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$9.99 Mission Impossile 3 makes me wonder why digital doesn't go on sale more often.

moofffoo said:
$100b cash and we still have to pay nearly $30.00AU to own a digital copy of a movie. Far more costly than at a store ($19.99), which provides a disc and a cover and has overheads on lease etc.
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I have no doubt Apple makes a profit on the iTunes Store, even though it likes to make out it's a loss leader.

But while Apple has some influence on the pricing, I think most of the blame lies with the studios. They are testing the market to see if people will pay the same for non-physical media as they will for physical media (even though the overheads are much, much lower). Magazine publishers are guilty of this also.

DRM and price are the two factors stopping me buying from iTunes.
 
moofffoo said:
Let me explain. $100b cash and we still have to pay nearly $30.00AU to own a digital copy of a movie. Far more costly than at a store ($19.99), which provides a disc and a cover and has overheads on lease etc.
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Apple makes their money on hardware, not iTunes sales. The pricing is set by the movie studios. If you're going to email a corporation to complain about movie pricing, you need to send it to the movie studios and TV networks, not Apple. I suspect that Apple is constantly working to leverage the size of their user base to convince the studios to set better pricing and get rid of DRM, so if we ever see any movement there, it could very well be that Apple will deserve the credit for it.

Personally, moreso than movie sale prices, I'd like to see better rental prices and much more generous rental windows. I can rent from Redbox for $2, but a new release on iTunes costs $5. And the rental window for a movie is 24 hours (or did it change to 48?). I'd like to see a week-long rental period. Or, maybe get rid of rentals, and set prices to buy at $6. I suspect that most people don't re-watch most of the movies they own more than once a year anyway. As I said above, though, these things are not within the control of Apple, but hopefully they're pushing the studios in this direction.
 
How about more free content, as well? The only free movie I know of on iTunes is the excellent documentary Truth In 24, and if there's more out there, I don't know how to easily find it.
 
hipnetic said:
Personally, moreso than movie sale prices, I'd like to see better rental prices and much more generous rental windows. I can rent from Redbox for $2, but a new release on iTunes costs $5. And the rental window for a movie is 24 hours (or did it change to 48?). I'd like to see a week-long rental period. Or, maybe get rid of rentals, and set prices to buy at $6. I suspect that most people don't re-watch most of the movies they own more than once a year anyway. As I said above, though, these things are not within the control of Apple, but hopefully they're pushing the studios in this direction.
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I believe the way rentals work is you have 1 month to start watching it, once you begin watching it you then have 24 hours of umlimited watching. I think that's plenty of time for a rental.

although I do wish there would be a reduction in rental price to $2-$3. I don't think movie purchase would ever go as low as $6 (for standard pricing). I'd be happy with price point starting at $10 and then start to drop from there depending on age and popularity with a floor price of $5. Or maybe leave prices at $10, but have a section of "weekly sales" which will have movies priced at $5.

I don't remember if this is the thread I mentioned this idea but I'd like to see an idea, similar to the "complete my album" feature in iTunes, where you can rent-to-own movies. Meaning if a movie costs $3 to rent and $10 to buy and I have rented it twice, it would only cost $4 more for me to purchase it. This would certainly push the rental format.

I would also like to be able to purchase movie sets at a reduced rate. For example, if each Star Wars movie cost $10, you could buy either trilogy for $24 or buy both trilogies for $42. something like that.
 
KettyKrueger said:
I too am switching to digital.

I've held firmly onto physical media over digital for so long, wanting the 'best experience'.

But I'm fed up of a) having shelves upon shelves occupied with boxes b) having to wait a lifetime for the friggin' movie to start (adverts, menus, blah blah) and c) having to circumvent copy protection to make them portable.

Yes, digital is sub blu-ray quality but I'm going for convenience now!
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I agree with you on the frustration on A, B and C. But I still can't buy just anything from iTunes because the selection of cheap stuff just isn't there. I was browsing Amazon last night and saw movie after movie on BD for $10.

Right now I just rip stuff I own on DVD or borrow the DVD version from Netflix if I own the BD. I need to figure out how to go from BD to digital because I sure as hell do get frustrated with the 18 hours of junk before the actual movie. I could even tolerate it the first time I watch something. But in five years why I am still sitting through outdated ads? BD Live does at least present some new trailers, but dammit I just don't care about trailers!
 
Michael CM1 said:
I need to figure out how to go from BD to digital because I sure as hell do get frustrated with the 18 hours of junk before the actual movie. I could even tolerate it the first time I watch something. But in five years why I am still sitting through outdated ads? BD Live does at least present some new trailers, but dammit I just don't care about trailers!
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VERY SIMPLE to get BluRay to Mac:

1. Buy USB BluRay reader for Mac: http://www.amazon.com/LG-Portable-B...RJJY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337399951&sr=8-2
2. Download MakeMKV ( http://www.makemkv.com/download/ - shareware - free for 30 days)
3. Download the latest nightly build of Handbrake (here: https://build.handbrake.fr/ )

Steps:

1. Insert BluRay into drive
2. Load MakeMKV, rip, this will produce MovieName.mkv
3. Load MovieName.mkv into HandBrake, rip for AppleTV2 setting.

Voila!

(Use the latest nightly build of Handbrake because it supports ripping BluRay subtitles, which, believe it or not, is an amazing accomplishment.)

I use that workflow and ripped over a hundred DVDs and about 25 BluRays. I tossed all the old boxes and put them all into one big multi-disc binder, so they take up virtually no room now (just in case my harddrives fail and I lose all the movie rips.)

Once you rip your entire movie library, feel free to stop by RedBox and start renting all their blurays and ripping all the new movies too. :) $1.50/bluray.
 
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radiogoober said:
VERY SIMPLE to get BluRay to Mac:

1. Buy USB BluRay reader for Mac: http://www.amazon.com/LG-Portable-B...RJJY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337399951&sr=8-2
2. Download MakeMKV ( http://www.makemkv.com/download/ - shareware - free for 30 days)
3. Download the latest nightly build of Handbrake (here: https://build.handbrake.fr/ )

Steps:

1. Insert BluRay into drive
2. Load MakeMKV, rip, this will produce MovieName.mkv
3. Load MovieName.mkv into HandBrake, rip for AppleTV2 setting.

Voila!

(Use the latest nightly build of Handbrake because it supports ripping BluRay subtitles, which, believe it or not, is an amazing accomplishment.)

I use that workflow and ripped over a hundred DVDs and about 25 BluRays. I tossed all the old boxes and put them all into one big multi-disc binder, so they take up virtually no room now (just in case my harddrives fail and I lose all the movie rips.)

Once you rip your entire movie library, feel free to stop by RedBox and start renting all their blurays and ripping all the new movies too. :) $1.50/bluray.
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Thanks for the info. I've been wary about which BD drive to get because I remember how many crappy DVD drives I got about a decade ago. I have one on my wish list that is about $60. Been using HandBrake forever, so that causes no issues.

Once I get my job situation cleared up I'll definitely look into this. I love having my BDs for use on my Samsung LED TV, but as I said I get tired of the damn 8 hours it takes to get to the movie.
 
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I hear you on being weary of buying an external bluray drive. The first one I bought was a ~$40 one, and it sucked. It was slow (2x) and couldn't read even slightly blemished discs. I've had really good luck with the LG one I linked, it is really fast and has only found one damaged disc so far that it just couldn't read.

I ripped all mine for the same reasons you are interested in doing so. I hated using my BluRay player because it was just so torturous. It'd take forever to turn on, load the dang disc, and then make me sit through a bunch of previews that I have absolutely no interest in, then stupid warnings, etc. Argh!
 
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MiamiBourne said:
I've contemplated buying iTunes HD movies for the convinience since I'm all in in Apple Devices, iPhone, iPad, AppleTV and Macbook Pro.

I have also thought of buying a BD drive and HandBrake...I'm eyeing this one and it's on sale for $99 from $129.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SE-50...=UTF8&colid=S45OGP6QS1J2&coliid=IR67I692NLVYL

Any opinions on this one?
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I had some issues with the drive opening and closing, so I returned that one. I've had better luck with this one:

http://www.amazon.com/LG-ReWriter-B...9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1337610597&sr=1-9
 
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Back to the pricing issue

The West Wing

iTunes - $350 - all 7 seasons @ $50 each for 1080p, not sure but they used to sell the SD version for $280, each season for $40

Amazon - retail $300 for DVD complete box set, but currently on sale for less than $100. This option means ripping 40 DVDs to watch on Apple devices.

Is my time worth the extra $180, yes but I can't justify paying that much more for essentially the same thing. Until the studios figure this obvious stuff out, many people will choose option 3

Torrent - $0

It seems like the studios don't want to sell digital, just physical media, then they point to piracy and lobby the government to clamp down on the internet. If the studios had their way, they would only allow streaming and from only their own website. They would prefer we have monthly memberships at each individual studio website @ $20 a month.
 
It's worth something though that iTunes has the hd copy. Many shows I plan to buy and watch have the same choice - iTunes 1080p or DVD. The hd copy is worth paying a premium for, just ideally less of a premium.

With new shows too iTunes has them right away vs waiting months or longer for disc releases. It's so nice to just buy and watch. The amount of time it takes to process tv series off disc into iTunes is considerable.
 
Up until last week, I was using pirated copies of Adobe software (for personal use), because its products are priced insanely high. For instance:
  • Photoshop: $700 + Sales Tax
  • Acrobat: $450 + Sales Tax
No way am I paying that kind of money. Adobe recently launched Creative Cloud that costs $50/month + Tax which includes almost ALL its products and I took the plunge.

Adobe has little competition, yet its (new) strategy is to appeal to a broader audience (including pirates) by cutting prices. $50/month is still expensive, but it's much more affordable, considering it includes updates versus purchasing a perpetual license for a particular version of software that becomes obsolete in two years (planned obsolescence).

I am keen on purchasing an Apple TV and HD movies via iTunes, but the limitations and pricing is prohibitive versus pirating content.

I don't usually watch movies more than once, but I'd like to keep them (prefer buying vs. renting) for when I have family and friends over.

If the movie studios can adopt the same mentality as Adobe, then sure enough, pirates will convert to paying customers.
  1. Lower prices.
  2. No unskippable anti-piracy nag screens.
    I don't even understand this one. Pirate copies don't contain these (obviously they're removed), so why display these to paying customers?

It shouldn't have to take mammoths like Apple to push movie studios and record labels out of their comfort zones and outdated business models.
Moron corporate executives -- doesn't matter what industry or what they're selling, they're always in it for the money... but that's a whole 'nother story.
 
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I'm all for lowering the prices of the movies. I wish they were out on iTunes as follows (note studio issue, not Apple's).

In theater Release $29.99
New Release $19.99
6 Month Old Release $14.99
1 Year Old Release $9.99
2 Year+ Old Release $4.99

Maybe advance the schedule a little, 3 month, 6 month, 1 year. I'd be all over that type of pricing structure. I heard they are considering the In theater release now; but want to charge $80ish. They just don't get it, do they?
 
hipnetic said:
Personally, moreso than movie sale prices, I'd like to see better rental prices and much more generous rental windows. I can rent from Redbox for $2, but a new release on iTunes costs $5. And the rental window for a movie is 24 hours (or did it change to 48?). I'd like to see a week-long rental period. Or, maybe get rid of rentals, and set prices to buy at $6. I suspect that most people don't re-watch most of the movies they own more than once a year anyway. As I said above, though, these things are not within the control of Apple, but hopefully they're pushing the studios in this direction.
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I agree. Without lower rentals in itunes I simply don't even look to it for movies at all. I rarely watch a movie more than once so most of the time I just use Redbox. Beyond it being just plain cheaper as the norm, it offers discounts often. As for me, for a lot of movies I don't care if it is SD and this makes the price difference incredibly hard for me to accept. Just yesterday I rented Rampart for $0.76 from Redbox with tax. Itunes would have cost $4.33 with tax--more than FIVE TIMES more expensive. Crazy.

Since I am not looking in iTunes anyway, there is little chance for me to buy a movie there--and I do buy a few here and there.




Michael
 
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