So sure, Sony Pictures' profits nosedived but they still made $58,000,000 dollars...
Their sales were $1,800,000,000...
And they still made crap movies or remakes. I think they should start looking for savings at home before trying to manufacture a system that will make it harder for the consumer to give them any money at all.
To be fair, I also feel that services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu etc do de-value content with the aim of building a database of users whose viewing and purchasing habits can be sold to advertisers.
That's what I like about iTunes movie service. You pay a fair price. But you get shafted by the studios restricting the content available.
It is still not possible to rent Blade Runner on iTunes in Australia*. You have to buy it for AUD$17.99 (Currently US$17.91) compared to the US iTunes store where I can buy it for US$9.99 or rent it for US$2.99
I really would like to know what they actually think is the cause of content piracy...
So sure, Sony Pictures' profits nosedived but they still made $58,000,000 dollars...
Their sales were $1,800,000,000...
And they still made crap movies or remakes. I think they should start looking for savings at home before trying to manufacture a system that will make it harder for the consumer to give them any money at all.
To be fair, I also feel that services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu etc do de-value content with the aim of building a database of users whose viewing and purchasing habits can be sold to advertisers.
That's what I like about iTunes movie service. You pay a fair price. But you get shafted by the studios restricting the content available.
It is still not possible to rent Blade Runner on iTunes in Australia*. You have to buy it for AUD$17.99 (Currently US$17.91) compared to the US iTunes store where I can buy it for US$9.99 or rent it for US$2.99
I really would like to know what they actually think is the cause of content piracy...
*First World Problems
I'm not so sure Netflix devalues content, but rather brings actual value into check. If access to/personal copy of *movie_name* was worth more, it would still sell at that price.
The sad thing is that it wasn't that long ago that the studios were fighting your right to rip a DVD to your hard disk for backup.
You know if they would allow me to put the iTunes rental price towards purchase I would definitely buy a lot more movies. Talk about an industry that just doesn't get it's customers.
I'm not so sure Netflix devalues content, but rather brings actual value into check. If access to/personal copy of *movie_name* was worth more, it would still sell at that price.
You don't think that a very low monthly membership fee to enable you to watch as many movies as they have (and you have bandwidth for) devalues the content?
Even at one movie a day that's 50c or so that the movie is valued at.
(Not taking in to consideration the actual quality of the movie here. Some may in fact be worth less)
So they want me to go to a web site to stream a movie I already own. If they do it at full quality the viewer had better have a super fast internet connection.
This is just a stupid idea somebody dreamt up to create an internet job for himself and friends. At least it will employ some people for a while.
The bottom line is: Who the fuck wants to pay a premium to own a movie they are going to watch once? It makes no sense.
But having said that, if I open a 'film club' account with 25 of my best Internet buddies (whoever they may be), would we all be allowed to watch the movies we buy legally? Just hypothetically speaking?
I feel that 16:9 is not an optimal format for movies. In the future, I expect to see 2.40:1 Monitors and TV's being available.
Oh god no. That means PC monitors and laptops will start sporting 2.4:1 aspects, then Android tablets. Just because they can get LCD panels in that aspect cheaply. It will look completely stupid in portrait mode. I can't stand using these wide and short screens for real work on a computer. 4:3 (portrait and landscape) is pretty close to ideal for real work.
In a move to encourage customers to buy movies rather than rent or stream, studios are planning to launch cloud-based services to compete with digital media rental outlets, like Apple's iCloud-enhanced iTunes.
Citing a steady decline in physical disc sales, which are far more profitable than digital rentals
WOW, this is a corporate idiocy in its purest form. American corporations must be run by morons
People are moving away from disks because streaming is much more convenient, because they don't need to keep stacks of disks at home. So why offer them in the first place?
And how come disks are more profitable? They have to produce them, ship, give a wholesale cut to retails.
Instead of paying all that cost related to disk production and retail, they could simply provide movies online and pass saving to consumers. Is this a such a hard concept?
I'm not so sure Netflix devalues content, but rather brings actual value into check. If access to/personal copy of *movie_name* was worth more, it would still sell at that price.
Google devalues content. If it were up to them, they'd ask people to upload pirated movies onto Google servers, so they can stream it free and make money off the advertising. If it were up to them. (And all their fanboys would love them for giving away "free" content).
While I agree with the comments about the general incompetence of the studios, just to play devil's advocate...
Quote:
Originally Posted by sheff
Compare that to buy a dvd, stick it in you mac, watch a movie.
Compare that to one click on your apple tv, watch a movie.
Compare that to wanting to watch your movie on a non-Apple device.
There are a lot of non-Apple set-top boxes and connected blu-ray players and TVs. There are more non-Apple smartphones than there are iPhones. One of the reasons Amazon's digital book sales does better than Apple's iBooks is their cross-platform compatibility. (Personally, I will never buy from iBooks because my reader choices are extremely limited by Apple.)
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the studios are going to screw this up, too. But I do think there is an opportunity for someone reasonably competent to offer a competitive alternative to Apple's walled garden ecosystem. The problem with the studios is that they will shot themselves in the foot by being over-protective of their disc sales or by putting in some incredibly stupid and short-sighted terms and conditions which will scare people away from making any long-term commitment to their alternative offering.
They will also fail to demonstrate for their own part a long-term commitment to their initiative. They will give up in about 12 months after not getting the instant success they think they deserve (they don't). So rather than work on improving their product, they will throw in the towel, grumble some more about how Apple is destroying the entertainment industry, and then a year later they will have forgotten the lessons they learned and will invest millions in their latest scheme and repeat the whole process again.
Anyone thinks just a little bit about it (regardless of whether they went to business school or not) should be able to understand that you can't be a profit- or shareholder value- maximizing business without keeping in mind and serving the consumer's wants front and center.
Surely you've heard of a company called Apple, for instance?
It may be bit more complicated than that. I could try and explain, but just take a look at the protests going on in just about every American city...
There is so much fail in this thread that I can't even be bothered to correct everyone.
So the idea at least of UltraViolet is this. When you purchase movie it's added to your family UltraViolet account (up to 6 members).
You then have perpetual rights to that movie throughout all members of the UltraViolet group.
So for example, you purchase a Blu-ray from Best Buy and add that to your UltraViolet account. Your kids can then stream that movie from your Samsung/Panasonic/Sony/LG smart TV or you can watch it on your iPhone/iPad using and UltraViolet app.
Another example would be buying a bunch of digital movies on your Xbox. In 5 years time when your Xbox is dead the UltraViolet rights move with you, they aren't locked into your Xbox account.
Of course we are still a long way off this kind of seamless interactivity but like I said, that is at least the idea of UltraViolet.
Now that Jobs has unfortunately passed away, is there any connection left between Apple and Disney? I'm surprised they wouldn't just jump on with iCloud.
Disney won't just jump on with Apple because like the others they want the higher profit of selling a physical disk.
Apple's lack of a jump to Ultraviolet has nothing to do with the DRM and simply that they don't think folks should have to be forced to buy a disk to get the digital version
Oh god no. That means PC monitors and laptops will start sporting 2.4:1 aspects, then Android tablets. Just because they can get LCD panels in that aspect cheaply. It will look completely stupid in portrait mode. I can't stand using these wide and short screens for real work on a computer. 4:3 (portrait and landscape) is pretty close to ideal for real work.
For tablets and regular computer work, you're absolutely right, 2.4:1 would be horrible. I wouldn't want one. For the main TV or monitor on the wall (home cinema), then it would be perfect for movies, real movies.
Even 16:9 is horrible for tablets, and that's exactly what most Android tablets use! It's terrible for anything other than watching a movie on. For anything else, like surfing or reading, it's terrible.
I don't watch many movies at all on my iPad, but old Twilight Zone episodes on Netflix are 4:3 and they look great on the iPad, plus the aspect ratio fits the iPad perfectly.
The bottom line is: Who the fuck wants to pay a premium to own a movie they are going to watch once? It makes no sense.
But having said that, if I open a 'film club' account with 25 of my best Internet buddies (whoever they may be), would we all be allowed to watch the movies we buy legally? Just hypothetically speaking?
It depends on when and where you view it. Read the licensing agreement on your home videos sometime. You are allowed to use it for "private home viewing of films." So-called public performances (such as a showing outside of your home) or letting others rent your copy is forbidden. You must obtain different licensing for that.
Disney won't just jump on with Apple because like the others they want the higher profit of selling a physical disk.
Apple's lack of a jump to Ultraviolet has nothing to do with the DRM and simply that they don't think folks should have to be forced to buy a disk to get the digital version
Exactly. Apple's vision the future of media distribution as entirely digital. Ultraviolet is, what? An attempt to get people to buy discs? Please, anything short of raising rental prices to ridiculous levels or outright banning video rentals will not stop people from choosing the lower-cost option for viewing a film.
Disney won't just jump on with Apple because like the others they want the higher profit of selling a physical disk.
Apple's lack of a jump to Ultraviolet has nothing to do with the DRM and simply that they don't think folks should have to be forced to buy a disk to get the digital version
Seriously? What the hell does a physical disk have to do with anything?
Nowhere do UltraViolet say they are tied to a physical disk. If anything UltraViolet is the exact opposite. i.e. an admission from the studios that they need to move from physical disk ownership to digital ownership.
Purchasing UltraViolet content gives you flexibility to watch the way you want :
Stream to any internet-connected device, including cable/satellite set-top boxes
Download for offline viewing, including full HD copies
Get a disc included even when you buy online - either download or streaming
Choose how to buy
UltraViolet is wherever you like to shop for movies or TV shows, (in-store, in-app or online) and however you like to buy them (disc, stream, file). Just look for the UltraViolet logo
Choose your brand
You can watch the titles in your UltraViolet Digital Library on devices from multiple brands:
Stream to ANY internet-connected device, including cable/satellite set-top boxes
Download copies to any UltraViolet-logo app or device that can store and play video files
Streaming comes no where close to the quality of DVD or Blu-ray.... The high quality audio on Blu-ray is worth the price of a disc by itself... If I go to the trouble to buy a movie, I will make my own digital copy to play on my other devices, where quality doesn't matter as much... With more and more providers limiting bandwidth, streaming movies is going to end up costing you money..
If it is a quality movie, which is rare these days, I WANT to buy a high quality Blu-ray... Streaming may be OK for older content, or old TV shows on Netflix, but I hope it never replaces movies you can buy on disc..
They've all been taught this business-school Stalinism that makes loving them impossible. In fact, it makes them act like mental defectives.
DRM. They're going to build a cloud. (Call the Sony boys for that, they've had a lot of experience.) Either nobody will use it, because they'll charge the same for their movies as for Blu-Ray, or some 14-year-old Norwegian kid will come out with the crack, and then they'll be back to the old Pirate Bay suing days. And the outright disrespect they show for their audience will be plain.
The want you to "own" their files? Really? If you "own" it, you can copy it. Loan it to a friend. Watch it over and over again. Oh, that means it has to be good. Get busy there, boys.
Please. Release the files early, at the same time as release. Find the price point that's low enough so people won't pirate it. I'd suggest $5. Then you're getting better value, a brand-new release, that you can keep. Movie fans will go to the big screen to make out in the balcony. Others will stay at home. NO DRM!
You'll make a bundle. You'll make people happy. Movie's greatest decade was when we were going through the depression. Now we're heading for another bad ten years. People will be grateful for beautiful movies -- none of those freakin' ads, okay? -- and piracy will go way, way down.
Why is it bad that Ultraviolet has DRM, but Apples videos having DRM isn't?
Comments
http://bit.ly/flp58Y
So sure, Sony Pictures' profits nosedived but they still made $58,000,000 dollars...
Their sales were $1,800,000,000...
And they still made crap movies or remakes. I think they should start looking for savings at home before trying to manufacture a system that will make it harder for the consumer to give them any money at all.
To be fair, I also feel that services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu etc do de-value content with the aim of building a database of users whose viewing and purchasing habits can be sold to advertisers.
That's what I like about iTunes movie service. You pay a fair price. But you get shafted by the studios restricting the content available.
It is still not possible to rent Blade Runner on iTunes in Australia*. You have to buy it for AUD$17.99 (Currently US$17.91) compared to the US iTunes store where I can buy it for US$9.99 or rent it for US$2.99
I really would like to know what they actually think is the cause of content piracy...
*First World Problems
Only did 5 minutes internet research, but hey, it's more than most journalists do these days.
http://bit.ly/flp58Y
So sure, Sony Pictures' profits nosedived but they still made $58,000,000 dollars...
Their sales were $1,800,000,000...
And they still made crap movies or remakes. I think they should start looking for savings at home before trying to manufacture a system that will make it harder for the consumer to give them any money at all.
To be fair, I also feel that services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu etc do de-value content with the aim of building a database of users whose viewing and purchasing habits can be sold to advertisers.
That's what I like about iTunes movie service. You pay a fair price. But you get shafted by the studios restricting the content available.
It is still not possible to rent Blade Runner on iTunes in Australia*. You have to buy it for AUD$17.99 (Currently US$17.91) compared to the US iTunes store where I can buy it for US$9.99 or rent it for US$2.99
I really would like to know what they actually think is the cause of content piracy...
*First World Problems
I'm not so sure Netflix devalues content, but rather brings actual value into check. If access to/personal copy of *movie_name* was worth more, it would still sell at that price.
The sad thing is that it wasn't that long ago that the studios were fighting your right to rip a DVD to your hard disk for backup.
You know if they would allow me to put the iTunes rental price towards purchase I would definitely buy a lot more movies. Talk about an industry that just doesn't get it's customers.
I'm not so sure Netflix devalues content, but rather brings actual value into check. If access to/personal copy of *movie_name* was worth more, it would still sell at that price.
You don't think that a very low monthly membership fee to enable you to watch as many movies as they have (and you have bandwidth for) devalues the content?
Even at one movie a day that's 50c or so that the movie is valued at.
(Not taking in to consideration the actual quality of the movie here. Some may in fact be worth less)
This is just a stupid idea somebody dreamt up to create an internet job for himself and friends. At least it will employ some people for a while.
But having said that, if I open a 'film club' account with 25 of my best Internet buddies (whoever they may be), would we all be allowed to watch the movies we buy legally? Just hypothetically speaking?
I feel that 16:9 is not an optimal format for movies. In the future, I expect to see 2.40:1 Monitors and TV's being available.
Oh god no. That means PC monitors and laptops will start sporting 2.4:1 aspects, then Android tablets. Just because they can get LCD panels in that aspect cheaply. It will look completely stupid in portrait mode. I can't stand using these wide and short screens for real work on a computer. 4:3 (portrait and landscape) is pretty close to ideal for real work.
In a move to encourage customers to buy movies rather than rent or stream, studios are planning to launch cloud-based services to compete with digital media rental outlets, like Apple's iCloud-enhanced iTunes.
Citing a steady decline in physical disc sales, which are far more profitable than digital rentals
WOW, this is a corporate idiocy in its purest form. American corporations must be run by morons
People are moving away from disks because streaming is much more convenient, because they don't need to keep stacks of disks at home. So why offer them in the first place?
And how come disks are more profitable? They have to produce them, ship, give a wholesale cut to retails.
Instead of paying all that cost related to disk production and retail, they could simply provide movies online and pass saving to consumers. Is this a such a hard concept?
I'm not so sure Netflix devalues content, but rather brings actual value into check. If access to/personal copy of *movie_name* was worth more, it would still sell at that price.
Google devalues content. If it were up to them, they'd ask people to upload pirated movies onto Google servers, so they can stream it free and make money off the advertising. If it were up to them. (And all their fanboys would love them for giving away "free" content).
Compare that to buy a dvd, stick it in you mac, watch a movie.
Compare that to one click on your apple tv, watch a movie.
Compare that to wanting to watch your movie on a non-Apple device.
There are a lot of non-Apple set-top boxes and connected blu-ray players and TVs. There are more non-Apple smartphones than there are iPhones. One of the reasons Amazon's digital book sales does better than Apple's iBooks is their cross-platform compatibility. (Personally, I will never buy from iBooks because my reader choices are extremely limited by Apple.)
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the studios are going to screw this up, too. But I do think there is an opportunity for someone reasonably competent to offer a competitive alternative to Apple's walled garden ecosystem. The problem with the studios is that they will shot themselves in the foot by being over-protective of their disc sales or by putting in some incredibly stupid and short-sighted terms and conditions which will scare people away from making any long-term commitment to their alternative offering.
They will also fail to demonstrate for their own part a long-term commitment to their initiative. They will give up in about 12 months after not getting the instant success they think they deserve (they don't). So rather than work on improving their product, they will throw in the towel, grumble some more about how Apple is destroying the entertainment industry, and then a year later they will have forgotten the lessons they learned and will invest millions in their latest scheme and repeat the whole process again.
Please stop, with these silly, proforma swipes.
Anyone thinks just a little bit about it (regardless of whether they went to business school or not) should be able to understand that you can't be a profit- or shareholder value- maximizing business without keeping in mind and serving the consumer's wants front and center.
Surely you've heard of a company called Apple, for instance?
It may be bit more complicated than that. I could try and explain, but just take a look at the protests going on in just about every American city...
So the idea at least of UltraViolet is this. When you purchase movie it's added to your family UltraViolet account (up to 6 members).
You then have perpetual rights to that movie throughout all members of the UltraViolet group.
So for example, you purchase a Blu-ray from Best Buy and add that to your UltraViolet account. Your kids can then stream that movie from your Samsung/Panasonic/Sony/LG smart TV or you can watch it on your iPhone/iPad using and UltraViolet app.
Another example would be buying a bunch of digital movies on your Xbox. In 5 years time when your Xbox is dead the UltraViolet rights move with you, they aren't locked into your Xbox account.
Of course we are still a long way off this kind of seamless interactivity but like I said, that is at least the idea of UltraViolet.
Now that Jobs has unfortunately passed away, is there any connection left between Apple and Disney? I'm surprised they wouldn't just jump on with iCloud.
Disney won't just jump on with Apple because like the others they want the higher profit of selling a physical disk.
Apple's lack of a jump to Ultraviolet has nothing to do with the DRM and simply that they don't think folks should have to be forced to buy a disk to get the digital version
Oh god no. That means PC monitors and laptops will start sporting 2.4:1 aspects, then Android tablets. Just because they can get LCD panels in that aspect cheaply. It will look completely stupid in portrait mode. I can't stand using these wide and short screens for real work on a computer. 4:3 (portrait and landscape) is pretty close to ideal for real work.
For tablets and regular computer work, you're absolutely right, 2.4:1 would be horrible. I wouldn't want one. For the main TV or monitor on the wall (home cinema), then it would be perfect for movies, real movies.
Even 16:9 is horrible for tablets, and that's exactly what most Android tablets use! It's terrible for anything other than watching a movie on. For anything else, like surfing or reading, it's terrible.
I don't watch many movies at all on my iPad, but old Twilight Zone episodes on Netflix are 4:3 and they look great on the iPad, plus the aspect ratio fits the iPad perfectly.
The bottom line is: Who the fuck wants to pay a premium to own a movie they are going to watch once? It makes no sense.
But having said that, if I open a 'film club' account with 25 of my best Internet buddies (whoever they may be), would we all be allowed to watch the movies we buy legally? Just hypothetically speaking?
It depends on when and where you view it. Read the licensing agreement on your home videos sometime. You are allowed to use it for "private home viewing of films." So-called public performances (such as a showing outside of your home) or letting others rent your copy is forbidden. You must obtain different licensing for that.
Disney won't just jump on with Apple because like the others they want the higher profit of selling a physical disk.
Apple's lack of a jump to Ultraviolet has nothing to do with the DRM and simply that they don't think folks should have to be forced to buy a disk to get the digital version
Exactly. Apple's vision the future of media distribution as entirely digital. Ultraviolet is, what? An attempt to get people to buy discs? Please, anything short of raising rental prices to ridiculous levels or outright banning video rentals will not stop people from choosing the lower-cost option for viewing a film.
Disney won't just jump on with Apple because like the others they want the higher profit of selling a physical disk.
Apple's lack of a jump to Ultraviolet has nothing to do with the DRM and simply that they don't think folks should have to be forced to buy a disk to get the digital version
Seriously? What the hell does a physical disk have to do with anything?
Nowhere do UltraViolet say they are tied to a physical disk. If anything UltraViolet is the exact opposite. i.e. an admission from the studios that they need to move from physical disk ownership to digital ownership.
Directly from the UltraViolet website...
Disc, stream or download
Purchasing UltraViolet content gives you flexibility to watch the way you want :
- Stream to any internet-connected device, including cable/satellite set-top boxes
- Download for offline viewing, including full HD copies
- Get a disc included even when you buy online - either download or streaming
Choose how to buyUltraViolet is wherever you like to shop for movies or TV shows, (in-store, in-app or online) and however you like to buy them (disc, stream, file). Just look for the UltraViolet logo
Choose your brand
You can watch the titles in your UltraViolet Digital Library on devices from multiple brands:
Streaming comes no where close to the quality of DVD or Blu-ray.... The high quality audio on Blu-ray is worth the price of a disc by itself... If I go to the trouble to buy a movie, I will make my own digital copy to play on my other devices, where quality doesn't matter as much... With more and more providers limiting bandwidth, streaming movies is going to end up costing you money..
If it is a quality movie, which is rare these days, I WANT to buy a high quality Blu-ray... Streaming may be OK for older content, or old TV shows on Netflix, but I hope it never replaces movies you can buy on disc..
I miss Steve.
Why are all other CEOs such lumps of crap?
They've all been taught this business-school Stalinism that makes loving them impossible. In fact, it makes them act like mental defectives.
DRM. They're going to build a cloud. (Call the Sony boys for that, they've had a lot of experience.) Either nobody will use it, because they'll charge the same for their movies as for Blu-Ray, or some 14-year-old Norwegian kid will come out with the crack, and then they'll be back to the old Pirate Bay suing days. And the outright disrespect they show for their audience will be plain.
The want you to "own" their files? Really? If you "own" it, you can copy it. Loan it to a friend. Watch it over and over again. Oh, that means it has to be good. Get busy there, boys.
Please. Release the files early, at the same time as release. Find the price point that's low enough so people won't pirate it. I'd suggest $5. Then you're getting better value, a brand-new release, that you can keep. Movie fans will go to the big screen to make out in the balcony. Others will stay at home. NO DRM!
You'll make a bundle. You'll make people happy. Movie's greatest decade was when we were going through the depression. Now we're heading for another bad ten years. People will be grateful for beautiful movies -- none of those freakin' ads, okay? -- and piracy will go way, way down.
Why is it bad that Ultraviolet has DRM, but Apples videos having DRM isn't?
Just pure desperation. Physical media is insanely overpriced, and thus a profit machine....when people buy them.
Really? Maybe you should have a look at the price of a movie from Apple, there is something that is overpriced.