I love baseball because you may come up empty more often than you whack something worthwhile and still wind up in the Hall of Fame . If only Apple punditry were so absolvitory .
Because it ’s not , I ’m take the dependable course — something along the course of anEach Way bet , since we ’re drumming up the sports analogies — and musing on possible options for movies and Apple . As I see it , Apple could take this in a number of directions . As in … .
Goods and delivery
What model might Apple fall out to deliver movies ?
wage , download , own ( sort of)Apple ’s generally stuck with its initial iTunes Music Store music theoretical account . It offers up files for cut-rate sale — whether audio , audiobooks , or scant - form videos — you give for what you want , and the file downloads to your data processor . If you ’ve buy audio file cabinet , you own them — you may burn them to standard candle ( thus stripping out the DRM ) and have your way with them as you would with a commercial audio CD .
Videos are more limited in that you may play them only on authorized computers and iPods ( or TVs attached to those authorized computer and iPods ) . motion-picture show could follow this same rule . As most people opt to watch picture show on their goggle box , one would desire that any movies Apple sell will be of high quality than the TV show now bid at The Store .
With such a model Steve Jobs could reveal that currently The Store offers a limited number of movies from blue-ribbon studio and , as it has in both the music and television mart , add other studio apartment as they sign on Apple ’s dotted occupation .
NetFlixdemonstrates that multitude are uncoerced to pay a set fee each month to view as many movies as they can flash before their eyes . Why not broaden that kind of service to an online getup such as iTunes ?
Yes , I get laid “ subscription ” is a foul word , but subscription music and subscription TV are dissimilar beasts just as Virgin Records and Blockbuster Video are unlike stores .
This would require that Apple volunteer a far deeper catalog out of the logic gate and I suppose that ’s unbelievable . No one is going to sign up for a subscription that offers only a handful of Disney picture . But think the theory — the major studios plus Turner ’s subroutine library of classic films and you ’ve finally fulfilled the dream of picture on demand .
Devices
And what will those movies be played on / with ?
The same iPod we have todayNo way .
A new iPodI’ve tell it before and I ’ll say it again , aniPod with videois not aVideo iPod . Movies need a bigger , wider covert than the 5 G iPod ’s 2.5 - incher . An iPod about the size of it of the current 5 G would be suitable if the iPod were turned horizontally . Apple could do this — or offer an iPod that ’s a bit adult — and fulfill a lot of people . Same drill as before . Download movies to the iPod through iTunes , see them on the iPod or on an committed TV via the iPod ’s Ab cable or dock .
A young iSomethingMy colleague Dan Frakes has made the point a metre or two that the iPod has changed the moral force of how we use peripherals . The histrion is now the portable unit rather than the medium . Suppose Apple extends this to a new iPod / iSomething ? This features more powerful tying up capabilities . Yes , you’re able to look on movies on the affair if you desire , but it ’s really intended to be carted from your estimator ( where you download media to it ) and plop into a dock connected to your television receiver .
A Modern streaming somethingIf the television is the ultimate destination for these movies , can Apple find a way to subdue the challenges of big data and small pipes and deliver an AirPort Express for video ?
The honest multimedia system MacThe Mac miniskirt mate with Front Row , the Apple Remote Control , and a compatible digital video fipple flute are so close . Take the next step and do it right — Front Row provide the gateway to buy and watching movies as well as recording television programme ala TiVo . Serious , seriouslong shot , I cognize .
The iPhoneSteve was just messin ’ with you , human ! Jobs trots out the long - awaited iPhone , flashes theFandangoURL on the big screen , and cautions you to whisper “ Silent ” into the mouthpiece when you take the air into your favorite local theater .
