iTunes Same Day Movies, More Bad News for Blu-ray
Apple has announced its iTunes store will release movies for download on the same day they’re available on DVD. It’s a major breakthrough in timing as downloads have traditionally been staggered behind the DVD releases. It also may constitute another minor competitor for Blu-ray although the iTunes movies aren’t in HD.
Most major studios are involved in iTunes movie same-day plan including: 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Warner, Universal, Sony and Lionsgate. Movies will cost 14.99 at the iTunes Store and will of course be subject to all of Apple’s DRM restrictions.
It’s another movie consumer option that will prove a minor competitor to DVD and indirectly with Blu-ray. But all is not lost on disc formats as respected tech-industry bloggers like John Murrell would have you believe.
In his post Murrell points to digital downloads as another nail in the coffin for Blu-ray (and in the long run DVD). But disc formats will remain alive and well for the foreseeable future.
The sheer amount of data needed to download a movie is enough to put the average user off, especially when it comes to high def content.
As I peer into the tech-entertainment industry crystal ball disc formats are alive and well for the foreseeable future. Tech industry writers tend to believe that average folks are just as comfortable downloading and storing file libraries.
But there are more controversial troubles within the services that make digital downloads possible.
When high-speed Internet providers is also your Cable TV company you better believe they don’t want you downloading TV and movies from iTunes. They will try to stack the deck in favor of their own services. Look at how Canadian cable provider Rogers is nullifying efforts to use digital downloads to replace a cable TV subscription.
Another factor is DRM. Your Apple movies will be subject to sync-requirements to establish a relationship with a specific computer or playback device. This is not just a pain in the butt for users but you should be aware it has potential to render you digital movie library useless in the future.
Just look at what is happening to anyone with a music library encoded with Microsoft’s DRM Janus.
