This Penny Arcade piece is focused on the 360’s media download service and Tycho makes an excellent point here regarding the price of downloads versus a rental or a DVD purchase:
“I’m the weirdo who wants to pay directly for the shows I watch, and what the networks are telling me (via their pricing) is that they will charge me more for profoundly restricted versions of the same content if they believe they can get away with it. No. No, in every language. I’m not a psychotic demagogue when it comes to DRM, I’m willing to tolerate it when I get what I want out of the bargain. That’s not happening here. These are versions of shows for more money with less features and zero portability…Looking at their model, it’s almost engineered to make digital delivery the least appealing option. “
I’m with him in that I want the people who make the content I’m after to have some of my money. That’s more than reasonable. It’s practically fair.
I like the process (ritual?) of watching good television. I don’t ever see myself getting my ‘Lost’ or ‘Heroes’ fix from a laptop. I also rarely watch my stories as they’re being televised. Tivo has certainly changed that for me. Michelle and I don’t sit down to watch until 20 minutes or so into an hour-long timeslot.
But if I didn’t have my Tivo I’d gladly pay $2 for a single episode of a show so I don’t have to skip commercials or hope that the network hasn’t whipped up some dumb start/stop time to penalize time-shifters or activated some digital flag that limits the number of times I can view a show. I would be happy to cut the advertising middle man out of my viewing equation. That is a future I could certainly get behind (you can keep your jetpacks, thanks).
Do any of you watch a show exclusively via download?
ronan | 27-Nov-06 at 9:43 pm | Permalink
Jeez, with a post like that you would think that you’d buy a big screen HD tv. Instead of that little CRTV you have. Ha ha! Your TV is lame! Pronounced: ” lah-may”. It’s French! Pronounced: “French”!.
Can I come over and watch the Giants next Sunday? Please? Pronounced: “begging”.
Ethan | 28-Nov-06 at 8:22 am | Permalink
Tycho makes sense on the TV shows. I guess if I missed one crucial show of something, maybe I’d pay the $2-3 to see it. If I want to watch a whole season, Netflix makes more sense.
I have to say, though, that the $6 pricetag for a movie in HD hits me just right. We don’t have enough movie consumption time to justify a Netflix sub. But I will almost certainly plunk down $6 to download ‘Superman Returns’ in HD. Because that’s something that netflix can’t offer me yet… HD movies.
Microsoft should embrace the Season Pass concept. $2 per episode of Veronica Mars seems silly. But offer me the whole season for $15. Makes more sense and would make me more likely to buy.