We ’re a little more than two week from Apple ’s Worldwide Developer Conference , and already the rumors are fly about what Steve Jobs plans to foretell during his August 7 tonic ( besides the already schedule O X 10.5 preview ) . The live rumor this week : ThinkSecret ’s study thatApple will start offering picture show rentals via the iTunes Music Store . The prognostication moved from the rumor web site to the mainstream media chop-chop , asthe San Francisco Chronicle , the Houston Chronicle , and others all picked up the story .
So will it take place ? We have no idea . But we do have two editor in chief , Philip Michaels and Jim Dalrymple , with very strong opinions about the rumour uncoerced to hash out their disagreement in public .
Philip Michaels on why it won’t happen
The “ iTunes to tender movie rental ” rumor is the sort of nice , red-hot titbit that Internet can really slump its tooth into . That it ’s unlikely to happen should in no manner dampen anyone ’s ebullience for guess .
How can I be so trusted that this rumor will join the Apple - made mobile phone phone in the thing That Are Not To Be column ? Three reasons — one logistical and the other two philosophical . permit ’s tackle that logistic job first …
•The Worldwide Developers Conference is not Macworld Expo . The audience for one Jobs ’s Expo keynote is made up of a cross - plane section of citizenry — VIPs , developers , the press , but mostly Mac partizan who urge each product announcement with ardent fervor . It ’s a different crowd at WWDC — developers , as you might ideate , who greet each announcement with their own brand of fervour but have decidedly different rooting interests from us civilian . These are phratry who want to discover about under - the - hood developments , not consumer - tailor offerings . And guess which class an online picture show lease service precipitate under ?
Put another way , Apple has spent a considerable amount of effort promoting the fact that this will be a coming - out party for Leopard . And that ’s what the people ante up top dollar mark to attend this event want to find out about . I ca n’t reckon occupation making them cool their heels for the first half - 60 minutes of his tonic while he sketch the intricacies of the content deals he just strike with Universal , Sony , and Disney . At Expo ? Sure . At a special mechanical press event ? dead . But at adevelopersconference ? No way .
As to the philosophic problem …
•Everything new is old again . Right now if I want to a sentry a movie , my cable provider offers me plenty of video - on - demand choice . Or I can sign on up for a Netflix account and have DVDs delivered to my door . Or I can pursue any one of a number of other options for engage motion picture that do not ask me to set foot in a picture store . So what does a rental service through the iTunes Music Store add to the table ? With the caution that there may well be a detail or two that I ’m just not grasping , I ’d have to say “ not very much that is n’t already there . ” And Apple lean to shy aside from that variety of conspicuous “ me - tooism ” with its products .
There is the portability factor , I suppose . Presumably , a theoretical picture renting from iTunes would come in a form that would make it easy to transfer to a 5th - generation iPod ( or some case of updated iPod not yet revealed ) . That ’s convenient , I reckon , but I call back I ’d still prefer to just buy my own videodisk and practice something likeHandbraketo change over them to MPEG-4 . After all , unlike a rental , Iownthose files . Which brings us to the last spot …
•Why economic rent when you could buy?Have you always wanted to own a copy ofConvoy , C.W. McCall ’s panegyric to the American trucking industry ? you’re able to buy it at iTunes for 99 cents . Heck , getthe whole albumfor $ 9.99 if that ’s what you want . Or corrupt yourself thatepisode of Monkyou missed , thata - ha medicine videothat pick up your center , or thatbeloved Disney sketch from you childhood . You got the cash?It ’s yours . One of the things that break up the iTunes store from subscription - base on-line competition is the hope that when you pay for something , it ’s yours to keep ; I think that ’s one of the element that ’s take into account the iTunes store to enjoy the success it has .
But now when it comes to feature - length film , we ’re supposed to expect Apple to twist around and say , “ Oh no , you do n’t want tobuythat . Renting is a much good way to savor multimedia system . Except for music . And TV shows . And pretty much everything else we offer at this store . ” Does n’t that scratch you as the diminutive bit antithetical to everything the iTunes Music Store is about ?
You want a WWDC rumor , one that stand a hazard of in reality come on-key ? How about a new gamy - end Intel - base background ? It ’s one of the last left piece of the modulation to Intel chip , you bed that it ’s give out to happen sooner rather than by and by , and the last prison term a pro desktop made its introduction — the Power Mac G5 — it happened at WWDC . Maybe it ’ll bump , maybe it wo n’t . But it ’s far more likely to excite a roomful of developers than the announcement that they can pay a couple horse to rent , not own , Basic Instinct 2 .
Jim Dalrymple on why it will
Those are some fine argumentation against this rumour . Trouble is , each one can be rebut , which I ’ll do on a point - by - level groundwork .
The timingSure , unlike crowds go to WWDC and Macworld Expo , but look at this on a enceinte scale . The world ’s insistence will be in San Francisco next calendar month to welcome the reaching of Mac OS ex Leopard , so what salutary stead for Steve Jobs to lay out his long - awaited plans for an iTunes Movie Store ( or rental storehouse ) ?
The Macintosh developers I know are some of the most enthusiastic Mac users I ’ve ever see — they have bear out the company through thickset and fragile over the yr and sometimes it was only their belief in Apple and the products that keep on them going . These are people that require to know that the platform is on substantial basis , and , more significant , these are the people that will develop new app for whatever is rolled out at WWDC . Whether it be a Widget track new film or an software like Delicious Library adapted to track moving picture purchases from iTunes , the developers will help popularise any new technology .
Typically , iTunes - pertain products are insert in the United States first , so that excludes September’sApple Expo in Parisfrom an iTunes promulgation . There is no summer Macworld any more , so that leaves WWDC until Macworld in January . While a peculiar event would be an as good clip to annunciate a movie lease program on iTunes , why hold off when you have the whole domain watching ?
The availableness of comparable servicesYou could say the exact same matter about goggle box shows and look how democratic they are on iTunes . It all comes down to convenience — do I want to order a videodisc on Netflix and expect for it to be delivered ? I do not . Instead , I could go to iTunes and rent or buy a movie . I ’ll put on some Zea mays everta , grab a Heineken , let the dog out and then settle down for a nice pleasurable movie . I can even call up and ruin the ending of the movie for you , while you ’re still look for that DVD to go far in the mail .
Buying versus rentingI only see concerts on DVD more than once , so I ’ll probably continue to purchase the tardy OzzFest DVD when it gets released . However , I do n’t macerate my money buying a movie DVD because I know I ’ll never watch it . allow ’s assume you could buy a recent movie videodisk for $ 20 ( a nice round number ) . Now let ’s assume that a movie renting from iTunes is $ 4 . I would much rather rent 5 movies from iTunes than go out and purchase one DVD that I will find out once .
I do n’t disaccord that iTunes is successful in part because you’re able to own the euphony or tv set show . But more than that , iTunes is successful because of the iPod combination and Apple ’s simplicity . ( Incidentally , Convoywas one of the first songs I purchased on iTunes ; the other wasCrazy Trainfrom The Blizzard of Ozz . My wife endanger to cut me off shortly after that ) .
Is it a teensy bit contradictory to tout the merits of owning media on one side of the store while pushing rentals on the other . I ’ll give you that . However , there are other ingredient at work here that want to be considered .
First , I do n’t believe Apple has been as successful in convincing the movie industry to betray picture as it has been with either the television or the euphony companies and their merchandise . Everything is a negotiation , and if the good Apple could do to add feature - length picture to iTunes is lease , then I say bring it on .
Being first is really important ; it will allow Apple to dictate the food market much the same style the company did with music and television . Its market share in those two food market is owing — it now has the electric potential to do the same thing for picture show .
And for all we know , there are other unheralded Cartesian product that will partner off up with a rental service — a new telecasting iPod , for lesson , or ( the product Ireallywant to see from Apple ) a digital media center . It would be great to sit down with my Macintosh media center , buy a picture show and ride back and watch all from the solace of my favorite electric chair .
