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Apple Sells 1 Million Videos in Under 20 Days
olddotter writes "Apple has sold over 1 million videos through iTunes since the release of the Video iPod service. Personally I am surprised by this success, it raises many questions. Will this encourage more people to put their video content on the iTunes store? Is there a vast market for cheaper stuff at reduced prices? Why am I willing to pay more for music than I would for video?"
Imagine if they had some content besides a few television shows and videos...
~~ What's stopping you?
I would DEFINATELY download TV episodes and movies for $1.99 ANYDAY over music tracks for $.99
Even when iTunes first came out I thought that was a bit pricey and that the price would eventually drop. Doesn't appear to be the case. But $1.99 for tv shows seems to be a good deal as long as they cut the commercials out, or at least most of them.
This could usher in a whole new era for TV, and I wouldn't miss cable or satellite one bit.
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It's my (utterly unsubstantiated) belief that Front Row will appear in iLife 06, and that then a Mac Mini playing these videos on a TV will start to make quite a lot of sense.
Cheers,
Ian
Well now that a company is offering a completely legal and conveniant service, I am perfectly willing to pay for it. When there is nothing on TV, I would love nothing more then to be able to quickly download an episode for a past show that I havn't seen before without having to go through the various bit torrent sites.
So what does this mean? Who knows, but it seems as if the videos are really damn popular. I'd kill, however, to see which ones were more popular than others...
I think what'd be the real killer app for mobile video would be shorts like comedy, commercials, trailers, etc.
Apple are you listening? Use what you have already, most movies push trailers, and most commercial creators would DIE to get their bits on the iPod, and there're some totally awesome commercials that are pieces of art in their own right! Imagine a vid-cast of bits from The Daily Show, or a 5 minute part of a standup routine, too.. great for showing people at lunch/etc.
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Once the content gets in there I'll be buying video from iTunes. That is assuming of course that the prices stay close to what I'm seeing right now. This fits in good with my desire to buy seasons worth of some shows on DVD but only a handful of episodes where other shows are concerned.
I look at South Park, Dead Like Me, and my Battlestar Galactica fix and I say "Buy the season on DVD". My wife wants Buffy the Vampire Slayer seasons 1-6 and DVD is the way to go.
I look at Star Trek Deep Space 9 and I say "Got to get me some DVD's.....HOLY SHIT CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT PARAMOUNT WANTS FOR THAT? MIGHTY PROUD OF THE STAR TREK AREN'T WE GUYS?"
Then I think about it and there probably weren't 10 episodes of DS9 I really want anyway. Maybe 10 if I push it. 20 bucks for those 10 episodes and screw the rest of it because it wasn't all that good anyway? I'm in.
Of course IF Paramount ever lets them sell episodes of Star Trek (and flavor) on iTunes they'll probably demand that they sell for $9.99 each or some insane amount of money that will screw the whole deal up anyway.
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I must tell you, I think iTunes is a great example of how it could change TV. I NEVER watched Lost (yes, I have cable -- digital cable with all the bells and whistles since it came with my apartment). But sure enough, I went on iTunes and for $1.99 I bought the premier... I was quickly sucked in, and my black 30gb iPod now has season one and all of what's available for season two. I'm hooked!
And frankly, I'm spending about the same as I would have for DVDs in the store. Season one of iTunes is $34.99 -- I saw it in Target for the same. And yes, per download I'm paying more for season two, but I'm also getting it instantly. Spread out over time, it's roughly the same.
I would have never gotten so into Lost without the iPod, so ABC is definitely right to say they're excited that this is a new way to reach a broader audience.
I'm just amazed how great that iPod video looks on a television. Granted, TVs are crap resolution, but even on my 32" Sony it looks great.
So if the iPod created a halo effect for the Mac, this iPod video will surely change the way we watch TV. It's already changed how I do.
The next comment I write will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
somebody posted this last week about making old 50s shows available for cheap.
It will happen eventually. I don't know if you've seen them yet, but many stores are now carrying the $1.00 DVDs of many old shows. Everything from episodes of Laurel and Hardy to Rocky Jones Space Ranger (you've got to see this show, even just for the comedic effect) are now appearing on the shelves.
However, I have a feeling that it will be a while before they show up on iTunes. Jobs doesn't want to make the same mistake as MovieLink and find himself in the position of *only* selling old shows. Once iTunes is established a way of distributing new content, only then will Jobs allow for virtual reruns.
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And you somehow easily forget the fact that producing a singlevideo is easily 20-30 times more expensive and labor intensive than making an entire album of music.
you make the point that the RIAA is trying to make everyone think, but a feature length movie makes all the music ever made by metallica seem like chump change in comparison.
you can record and master an entire album with less than 10 people INCLUDING THE BAND. you cant make a movie with less than 30 people. (Grips, techs and film/sound is more than 2/3rds that number already and there are no actors, makeup, extras, special efx,security,etc...)
and sorry, but a DVD has at least another 50-90% in man hours of content added to it on top of the movie.
Other than pure unadulterated obscene greed, there is no reason that a CD costs more than a DVD.
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I noticed that too. Particularly because I worked on that video.
I was the dolly grip, which means every shot in that video in which the camera was moving (except the one where he gets on the escalator) is me moving the camera (dare I say, dancing with Mr. Walken?)
No royalties for me.
But the iTunes store has validated that video as one of the greatest of all time.
Here are some behind the scenes shots if anyone is interested.
That would be me, standing behind the camera.