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Sony Begins Selling HD Movies On Its PSN
itwbennett writes "Sony on Tuesday 'rolled out the ability to buy HD movies from the PlayStation Network,' writes blogger Peter Smith. Sony claims they're the first service to offer HD titles to own from all six major movie studios. Smith runs the numbers on 'standard' pricing for titles ($19.99 for new releases; $17.99 for older movies), file sizes (ranging from 4 GB for Zombieland to 7.5 GB for 2012), and resolution (720P as far as he can tell)."
To "own"? Let's not kid ourselves here... there's no real ownership involved unless there is a way to get DRM-free files in 720p off the device using anything other than your eyeballs. I seriously doubt there is, which makes this just a really expensive rental service. I'm sure there are already lots of services which feature renting movies from all 6 major studios while taking your money and laughing about it.
Let's see:
-Lengthy download instead of a trip to the store.
-Price comparable to a Bluray off of Amazon.
-Quality less than Bluray.
-Limited to watching it on my PS3.
Sounds like a real winner, Sony!
You can get Zombieland on blu-ray at Amazon for $23.49. It's yours, you can loan it, sell it, make backups (shhhh), etc. Plus it's in full 1080p. Who the frick would buy a "virtual" copy for nearly the same price?
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
Lengthy download instead of a trip to the store.
A trip to the store can take more than a day if you happen to want a movie on a day when the city buses are not running. In some cities, buses don't run on Sundays or about six major holidays.
That's nothing. A trip to the store could take weeks if you get taken hostage by an arm gang on the way and released later after lengthy negotiations by Jimmy Carter. Of course we always take this sort of scenario into account when deciding whether to download or buy from the store.
Don't forget download size, some of us have download quotas.
"we've got trenchcoats and bad attitudes" - John Constantine, HellBlazer
Ha! That's nothing. My dad went out to buy cigarettes 20 years ago and still hasn't comeback... At least, that taught me not to smoke.
And your point is what precisely?
Surely the purchasing mechanism that you used for your PS3 is scaleable to the point where it can be used as a similar mechanism for the purchase of games and movies?
I also find it difficult to believe that anyone wakes up in the morning in their own bed and says "Oh shit! I just realised that public transport links to my home are not suitable for my lifestyle."
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Have you ever downloaded and watched HD movies off Usenet or torrent sites? These are typically 4-8GB for 720p, and 8-16GB for 1080p. The quality is in no way anywhere as bad or low-def as DVD, and most viewers will probably never notice the difference between these compressed files and the full Blu-ray versions, unless they watch them simultaneously side-by-side. If you have an HD set, these downloads are well worth it compared to plain DVD. Even when I have the chance to download the full Blu-ray, I opt for the compressed file.
The best thing of course would be to have a choice! I still think the old Russian AllOfMP3 site set the standard for media webshops in that regard: a choice of compression rates and file formats, or the raw uncompressed file, priced by the MB. I'd like online movie stores to offer downloads in formats suitable for portable players, DVD, HDTV (720p and 1080p), with or without compression, etc. And of course, no DRM and download to own. If they offer that, I'd stop bothering with Usenet or torrents, and I'd happily pay close to the full price for movies ($20-25).
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Lengthy download instead of a trip to the store.
A trip to the store can take more than a day if you happen to want a movie on a day when the city buses are not running. In some cities, buses don't run on Sundays or about six major holidays.
That's nothing. A trip to the store could take weeks if you get taken hostage by an arm gang on the way and released later after lengthy negotiations by Jimmy Carter. Of course we always take this sort of scenario into account when deciding whether to download or buy from the store.
That's nothing. It could take months if you have your PS3 in your boat and you are traveling near the cost of Africa while testing your new satellite Internet link. While you might think that a short trip to the coast to take some pictures, meet some people, sightseeing and buying that new BluRay you heard about in some store could be interesting, you can also get kidnapped by one of those pirates gangs and spend months while someone put (a lot of) money on the table to take you back. This could specially apply also if you ship oil for a work on a large boat, or move large amounts of people around, or you do some high level fishing.
Of course we always take this sort of scenario into account when deciding whether to download or buy from the store at the shore.
You can't download snacks.
But wait, there's more!
-Quickly fill up your PS3 hard drive.
-Wonder what happens if your hard drive crashes or if you want to switch to another console.
-No more saving money by selling a movie or by buying movies used.
-No more borrowing movies among friends.