Cringely on Blockbuster-iPod Video Distro Plan

MrPerfekt writes "In this week's Cringely column, another one of his hypothesizing sessions actually seems plausible. Blockbuster's retail outlets make good sense for Apple to partner with them for video iPod content distribution. From the article: 'Take your Video-out iPod to Blockbuster, drop it in a kiosk dock then download from the local xServe your choice of 50,000 movies. You can rent the movie or buy it and you can even choose the resolution, which may or may not affect the final price. Take the iPod home, drop it in the dock attached to your TV and watch the movie. H.264 decoding takes place in the iPod in hardware.'"

Comments

But, but

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't even have an iPod. How could this story possibly be true?

BURST.COM is still a problem - also Sony!

[dgrgich]

This is the key point to take from the article. I'm not defending whether or not Burst's patents are valid or not valid...just that nothing will happen until Apple makes Burst.com go away. This will require:

1. Invalidating their key patents via the courts - long and costly

2. Buying a license to use their patents (the solution Microsoft pursued) - short and costly

3. Buying Burst.com - short and costly and not a chance in hell because I can't see Jobs giving up when he is convinced that the patents that Burst.com hold are invalid.

However, I do think that the rumors of Sony launching some sort of movie service that y'all can plug your PS3s into is lighting a fire under the Cupertino booty. Somebody is going to launch this party . . . and if iTunes is any indication, to the first goes the $$$$.

We definitely live in interesting times.

Re:Cringely's on crack today.

[FirstTimeCaller]

... I have a perfectly good cable modem connection

If you RTFA you'll see that this is intended to extend iPod sales to those who do not have broadband access (or even a computer). Yes, believe it or not, such people do still exist.

Doubtful Business Model

[davidbofinger]

Take your Video-out iPod to Blockbuster, drop it in a kiosk dock then download from the local xServe your choice of 50,000 movies. [...] For Apple the point here is to sell iPods to people who might not otherwise every buy one (my Mom, for example), to bring digital downloads to people who don't have broadband or even a computer, and to make it all incredibly easy.

But borrowing a DVD is already incredibly easy. About the only way this is easier is that you don't have to return the DVD and I don't think that's enough. Apple would be asking its customers to spend hundreds of dollars (?) on a piece of hardware that would be doing more or less the same job as the DVD player they already own.

It's probably a reasonable why-not idea, for those who already have an iPod. But I can't see it attracting a lot of new customers.

Part of this strategy make sense

[ciurana]

Greetings.

My first reaction was the same as many here when I read the article: why bother, if you have broadband?

Cringely gives a good answer toward the end: because not everyone we know is using computers or cares about broadband. Outside our techie world, some people find the computer either intimidating or perfectly acceptable running on a 56 kbps modem. Thus, the ability to dock and iPod and refresh its contents at a local store isn't that far-fetched.

If you look at some of the big box retailers' strategies, they're all leveraging their on-line stores against their bricks-n-mortar stores, creating a continuum rather than a separate experience. They are integrating their .com stores with their real stores. Apple probably wouldn't make the movies available through Blockbuster/Hollywood Video/etc. that would be just the channel to make them available for the computer-phobes or non-broadband customers.

Now... coming back to reality... where on earth does Cringely get this stuff? Very entertaining, good speculation... but just that, in the end. Is anyone keeping track of which of his write ups wind up being accurate?

Cheers,

Eugene

The predictions! The predictions!

[DirePickle]

Dvorak and Cringely both in the same day! We're doomed, folks!

More on Burst.com

[dgrgich]

Notice that Burst.com also announced that they are waiting another month to file their counter-claim to Apple's original suit.

What does this mean?

1. Burst.com needs more time to get their ducks in a row?? - Not likely. Any patent attorney worth their shiny shoes could have seen this stink with Apple coming from at least 946 smoots away. I can't imagine that Burst.com didn't anticipate Apple's suit and thus, they know how to reply.

2. Burst.com is stalling for time in case someone else is going to buy them in the near future - Why would Sony or Microsoft swoop in now when they didn't all of last year? They've got their own dudes with shiny shoes who are advising them to wait on the sidelines. I'm postive that no one in high-tech thinks that Burst.com's patents are valid -- however, someone has to jump in and sue. If Apple does, let 'em. Sony and Microsoft and Amazon and NetFlix and Blockbuster and . . . . insert old media company here . . . will jump in the pond after Apple's determined the water temperature. No one ELSE is going to buy Burst.com until this thing is clear.

3. Burst.com and Apple are working out a deal - Now this one . . . I think I can smell. Apple's suit is a great opening chess move. I can see Burst.com demanding a hefty licensing fee that amounts to something silly like amounts that have more than 9 figures or huge amounts each year. I'll bet Burst.com even has the moxy to think that their patents are worth hundreds of millions alone. What better way to get good terms for Apple than to file a suit? Dare Burst.com to go to trial . . and risk losing the patents . . . or settle on a lower licensing fee or selling price.

I'll bet at least my own shiny shoes that these suits are just negotiating by other means.

Re:Doubtful Business Model the prequel

[microcars]

"...Apple would be asking its customers to spend hundreds of dollars (?) on a piece of hardware that would be doing more or less the same job as the DVD player they already own."

Change DVD player to CD player and go back a few years.
Now how does this blurb about the iPod sound:

Apple would be asking its customers to spend hundreds of dollars (?) on a piece of hardware that would be doing more or less the same job as the CD player they already own.

terrible business model....

Forget Blockbuster, go Lockerbuster

[maggard]

Why buy Blockbuster when you can duplicate it in inside of a vending machine?

Seriously, who needs a coupla thousand square feet of overlit retail space and some glassy-eyed clerks when a vending machine can do the exact same thing, 24/7, in 12 square feet, installable in any mini-mall, public transit station, school or grocery store? If Apple were really interested in direct loads to iPods one of these and a network connection is all they need.

Figure a box the size of your typical soda machine (mostly for security & visibility), fill the bottom foot with concrete for stability and theft-discouragement, then a rack with an Xserve & some reasonably high-speed communications gear. Have it download material on a regular basis, video & audio, in whatever formats and quality required. Put some smarts into the system so local demographics are respected and demand is anticipated (Espaniol in Spanish neighborhoods, kiddie material when installed in schools, etc.) On the front stick a few TV screens showing previews and specials.

For security double encrypt all of the media content, partially decrypt as it's being iPod-loaded, then have it played back using a public key system. Then step back and see what sells. Sure music, videos, ringtones and movies can be the first products but what about software, indeed any sort of large or valuable file. Leave room in the top of the box for wireless distribution - walk nearby and your electronics can auto-discover streaming audio and video advertising in WiFi & Bluetooth, access to websites that pay Apple for the privilege, etc.

But a whole Blockbuster? Naw, a mini Lockerbuster!

Re:Forget Blockbuster, go Lockerbuster

[md17]

That is actually a great point! When I lived in Denver almost every McDonalds had a RedBox that rented DVD's for $1. We never went to Blockbuster because McDonalds was just as close and despite not having the selection, was one fifth the price. It would be silly of Jobs to pay for all that real estate when he doesn't need it. Unless he has some other idea to make money off the space. Which he might. Anyways for more info on RedBox check out: http://www.redbox.com/

Everyone here has broadband, so no one gets it

[mdarksbane]

There are quite a few areas (like, say, anywhere >2 miles outside of a suburb) where you can't get cable or DSL. These people still like to watch movies (which is one of the reasons why satellite TV is so big).

But that's just the advantage over internet distribution. No one's talking about the advantages over retail.

How many movies are in an average blockbuster. How many of you have gone there (ok, say five years ago back when you didn't just download it over your university connection) and they didn't have the movie you wanted to watch, or had already rented it?

If you have all of your collection on a hard drive, you can rent it out to everyone at once, no problem. And you can keep WAY more movies available at any one location.

The whole convenience of blockbuster is a good selection (or sometimes just large selection - how much luck do you have finding exactly the awful horror flick your friend recommended to you on p2p in any reasonable amount of time) and short time to get it - yes, it isn't as convenient as netflix or a download if you're planning ahead, but if you just want something to watch TONIGHT, it's a lot easier to stop at a store on your way home than scour p2p or call netflix and wait a day.

I could definitely see my parents (who don't have broadband) using this, and if it were tied into a fully stocked online store/rental (and therefore, I already had a video ipod) I could myself using it, too, when I don't have time to wait for a download.

It's not as good as a full download store for those of us on fat pipes, but a large portion of the country can't or won't get those, and for those people I could see this being quite useful (assuming you made the whole thing so easy to use that they wouldn't be intimidated by it - that'd be the hard part).

Re:Cringely's on crack today.

[shadowmatter]

Yes, believe it or not, such people do still exist.

I'm more surprised that people who RTFA on Slashdot still exist. Don't you want first post!?

- shadowmatter

Re:Cringely's on crack today.

[tshak]

I "only" have 1.5Mbps downstream connection. I don't want to wait 3-5 hours to download a high quality video. I also don't want my connection virtually hosed for half an evening. I would rather take a few minutes to walk or drive to the nearest blockbuster and load it up in less than a minute. I would probably need a connection with a solid 8Mbps downstream before I would consider the download times reasonable. Then again, for HD-DVD content, we're probably talking about 20GB+ in which case 8Mbps is way too slow. It's a great ideal to download content over broadband, but the infrastructure just isn't there.