As most readers of this blog probably know, Apple has recently introduced a movie rental service through their popular iTunes music management software.  I’ve tried out a few rentals on the new service and basically, I think it works great.  Here is my two cents:

Movies, Movies, Movies

Although I don’t have a Netflix account of my own, I did live with a person (thanks Ben!) for more than a year who did.  My sister also uses Netflix and I have a couple of friends who use and have shared their Blockbuster’s rental service.  I’ve also used inDemand cable movie rentals and some permutation of premium satellite/DirectTV/ultra cable during my college years.  In fact, when I think about it, now really is a great time to love and watch movies.  I have not used Amazon’s Unbox rental service, which I think is really the only 2.0 type rental service that I have no experience with.   Oh yes, and I’ve been around Tivo/DVR’s.  Briefly, anyway.

So before I get to the Apple experience, I’ll run down my thoughts on all the other services as a kind of standard for our comparison.

Ye Olde Movie Store

- Well, it doesn’t get much more basic than the brick and mortar video establishment.  Although it might seem wildly outdated at this point, there are still a lot of things to like about going to the video store:

1. You get to go travel somewhere (this can also count against the store, see list two below)
2.  Video stores almost always have a clerk who is cool/knows a lot about movies/is worth having a conversation with
3. Independent rental stores (yes, they do still exist), often have a kind of hermeneutic aura, sort of a temple to film if you will
4. Rental stores are the geographic location where Hollywood’s Law manifests itself.  (Hollywood’s Law states that if a person goes to rent a movie in their home town at a rental store after 6 pm, said individual will encounter someone they know.  really, it’s true)
5. You can get the movie you want fairly quickly (30 min or less, factoring driving time in my town).
6. Some stores have an excellent specialty selection (usually not the chains).
7. High Def  Blue Ray formats.  Some places still carry ancient VHF too!

Things you may not like about the video store:

1. You have to leave the house
2. You have to talk to a clerk
3. Selection at chains is variable at best
4. You may be subject to Hollywood’s Law
5. Adding on gas and your time, going to the store is probably less cost effective than other possible options.
6. You probably will need to ‘become a member’.  Sigh.
7. Late Fees!

DVD’s to your house service (Netflix, Blockbuster, etc.)

- Pros:

1. Largest Selection of Films.  Period.
2. Pretty quick turn-over rate (1 Day)
3. You get to travel, but not really very far (well depends on your mailbox I guess).
4. Subscription rates are pretty reasonable, esp. for those who watch lots of movies.  The more you watch, the better these plans are, I think.
5. You get to watch the movie as many times as you want for pretty much as long as  you want.
6. Support for High Def Blue Ray quality discs.

- Cons:

1. You have to subscribe.  (No one time rental for you!)
2. You probably should have the following already: a personal computer, an internet connection, a stable mailing address.
3. Not really as quick as going to the movie store, but then again, you don’t have to get out and drive either.
4. There’s a kind of procrastination factor – I’ve noticed this with every single Netflix subscriber I have known: nobody really uses their subscription to its maximum potential (see point 4 above).   Lots of folks tend to hold movies for way too long thus kind of negating the money they might be ‘saving’ by really maxing out the service.

inDemand Cable Rentals

- Pros:

1. Nice selection of new releases
2. Virtually no wait/a very minimal wait  to watch the film
3. No subscriptions, no membership.
4. No traveling (unless it is to the couch!)

- Cons:

1. you need a cable provider
2. 24 -hour  movie expiration
3. Ultra small  selection outside Hollywood new releases
4.  An extra debit tacked on to your cable bill
5. No Blue Ray support

Premium Cable/Satellite + Tivo/DRV

- Pros

1. Pretty solid selection of films, even better if your service provider carries Independent Film channels and the like.
2. There is a wait time to watch, but you can just program your recorder and go do something else.
3. Pre-filtered content can provide you with some serendipity – a good way to discover new films (although online rental services can substitute for this with recommendations based on what you have already watched, this will tend to push you in directions you already go in, not provide you with something that you ‘didn’t know you liked’)
4. Once again, you need cable plus either a Tivo subscription or a one-time DVR purchase.
5. You can watch things a million times.
6. No travel required.

- Cons

1. You can’t always get what you want in terms of selection (obscure forties foreign films anyone?)
2. Not really ‘on demand’
3. Not really geared towards non-subscribers or one-time users
4. As far as I know, no Blue-Ray like support.

How does Apple Rentals Stack Up

As is obvious, each movie service offers a different set of pros and cons that provide the end user with a subtly different experience.  In it’s current incarnation, I think Apple rentals slots somewhere between cable’s inDemand and Netflix-esque services in terms of what it provides and how it provides it.

The Apple service puts a premium on speed and accessibility, in a manner that is similar to inDemand.   Assuming you have a modern internet connection, a fairly recent (non-Linux) OS, and a checking account, you can rent a movie on this service.  No car, TV, DVD player, optical drive required.  Also, no subscriptions necessary.

My own experience with the rentals was smooth as silk.  I already use iTunes as my music management software on my personal mac and on my family’s home PCs.  Renting a movie was as easy as logging into my account, querying up a title, and pressing the ‘rent’ icon.

I was very skeptical as to how fast I could begin watching my rental, but suprisingly, as per Mr. Jobs at Macworld, I started watching within a minute of downloading the film.

Quality, as far as I could tell, was excellent.  The visual quality seemed comparable to an ordinary DVD, and the movie did not skip or lag or buffer  one single time.  There was a bit of flutter during one section of the film that I was a little disappointed with.  Perhaps this has something to do with the encoding process?  Now, granted I was using a rather new 2GHz  laptop (and I don’t think things would run as smoothly on my now obsolete 800mhz G4 desktop), but I think it’s only fair to point out that online rental services are really geared towards the latest in computer hardware.  Consider yourself warned.

To make a direct comparison, my sister and I reviewed her use of Netflix’s online rental watching service.  Head-to-head on the same machine, Apple won hands down, and what killed Netflix for me were three crucial factors:

1. Netflix’s online rent-and-watch service is windows only.  Strike one.
2. The actual picture quality was far below an ordinary DVD.  Think Youtube.  Buffering and lagging all over the place.  Strike Two.
3.  You must use INTERNET EXPLORER to watch the movie!  WTF!?   Welcome to 1999.  Strike three.

Although everyone is complaining about it, I don’t really have a problem with the 24-hour rental thing.  48 hours would be better, but 24 really isn’t that bad.  If I want to watch a movie a hundred times, I’ll buy it.  I have never watched a rented movie more than twice in my life before, and I don’t expect my viewing habits to suddenly change now.  Your mileage may vary.

In terms of selection, well, Apple’s sucks right now.  However, this is the place where I can see this service really improving – in fact, I think that Apple’s back catalog with this service will be the deal-breaker for whether I actually use this service frequently in the future.  If they stock a huge library, I expect I’ll be renting movies  – if not, I may pop in for a sporadic new release, but I’m sure that will be pretty rare, based on my previous  renting habits.

To Summarize

If you have a fast internet connection, a computer less than two years old, and don’t mind the small selection, then Apple rentals may  be for you.  Here’s the summary, as I see it.

- Pros:

1. No traveling, no subscription, no physical media required.
2. No waiting, pretty much instant rent and watch.  As fast or faster than cable inDemand.
3. No additional cable fee or subscription bill, straight out of checking just like a rental at the store.
4. Can be used as a one-time service

- Cons:

1. Limited rental selection
2. 24 hour watch period
3. best experienced with recent internet/computer hardware – computer and internet connections are a requirement.
4. No High Def or Blue Ray support
5. Not as cost-effective as a maxed-out Netflix account.

All in all, I think the actual Apple ‘online rental’ process is the best of the current breed of online services.  However, if you watch more than 5 films a month, have a killer Blu-Ray/Flatscreen/Home Theater set-up, or just need to see the latest Hungarian Nu-Wave film, I would not cancel your Netflix subscription just yet.