watching them on a TV screen (set-top boxes will be available in early 2007 for $ 300).
The second disappointment is the rather high prices. Perhaps it would be logical to assume that the prices of video files will be significantly lower than the prices of tangible media such as DVDs. But this is not so. In fact, prices practically do not differ from each other. Fresh films are sold for $ 13 (upon pre-order) or $ 15 (after going on sale), old ones for $ 10. Short films, music videos, and parts of series are sold for $ 2 apiece. In addition, many films can only be downloaded by American users. Availability for a given region varies from film to film.
And one more disappointment, which, however, is “planned,” so to speak. This is a video file format. Instead of high-definition video, as some optimists had hoped, the Apple Store presents files with a resolution of 640 × 480 with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. This video format can be called optimized for mobile "iPods" rather than for modern ultra-high resolution plasma digital TVs. On a 5-megabit channel, one video can be downloaded in half an hour.
The advantages of the iTunes online store can be said briefly. The main thing is that the films in the store will appear on the same day that their release on DVD. This usually happens a few months after the premiere of the film at the box office. Viewing files in a proprietary program is organized very conveniently. On theThe screenshot from the movie “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” shows that all the content is described in episodes that are shown in the context menu with the right mouse button. Thus, you can quickly jump to any episode of your choice. The video is accompanied by Dolby Surround sound quality.
