Apple adds multiscreen movie rental viewing to iTunes in latest update

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 38
    zmaxmanzmaxman Posts: 15member
    Tried to download but it reported an error and stopped downloading. When I check for updates on iTunes, message is that 12.5.5 is the current version
  • Reply 22 of 38
    doggonedoggone Posts: 377member
    mike1 said:
    doggone said:
    brucemc said:
    zenwaves said:
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    Totally agree - I never rent from iTunes for this sole reason. Rental period should be at *minimum* 48 hours.
    Agree. Totally determined by the content rights holders though.  And apparently different by country, as rental period in Canada is 48 hours.
    Ditto.  Only time I've rented from iTunes is when it was not available anywhere else or I was traveling and knew I would only be able to watch it that evening.
    The 24h restriction for Apple is bogus.  No other provider is dealt with that timeline.
    Not true. Every On-Demand title from your cable provider is also 24 hours. That is a studio restriction. Remember, it's 24 hours from when you first start to watch. It's 30 days from when you download.
    Have to disagree. Just 2 weeks ago I rented Dr Strange on Saturday (xfinity). My wife was out of town that weekend but was able to watch the movie again on Monday. That was definitely more that 24 hours 
  • Reply 23 of 38
    stompystompy Posts: 408member
    doggone said:
    mike1 said:
    Not true. Every On-Demand title from your cable provider is also 24 hours. That is a studio restriction. Remember, it's 24 hours from when you first start to watch. It's 30 days from when you download.
    Have to disagree. Just 2 weeks ago I rented Dr Strange on Saturday (xfinity). My wife was out of town that weekend but was able to watch the movie again on Monday. That was definitely more that 24 hours 
    It depends on the cable provider and the movie. It appears that xfinity rentals vary from 24 to 48 hours. I don't know if some studios place additional rental restrictions on Apple or if if Apple has chosen to make all rental periods 24 hours for consistency.

    While it would be nice to know the 'real' reason, I wouldn't be surprised by either of these answers.
  • Reply 24 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I wonder if this means Apple's relationship with the studios is changing for the better (even if at a snail's pace).
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 25 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    appex said:
    "iTunes 12.6 is a free update and can be downloaded by clicking Check for Updates in the iTunes File menu". Not here. I get: "This version of iTunes (12.5.5) is the current version". And anyway, why not via Apple - About this Mac - Software Update? There is where it should be, and it not there either.
    Why are you going through all those steps to get to the Mac App Store?
    fastasleep
  • Reply 26 of 38
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    About time, should've been this way from the very start.  Stupid, customer-hostile studios.  Next, get rid of the 48 hour watch time and just have a flat 30 day rental period.  These absurd little rules make the entire experience suck.
  • Reply 27 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    crowley said:
    About time, should've been this way from the very start.  Stupid, customer-hostile studios.  Next, get rid of the 48 hour watch time and just have a flat 30 day rental period.  These absurd little rules make the entire experience suck.
    1) You think 30 days of unlimited viewing is reasonable to ask of a movie and TV show rental?

    2) How can they get rid of 48-hour rentals when the US is still on 24-hours, unless I missed that update to the service? I'd think 48-hours, then 72-hours would be a great way to move the needle, but not jumping from 24-hours to 720-hours. Does 3-days not sound fair to you?
  • Reply 28 of 38
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Soli said:
    crowley said:
    About time, should've been this way from the very start.  Stupid, customer-hostile studios.  Next, get rid of the 48 hour watch time and just have a flat 30 day rental period.  These absurd little rules make the entire experience suck.
    1) You think 30 days of unlimited viewing is reasonable to ask of a movie and TV show rental?

    2) How can they get rid of 48-hour rentals when the US is still on 24-hours, unless I missed that update to the service? I'd think 48-hours, then 72-hours would be a great way to move the needle, but not jumping from 24-hours to 720-hours. Does 3-days not sound fair to you?
    1) Yes.

    2) I don't live in the U.S. and I'd prefer 30 days.
  • Reply 29 of 38
    appexappex Posts: 687member
    Soli said:
    appex said:
    "iTunes 12.6 is a free update and can be downloaded by clicking Check for Updates in the iTunes File menu". Not here. I get: "This version of iTunes (12.5.5) is the current version". And anyway, why not via Apple - About this Mac - Software Update? There is where it should be, and it not there either.
    Why are you going through all those steps to get to the Mac App Store?
    I described two ways above. Any other way do do it? 
  • Reply 30 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    appex said:
    Soli said:
    appex said:
    "iTunes 12.6 is a free update and can be downloaded by clicking Check for Updates in the iTunes File menu". Not here. I get: "This version of iTunes (12.5.5) is the current version". And anyway, why not via Apple - About this Mac - Software Update? There is where it should be, and it not there either.
    Why are you going through all those steps to get to the Mac App Store?
    I described two ways above. Any other way do do it? 
    Open up the Mac App Store by any variety of ways, and then choosing Updates from its Toolbar, if It doesn't automatically open to it. One of your ways has you bypassing the "App Store…" option when you select " » About This Mac."
  • Reply 31 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    crowley said:
    Soli said:
    crowley said:
    About time, should've been this way from the very start.  Stupid, customer-hostile studios.  Next, get rid of the 48 hour watch time and just have a flat 30 day rental period.  These absurd little rules make the entire experience suck.
    1) You think 30 days of unlimited viewing is reasonable to ask of a movie and TV show rental?

    2) How can they get rid of 48-hour rentals when the US is still on 24-hours, unless I missed that update to the service? I'd think 48-hours, then 72-hours would be a great way to move the needle, but not jumping from 24-hours to 720-hours. Does 3-days not sound fair to you?
    1) Yes.

    2) I don't live in the U.S. and I'd prefer 30 days.
    I'm on-board with your opinion being that 30-days of unlimited viewing is reasonable, so I guess I should ask do you think that's reasonable to suggest an increase of 1500% instead of first suggesting an increase of 50%, to 3-days of unlimited viewing, as a more achievable goal. For example, I want all of Apple's products to be a 1500 times faster, better, and cheaper in every way. It's also reasonable for me to want that, but it's reasonable for me to suggest that Apple is hostile to customers because they don't make that happen for me right this instance or without any sort of reasonable stepping.
  • Reply 32 of 38
    appexappex Posts: 687member
    Soli said:
    appex said:
    Soli said:
    appex said:
    "iTunes 12.6 is a free update and can be downloaded by clicking Check for Updates in the iTunes File menu". Not here. I get: "This version of iTunes (12.5.5) is the current version". And anyway, why not via Apple - About this Mac - Software Update? There is where it should be, and it not there either.
    Why are you going through all those steps to get to the Mac App Store?
    I described two ways above. Any other way do do it? 
    Open up the Mac App Store by any variety of ways, and then choosing Updates from its Toolbar, if It doesn't automatically open to it. One of your ways has you bypassing the "App Store…" option when you select " » About This Mac."
    Thanks, but that is exactly what I did.
  • Reply 33 of 38
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    zmaxman said:
    Tried to download but it reported an error and stopped downloading. When I check for updates on iTunes, message is that 12.5.5 is the current version
    You're lucky. I updated iTunes and it's crashed 3 times already with me doing nothing except having it open. Crash logs are supposed to be sent automatically to Apple so we'll see what happens.

    Consistent with this:

    Crashed Thread:        23  Dispatch queue: com.apple.root.default-qos (thread number changes but same file)

    Exception Type:        EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
    Exception Codes:       EXC_I386_GPFLT
    Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

    or

    Exception Type:        EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
    Exception Codes:       KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x000007fbb0682ff9
    Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY


  • Reply 34 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    appex said:
    Soli said:
    appex said:
    Soli said:
    appex said:
    "iTunes 12.6 is a free update and can be downloaded by clicking Check for Updates in the iTunes File menu". Not here. I get: "This version of iTunes (12.5.5) is the current version". And anyway, why not via Apple - About this Mac - Software Update? There is where it should be, and it not there either.
    Why are you going through all those steps to get to the Mac App Store?
    I described two ways above. Any other way do do it? 
    Open up the Mac App Store by any variety of ways, and then choosing Updates from its Toolbar, if It doesn't automatically open to it. One of your ways has you bypassing the "App Store…" option when you select " » About This Mac."
    Thanks, but that is exactly what I did.
    Right, hence my wondering why you're going through all the extra steps by going into About This Mac.
  • Reply 35 of 38
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Soli said:
    crowley said:
    Soli said:
    crowley said:
    About time, should've been this way from the very start.  Stupid, customer-hostile studios.  Next, get rid of the 48 hour watch time and just have a flat 30 day rental period.  These absurd little rules make the entire experience suck.
    1) You think 30 days of unlimited viewing is reasonable to ask of a movie and TV show rental?

    2) How can they get rid of 48-hour rentals when the US is still on 24-hours, unless I missed that update to the service? I'd think 48-hours, then 72-hours would be a great way to move the needle, but not jumping from 24-hours to 720-hours. Does 3-days not sound fair to you?
    1) Yes.

    2) I don't live in the U.S. and I'd prefer 30 days.
    I'm on-board with your opinion being that 30-days of unlimited viewing is reasonable, so I guess I should ask do you think that's reasonable to suggest an increase of 1500% instead of first suggesting an increase of 50%, to 3-days of unlimited viewing, as a more achievable goal. For example, I want all of Apple's products to be a 1500 times faster, better, and cheaper in every way. It's also reasonable for me to want that, but it's reasonable for me to suggest that Apple is hostile to customers because they don't make that happen for me right this instance or without any sort of reasonable stepping.
    I think the 24/48 hour limit stretched reasonableness in the first place, and has proved inconvenient for me as a customer multiple times in the past.  3 days would be a tiny bit less of a problem, but still stupid.

    I take your point that in negotiating with the studios baby steps may be required to get them to budge, but that's what negotiation is about.  Start at 30 days (a reasonable suggestion, customer-friendly, has no significant downside, actually simplifies some of the DRM), push for it hard, and compromise if required.


    Incidentally, I'm not particularly bothered about unlimited viewing, what bothers me is starting a movie and then for whatever reason having to stop it, and then being on a 48 hour countdown.  I wouldn't really mind all that much if Apple or the studios wanted to put a cap on the number of viewings - hell I think my ideal rental system would actually be an unlimited clock, but a 1 viewing limit, I can't remember ever watching a rental more than once.  Others probably wouldn't be so happy with that though.
  • Reply 36 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    crowley said:
    I wouldn't really mind all that much if Apple or the studios wanted to put a cap on the number of viewings - hell I think my ideal rental system would actually be an unlimited clock, but a 1 viewing limit, I can't remember ever watching a rental more than once.  Others probably wouldn't be so happy with that though.
    That would also include rewatching part of scene you missed or didn't understand.

    But let's keep in mind that this is all digital. They could allow an aggregate 200% viewing per rental with a 30-day expiration date. This means you could watch it twice, even with some scene repeats because you likely don't watch the credits. That said, that sounds too convoluted for Apple to implement.


    PS: When Apple comes out with their own series, will they offer rentals, and if they do will they be bound by the same 24/48-hour and 30-day rental limits, or shine a light on a better way to treat customers?
  • Reply 37 of 38
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    Just a thought for discussion around what Apple could do further in this space.  When it comes to content (available via Internet based streaming services) right now, most players are focused on the "TV skinny bundle" of linear channels.  Sounds like Apple was interested awhile ago, but couldn't get the deal they wanted.  Now everyone and their dog is coming out with a service, so the field is crowded, and it is not clear on the upside value Apple would gain from its own service.  Better to focus on the platform aspect of tvOS and iOS to make it the best user experience, get people purchasing via App Store if available, and maintain stickiness / drive new users.

    However, per the topic of this thread, an area where Apple is still dominant is in content purchases & rentals for Movies and TV.  Outside of this announcement, this service hasn't changed much in years.  We expect that is mostly the studio's doing, but obviously don't know all the details.  This service is little more than the digital version of Blockbuster and Best Buy.  What are some "reasonable" ideas to reboot the service, with clear differentiation from either the skinny linear bundle or back-catalog/own content service (Netflix & HBO)?
    - Make it have an element of subscription.  Example: for $10/month, you get one free movie rental per month + discounts on each rental.  Say discounted rentals for movies are $1.99 - $3.99 (vs. $4.99-$5.99).  
    - Extend the rental period to at least 3 days (72 hours).
    - Develop a rental service for series that do not include the "current season".  Make the catchup on series much easier and economical.  People are far more likely to rent than buy, and if brings them up to speed, perhaps more likely to increase viewership of current season shows.  Rental for each show would be the 72 hours (not the series:)
    - Provide discounts for purchases (e.g. 20% discount on purchase while a subscriber).

    This encourages more consumption of content, each transaction still brings in revenue, there is a subscription base to build on.  It is hard to see how it wouldn't generate more money for both sides.  It builds on Apple's iTunes catalog strength, improves the user experience, and brings unique value to Apple TV and iOS devices.

    Thoughts?
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