SbuxBlaze
Founder
Group : Founder
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24 Dec 2007
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Southern California
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 December 31st 2007, 22:51 |
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Numerous sources, including Mac News Network, are reporting that Apple is set to announce a deal with Fox that will allow iTunes users to rent the studio’s latest releases online at the same time they appear on DVD. The staff at MacNN also believes that Apple is engaged in similar talks with the other major movie studios.
If Apple is getting into the video rental business with iTunes, we have to wonder what effect the new competition will have on NetFlix, Amazon Unbox, and Blockbuster Video. We’re not aware of any planned announcements from NetFlix or Amazon Unbox at CES, but we’ll be keeping our eyes and ears open and, if our writers run into Amazon’s Jeff Bezos or Net Flix CEO Reed Hastings at a party, we’ll corner them and ask about their plans.
Should Bezos and Hastings be quaking in their boots? According to Douglas A. McIntyre of 24/7 Wall Street, the Fox deal will not help Apple make a dent in the video rental space, because consumers want to watch videos on television sets, not computers or iPods:
People do not want to watch video content on a 2 inch by 2 inch screen. It is simply too hard to see. Music listening is not “screen dependent” at all. Video is not a “little screen” product, no matter how many deals Apple does.
Sounds like McIntyre either hasn’t heard of Apple TV or doesn’t believe people will buy it. You have to believe that bringing rentals to iTunes will give more people a reason to buy Apple TV and move the DVD one step closer to extinction. |
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