I would say this month’s movie store battle came out a draw. iTunes movie prices range from $9.99 for older selections to $14.99 for new releases after the first week (for reasons that aren’t clear to me, you save $2 if you buy movies the first week they’re released). People use the familiar iTunes interface and can play the movies on their iPods. And early next year, Apple will be releasing a $299 product code-named iTV, a set top box that nicely solves the “last foot” problem by streaming movies wirelessly to your TV.
The big downside, though, is that Jobs apparently only succeeded in getting \ one of the big Hollywood studios, Disney, to sign onto the service at launch. Perhaps his seat on Disney’s board made the negotiating process easier. So as Ars noted last week, the studios have split. If you want Disney movies, you’ve gotta sign up with iTunes. If you want anybody else’s movies, you’ve gotta sign up with Amazon.
Hopefuly this situation won’t continue. It would be awfully irritating if you had to buy iTV to watch your iTunes/Disney movie, and some other device to stream your Amazon Unbox movies to your TV.
Update: It’s worth noting that nothing was said about DVD burning, which presumably means it’s not going to be allowed. So your options will be to watch the video on your tiny iPod screen or shell out $299 for iTV.
Update 2: Commenters are pointing out several other ways you can get view content: on your computer screen, or using an A/V cable to hook your iPod up to your TV. Both excellent points.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.