iTunes Store tops 5B songs sold, serving up 50,000 movies per day

[AppleInsider]

Apple announced Thursday that customers on its iTunes Store have purchased and downloaded over five billion songs to date.

The digital download service is the number one music retailer in the US, according to the most recent data from NPD Group's MusicWatch survey, and features the largest music catalog with over eight million songs.

Apple also said that iTunes customers are now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies every day, or a yearly run rate of over 18 million, making iTunes the world's most popular online movie store as well.

In addition to its industry leading eight million songs, iTunes also sports a catalog of over 20,000 TV episodes and over 2,000 films, including over 350 in high definition video.

iTunes features movies from all of the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema.

Users can rent movies and watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV. iTunes Store customers can also purchase new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios on the same day as their DVD release.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[fenevad]

Ahh, a lightly warmed over press release...

[solipsism]

They were about 1.5 months short of selling 5B is 5 years.

At the current rate of 50K movies per day they will sell 18.25M per year. At $4 per movie rental (which I assume is the most common) that is $73M per year in revenue.

[pmoeser]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Users can rent movies and watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV. iTunes Store customers can also purchase new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios on the same day as their DVD release.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

Unless of course you are in Australia...

At least we have a Company store!

[Rot'nApple]

Any word on NBC's outside attempts with NBC.com, Hulu, Amazon and Zune Marketplace or whatever other distribution devices NBC has chosen? I wonder if the execs at NBC are still trying to figure a way to come back to iTunes while saving face or if they feel they are justly compensated through the ad supported distribution means they currently support with their programming.

Not to diminish any of NBC's shows but none of them ever caught my fancy so I never viewed them or bought them while on iTunes and I DEFINITELY did not go looking for any of their shows elsewhere. I am curious to know, those that loved NBC's programs such as, The Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock or whatever, when the content dried up at iTunes did any of you venture to alternate sites to find the NBC content and if you did back then, are you still today?!

Just curious...

[mbene12]

They are gonna have to move WAY more than 50,000 a day to make it worthwhile. That ends up being 40-80 million in revenue per year...split like 20 ways between hollywood, the costs of digitizing, the cost to provide the bandwidth, and apples cut, the tax man, etc. I imagine the lions share of the revenue has to go to hollywood (70%). I cant imagine at that pace that apple makes more than 5 million a year from the business, maybe 10m if you factor in apple tv/ ipod sales that are driven by this business. Not good. I was really hoping for better. They will have to at least triple this if they want to keep such a business model going, or the studios will bail and the content will evaporate.

[dreyfus2]

Originally Posted by mbene12

They will have to at least triple this if they want to keep such a business model going, or the studios will bail and the content will evaporate.

Hmm, in the article it says: "Apple also said that iTunes customers are now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies every day, or a yearly run rate of over 18 million, making iTunes the world's most popular online movie store as well."

If this is the most popular online store in the world already - where would the studios turn to?

[vinney57]

Pah... It'll never catch on.

[Booga]

Originally Posted by Rot'nApple

Any word on NBC's outside attempts with NBC.com, Hulu, Amazon and Zune Marketplace or whatever other distribution devices NBC has chosen? I wonder if the execs at NBC are still trying to figure a way to come back to iTunes while saving face or if they feel they are justly compensated through the ad supported distribution means they currently support with their programming.

Not to diminish any of NBC's shows but none of them ever caught my fancy so I never viewed them or bought them while on iTunes and I DEFINITELY did not go looking for any of their shows elsewhere. I am curious to know, those that loved NBC's programs such as, The Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock or whatever, when the content dried up at iTunes did any of you venture to alternate sites to find the NBC content and if you did back then, are you still today?!

Just curious...

I liked all the shows you mentioned, but have never been to hulu or whatever they call it. I have a TiVo so what's the point? If I really need it on an iPod I can buy Toast with Tivo2Go. I think the only business model that really makes sense to me is if you can replace your cable bill entirely with purchases from iTunes. It would end up cheaper for most people, and without ads, but it's definitely a different way of doing business. And lack of NBC content definitely hurts Apple there.

So I think NBC and Apple are definitely both hurting each other in this. No one's winning. I think NBC needs to just bite the bullet and come back to iTunes without bizarre DRM requests.

[mbene12]

If this is the most popular online store in the world already - where would the studios turn to?

I dont know that they would turn anywhere. They might just say its not worth the bother. Any given studio couldnt possibly be getting more than 2-3 million from this. That is really small change considering the costs of generating it (lawyers for every movie signed over, administration).

I think digital distribution is the way to go in general ( i havent bought a music cd in 5+ years but buy tons of tunes off itunes) but people are being really slow to adopt this model for video content. Watching video on portable media players is ok if your traveling or something, but not something most people would choose to do over conventional tv setups so i think that market is pretty limited by the small form factor of the device. If blu-ray systems didnt cost a ton and did more maybe the physical media model would see something of a revival, for now I think there is just gonna be a few years of stagnation as no one player can seem to get that critical mass.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solipsism

They were about 1.5 months short of selling 5B is 5 years.

At the current rate of 50K movies per day they will sell 18.25M per year. At $4 per movie rental (which I assume is the most common) that is $73M per year in revenue.

Rentals AND purchases. The average could be higher, perhaps $6 to $8.

Whatever the market is doing today so far (I haven't checked my realtime account yet) Apple's stock should be rising from this news, which shows three very good things.

One is the expanded music library of over 8 million songs.

Two is the sale of over 5 billion songs, which shows, as I've been saying for years now, that most consumers couldn't care less about DRM and quality issues. This makes the DRM hating geeks come out of the woodwork, but it's true, most consumers don't give a sh*t about DRM.

And three is the really good news about movie purchases and rentals. Even though Apple has many fewer movies than their main competitors, their new pricing and renting schedules are proving to be palatable to consumers, as I also said it would, and leading to industry leading business. Variable pricing is not the bugaboo that some seem to think it is. Consumers agree that different things have different values, and they don't mind paying more for something they value more.

[Mr Underhill]

On the movie side of things is this data US related or does it include data from the recent launch of movies in the UK and Canada?

Guess it puts the Kibosh on any price reductions on movie's in the UK store

[melgross]

Originally Posted by mbene12

They are gonna have to move WAY more than 50,000 a day to make it worthwhile. That ends up being 40-80 million in revenue per year...split like 20 ways between hollywood, the costs of digitizing, the cost to provide the bandwidth, and apples cut, the tax man, etc. I imagine the lions share of the revenue has to go to hollywood (70%). I cant imagine at that pace that apple makes more than 5 million a year from the business, maybe 10m if you factor in apple tv/ ipod sales that are driven by this business. Not good. I was really hoping for better. They will have to at least triple this if they want to keep such a business model going, or the studios will bail and the content will evaporate.

It's more than $80 million a year at this pace, as purchases raise that average higher.

but, you could have said the same thing about iTunes music several years ago.

Your argument has no credence, because of two reasons.

The first is that Apple just instituted this a few months ago, so it's at it's infancy, and has a long growth curve in front of it as Apple gains many more films, Tv shows etc. Right now, they have but a fraction of what their competitors have, and yet, they beat the pants off them in sales and rentals. Doesn't that tell you anything?

Two is that Apple has NEVER regarded their downloads business to be much more than an adjunct to iPod and Mac sales. Now iPhone sales as well. If they make a 5% profit on this they will be very happy indeed. This is the main advantage Apple has over its competitors who are only selling the service. They have to make more profit on it than Apple to have a viable business.

Remember that the labels and studios have complained about that very thing. That Apple doesn't care about profits on its downloads because of its hardware business, which its downloads are just the feeder for.

I think that 50,000 downloads a day at this point is very good indeed. Your expectations are out of whack with reality at this time.

[solsun]

For music It took:
3 years to sell the 1st billion,
1 year to sell the 2nd billion,
6 months to sell the 3rd and 4th billion
4 months to sell the 5th billion.

I'd expect the movie rental trend to increase as well..

[mbene12]

Your argument has no credence

pretty harsh imo

As for it just being a couple months old...kinda, but iTunes for TV has been around a lot longer and this is only a tweek on it. Are they even advertising it or the apple tv? I would be more optimistic if they started advertising, that would be a sign of commitment.

I am not taking the position that apple needs to make much of a direct profit from this, but the movie industry certainly does if they want to have the content.

Your expectations are out of whack with reality at this time.

Maybe these numbers are good considering the lack of advertising, but think how much problem they have had with the TV networks over even greater revenue. Am I "completely out of whack" for hoping that they could get to at least that level?

[solsun]

Originally Posted by melgross

Two is that Apple has NEVER regarded their downloads business to be much more than an adjunct to iPod and Mac sales. Now iPhone sales as well. If they make a 5% profit on this they will be very happy indeed. This is the main advantage Apple has over its competitors who are only selling the service. They have to make more profit on it than Apple to have a viable business.

.

True, Apple did say this.. But that was before they were selling 1 billion songs every four months.

If this pace continues or increases it becomes a minimum of 3 billion songs sold per year.. If Apple gets a 10% profit, that's $300 million per year in music sales alone, even a 5% profit is 150 million per year. Both figures are definitely something to regard.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by mbene12

pretty harsh imo

As for it just being a couple months old...kinda, but iTunes for TV has been around a lot longer and this is only a tweek on it. Are they even advertising it or the apple tv? I would be more optimistic if they started advertising, that would be a sign of commitment.

I am not taking the position that apple needs to make much of a direct profit from this, but the movie industry certainly does if they want to have the content.

Maybe these numbers are good considering the lack of advertising, but think how much problem they have had with the TV networks over even greater revenue. Am I "completely out of whack" for hoping that they could get to at least that level?

Yes, TV shows have been around while, but I think those are more targeted to mobile viewing, and being shorter, sitting at your computer watching an occassional show is not a big deal. The only time I've purchased a TV show was because my DVR didn't record an episode or for some of the NFL game summaries. There are very few TV shows that I couldn't just have my DVR record, so until they start offering shows I can't get on cable (such as overseas programming), or until it can completely replace my cable, I don't see much growth in TV shows.

The real growth potential is the movies, I think. Movies have been around a little while, but how do you get that on your TV. The first limiting factor is the need for a widescreen TV (yeah, I know that's not strictly true). The second was the cost of AppleTV (although I use my mini). The third was cost of content (iTunes movie purchases aren't exactly a bargin for what you get).

All of those have only just recently been addressed to some degree. This past holiday season was another big one for HDTVs, and after the holiday Apple lowered the price of AppleTV and added rentals. The true test will be this upcoming holiday season. An upgraded AppleTV, bigger movie selection, and a big marketing push could make AppleTV a big item for Christmas gift giving. The competition will be Blu-ray (from a gift-giving perspective, not from a technical features perspective). I suspect this Fall is the battle Apple will be gearing up for on the movie/AppleTV front.

[ZagMac]

Originally Posted by Rot'nApple

Not to diminish any of NBC's shows but none of them ever caught my fancy so I never viewed them or bought them while on iTunes and I DEFINITELY did not go looking for any of their shows elsewhere. I am curious to know, those that loved NBC's programs such as, The Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock or whatever, when the content dried up at iTunes did any of you venture to alternate sites to find the NBC content and if you did back then, are you still today?!

Just curious...

I tried Hulu. Seems to work fine, but misses the major point for me: I buy/rent video content from iTunes only to watch via iPods or AppleTV. No interest in sitting at my computer longer than I have to, certainly not to watch TV. So NBC and I have parted ways. Too bad, too, as I'm addicted to The Office and can watch every episode over and over again (as long as it is commercial free and where I want it to be) after purchasing.

[tacojohn]

I haven't purchased a single movie from iTunes and I've moved to Amazon for all my music purchases (I like to use my PS3 as a "media center").

I haven't really bought any movies in awhile, mostly because I don't want to invest in old tech (dvd) anymore, but bluray is too expensive and the quality just isn't there w/ iTunes.

I only buy things on bluray that I really really want (Planet Earth, 300, and Bladerunner thus far), I will be buying Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo once those hit and Transformers as well.

It's really a shame with all the DRM surrounding iTunes and everything else. I didn't care before when all I had was an iPod, but now so many devices can play digital content I feel trapped with iTunes Store media...

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by mbene12

I am not taking the position that apple needs to make much of a direct profit from this, but the movie industry certainly does if they want to have the content.

Why? What does the movie industry have to loose by providing the content? On the contrary, I think they would have a lot to loose by not providing the content.

I don't think that the movie industry is very excited about selling movies online (I think they were happy with theaters and DVDs) but the world doesn't stand still, as much as they would like it to. If a whole generation comes to expect to be able to move movies to all their devices (TVs, computers, iPods and such) and the only way they can do this is through illegal downloading or ripping then a whole generation will come to age expecting their movies to be free.
The movie industry, if they are thinking long term, MUST provide resonable cost options for downloading movies. It is the wave of the future (it may not be here yet, but we know the wave is coming) and they need people to get used to paying for their content.

We saw what happened to the music industry when a generation got to thinking music should be free. It has taken people a long time to get used to buying it again and b!tch as they might, the music industry has iTunes to thank for that. The movie industry must have learned a lesson there...

[solsun]

Originally Posted by tacojohn

It's really a shame with all the DRM surrounding iTunes and everything else. I didn't care before when all I had was an iPod, but now so many devices can play digital content I feel trapped with iTunes Store media...

Firstly, All of your Apple devices will play iTunes media..

Secondly, your Blu-Ray discs have just as much DRM and are more limited than iTunes content as they won't play on anything other than your PS3 or another Blu-Ray player.

I do understand what you mean by the quality isn't there yet with iTunes HD, but it is still very good for a rental.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by mbene12

pretty harsh imo

Not harsh, just accurate. The argument is way off base.

As for it just being a couple months old...kinda, but iTunes for TV has been around a lot longer and this is only a tweek on it. Are they even advertising it or the apple tv? I would be more optimistic if they started advertising, that would be a sign of commitment.

Until movies came out in large numbers, and for Apple, the two thousand they now have are large numbers compared to what they had before, and rentals, the video section was just treading water. It served to say that Apple was interested, but without content, there was nothing much they could do. Even so, they outsold all other services. Now, we'll see the trend move much more quickly. But it will still take a couple of YEARS to make a big dent in Apple's bottom line, not a couple of months. That's like asking a baby to get up and run before it can walk. It's just in the crawl stage now.

I am not taking the position that apple needs to make much of a direct profit from this, but the movie industry certainly does if they want to have the content.

The movie industry, just like the music industry is making a damn good profit off iTunes. It's been shown several times that they get more from iTunes per sale than they get from any other service.

Remember that not only do they not have to press disks, pack jewel cases and printed liner notes, but they have no distribution costs, and they don't have to take back unsold copies and destroy them. Don't believe their crying. They're doing just fine.

What the content providers are concerned about is that downloads are not growing at the pace that hard copy sales are shrinking, so they are trying to make up the difference by charging more for the downloads. There two trains in motion here. One is that they want to make up the losses in hard copy, and two is to try to slow down the growth of downloads with the hope that it will keep hard copy sales numbers up. Neither course of action is going to work.

Maybe these numbers are good considering the lack of advertising, but think how much problem they have had with the TV networks over even greater revenue. Am I "completely out of whack" for hoping that they could get to at least that level?

Hoping and expecting are two very different things.

I hope Apple will sell 20 million Macs in 2009, but I don't expect them to.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solsun

True, Apple did say this.. But that was before they were selling 1 billion songs every four months.

If this pace continues or increases it becomes a minimum of 3 billion songs sold per year.. If Apple gets a 10% profit, that's $300 million per year in music sales alone, even a 5% profit is 150 million per year. Both figures are definitely something to regard.

10% no way. Apple has used the 5% number, and thats what I believe. By keeping costs under control, they can make that profit when selling in very large numbers. Services selling far less can't even reach the 5% number, and it's believed that iTunes is the only service making a consistent profit without the content providers giving the content for less than Apple gets it.

[minderbinder]

Interesting to finally see a number on apple's videos.

So they offer 22k titles, compared with the 10k for Netflix downloads. So much for the assumed Netflix advantage there.

And is a pace of 18 million movie downloads per year so bad? Seems decent for an industry in its infancy and likely to grow pretty quickly over the next few years.

Isn't the most important factor that apple is the number one video/movie download site (by far), not whether the raw numbers seem big enough? As long as Apple is on top and growing, I don't see any reason for concern. Like studios are going to abandon the most successful seller in favor of smaller ones? No way.

Apple's biggest hurdle is that they are SO successful, studios are afraid of giving them too much content and them monopolizing the market.

[minderbinder]

Originally Posted by Booga

I have a TiVo so what's the point?

Shows on stations you don't get. Episodes that Tivo misses because your power goes out or other problems.

Sure, Tivo makes this less appealing. But there are plenty of people who don't have tivo, or don't even have cable.

[netdog]

Sales of AppleTVs must be finally kicking in as well then given the HD requirements.

[mbene12]

Mel,

Guess i wont bother putting my 2 cents up anymore. Your opinion = truth , unless that argument also "has no credence"

[caliminius]

Originally Posted by solsun

Firstly, All of your Apple devices will play iTunes media..

Secondly, your Blu-Ray discs have just as much DRM and are more limited than iTunes content as they won't play on anything other than your PS3 or another Blu-Ray player.

I do understand what you mean by the quality isn't there yet with iTunes HD, but it is still very good for a rental.

Those are a couple of really condradictory statements: "Firstly, All of your Apple devices will play iTunes media.." That was his point. iTunes DRM will only play on Apple devices. That's why I won't purchase from iTunes. I usually buy CDs and then if something is cheap on Amazon's mp3 store, I'll buy that (I bought Coldplay's "Rush of Blood to the Head" and "Parachutes" over the past 2 days for $1.99 each. Thanks Amazon!).

I have an iPod, a PSP, a Tivo and a PS3 and I want to be able to listen to my music on any of those devices. And except for the tiny portion that was purchased from iTunes, it all does.

I don't understand your comment about Blu-Ray: "...as they won't play on anything other than your PS3 or another Blu-Ray player." Except that unlike iTunes DRM, those discs aren't locked into only playing on one manufacturer's equipment. If my PS3 goes, I can go buy a Pioneer or Panasonic player. I don't know why you think someone would expect Blu-Ray discs to play on something than a Blu-Ray player.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by caliminius

Those are a couple of really condradictory statements: "Firstly, All of your Apple devices will play iTunes media.." That was his point. iTunes DRM will only play on Apple devices. That's why I won't purchase from iTunes. I usually buy CDs and then if something is cheap on Amazon's mp3 store, I'll buy that (I bought Coldplay's "Rush of Blood to the Head" and "Parachutes" over the past 2 days for $1.99 each. Thanks Amazon!).

I have an iPod, a PSP, a Tivo and a PS3 and I want to be able to listen to my music on any of those devices. And except for the tiny portion that was purchased from iTunes, it all does.

I don't understand your comment about Blu-Ray: "...as they won't play on anything other than your PS3 or another Blu-Ray player." Except that unlike iTunes DRM, those discs aren't locked into only playing on one manufacturer's equipment. If my PS3 goes, I can go buy a Pioneer or Panasonic player. I don't know why you think someone would expect Blu-Ray discs to play on something than a Blu-Ray player.

Actually, there is nothing contradictory in my statement..

Yes, iTunes media has DRM, but you have options, you can transfer that media from your computer (Mac or PC,) as well as an iPod, iPhone or Apple TV.. So you do have the option of portability and taking that content with you as well as watching it on the big screen at home.

Blu-Ray content also has DRM but it is more "limited" in that there is no portability offered. Sure, you can choose to buy a player from Sony, Pioneer or other, but they are essentially all the same type of device, a Blu-Ray player.. Most people don't buy multiple Blu-Ray players for different needs, but they do buy multiple home and portable devices for different purposes. You can't rip, burn or take Blu-Ray content with you on ANY brand music player or phone.

[paxman]

Originally Posted by mbene12

I dont know that they would turn anywhere. They might just say its not worth the bother. Any given studio couldnt possibly be getting more than 2-3 million from this. That is really small change considering the costs of generating it (lawyers for every movie signed over, administration).

Yeah, I echo the thought expressed earlier - this thing will never catch on..... NOT

Apple can play the waiting game. This is a much slower adoption process than music. I think most of those movies sold or rented goe to iPods. As the market matures, Apple TV takes off (if it does), iPhone sales soar and most importantly, the movie inventory increases drastically, Apple will be well positioned to benefit. I think 50 000 a day is important. It proves that there is a market and the studios will take note. These guys are looking to the future as much as anybody.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Booga

I liked all the shows you mentioned, but have never been to hulu or whatever they call it. I have a TiVo so what's the point?

What if you get into a show after it's been on a bit?

Originally Posted by minderbinder

So they offer 22k titles, compared with the 10k for Netflix downloads. So much for the assumed Netflix advantage there.

How many of those 22k are for rent?

Originally Posted by Rot'nApple

Any word on NBC's outside attempts with NBC.com, Hulu, Amazon and Zune Marketplace or whatever other distribution devices NBC has chosen? I wonder if the execs at NBC are still trying to figure a way to come back to iTunes while saving face or if they feel they are justly compensated through the ad supported distribution means they currently support with their programming.

I think it's an attempt at a power play, that NBC probably doesn't want Apple to get too powerful. I doubt they're making as much money with internet ads as they are on broadcast. One estimate that seems credible is that broadcast TV gets about $0.25 in ad revenue per half hour per viewer. Income through iTunes is something like $1.40 per episode.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

How many of those 22k are for rent?

Most of those 22k are television shows and at $1.99 are cheaper than a rental.. Of the movies offered, (and correct me if I'm wrong,) I believe they are all available as rentals.

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by mbene12

Mel,

Guess i wont bother putting my 2 cents up anymore. Your opinion = truth , unless that argument also "has no credence"

Come on, mbene, stand up for your opinions.
Mel is gruff and opinionated (and relentless), but if you think you are right try to convince him/us. That is part of what makes this interesting. If you think your argument doesn't stand up, bow out gracefully--there is no point in getting huffy...

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by mbene12

Mel,

Guess i wont bother putting my 2 cents up anymore. Your opinion = truth , unless that argument also "has no credence"

You have a viewpoint, he has a viewpoint. Who is correct or incorrect is mostly based on who can establish a better argument. Don't stop posting, but create a better argument for your POV when challenged. The same way you might reply to another whose reply you don't agree with.

Everyone else reading this thread is the audience. You might be thinking that you aren't here for a debate. But you are. You made a post to state a point. If what you were posting was common knowledge and agreed with by everyone then there would have been no need to make the post because things like "I like turtles" can't be unproven and "cloud often look white" is generally accepted as fact.

If you think your initial point is still valid or that Melgross is wrong then use Google to find sources that can backup your point or invalidate his. Most of us are here to learn something, so school us.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by solsun

Most of those 22k are television shows and at $1.99 are cheaper than a rental.. Of the movies offered, (and correct me if I'm wrong,) I believe they are all available as rentals.

I think the story changed, it previously said 22,000 films and 20,000 TV episodes, now it's saying 20,000 TV episodes and 2,000 films.

$1.99 an episode is not cheaper than a rental, unless you compare it to renting a full movie. One DVD of a TV show often has eight episodes.

[avatar1632]

Originally Posted by minderbinder

Shows on stations you don't get. Episodes that Tivo misses because your power goes out or other problems.

Sure, Tivo makes this less appealing. But there are plenty of people who don't have tivo, or don't even have cable.

I've had a Tivo for many, many years; a DirecTivo to be precise. The last two were even eventually hacked to allow transferring the shows off the Tivo but that process is tedious at best and the video quality of over-compressed MPEG2, at a visibly crappy non-scalable resolution on an HDTV, isn't so appealing. But that doesn't compensate for the Tivo's hard drive failures or the disk filling up and having to delete stuff to make more room, seeing as Tivo has never seen fit to add a feature that tells you how much space/recording time is left, at least on the DTivo devices up to the latest Series 2 software. (Um.. duh?)

On the ATV, my girlfriend and I have recently been watching (or rewatching) Deadwood, Rome, (soon) The Pretender, and Star Trek: Enterprise. I could go buy the DVD sets for those but it would cost a lot more (especially for the HBO shows -- sheesh) and then it takes time to either copy or rip the content to media that all the computers/AppleTV can get to and I have better things to do. I've also recently been trying to reduce the physical space that my DVD collection consumes so no point in buying big boxes of TV show seasons. With the exception of darkly-lit scenes in Deadwood and Rome, the H.264 compression/resolution-scaling hasn't been noticable on a 42" HD screen. I chalk that up to HBO providing poor-quality material (probably the same data used for the DVDs).

And then there's the possibility of becoming interested in other TV shows that we've never seen before. It's a lot cheaper and more convenient to sit on the couch and push "Purchase for $1.99", then "OK", then "Play" than it is to even bother with Netflix and wait a day or five for the discs to show up. Nevermind going to the store, if it's not 3am or whatever, burning $4.50/gal gas (California here) in the process, etc.

As far as the ATV goes, there's entertainment to be found besides TV shows and movies. My g/f, a near-technophobe, has recently discovered the large selection of French language podcasts, for example, and has really been enjoying them. She's started browsing the other podcasts as well, with much interest. And the best part of it is, we can do this together without huddling around a computer screen/keyboard/mouse.

I considered a Mac Mini but the requisite dollar/time investment wasn't in its favor at the time. Maybe in the future, though.

Just my $0.02 USD.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

I think the story changed, it previously said 22,000 films and 20,000 TV episodes, now it's saying 20,000 TV episodes and 2,000 films.

$1.99 an episode is not cheaper than a rental. One DVD of a TV show often has eight episodes.

Actually, the majority of them have four episodes.

But true, when you look at it that way, $1.99 is not cheaper, but it is certainly more convenient if you just missed one episode..

[solsun]

Originally Posted by avatar1632

I considered a Mac Mini but the requisite dollar/time investment wasn't in its favor at the time. Maybe in the future, though.

Just my $0.02 USD.

Also, the Mac Mini won't play HD content from the iTunes store, only an Apple TV will.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by solsun

Actually, the majority of them have four episodes.

But true, when you look at it that way, $1.99 is not cheaper, but it is certainly more convenient if you just missed one episode..

30 minute shows are about 22 minutes long. They tend to have 6 to 8 episodes per disk.

One hour shows are about 42 minutes long. They tend to have 3 to 4 episodes per disk.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by solsun

Actually, the majority of them have four episodes.

But true, when you look at it that way, $1.99 is not cheaper, but it is certainly more convenient if you just missed one episode..

On hour long shows, yes, it's four. If it's half hour shows, then it's often eight.