Digital shifting

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by mlabonte21

It's because the Studios forgot to pass the shipping/manufacturing cost savings down to the consumer for digital.

$20-$25 for a new movie? Which I cannot hold in my hand or re-sell? PASS

$10-$15 is really the sweet spot for impulse purchases for 2-hour digital movies. I can buy a 100 hour+ digital video game for $10 on sale.

It's a shame too, as the VIDEO quality is really really close compared to Physical (if you use iTunes). Audio is still not up to snuff, but I expect that to get improved as time goes on.

Right, the problem is, not passing on the shipping/manufacturing cost was where digital was supposed to be superior to physical for the studios to increase their profits. If you aren't going to make that money, then it really doesn't make a difference whether physical or digital is popular. In fact, in that case physical might even be better because after you ship the disc you don't need to continue paying ongoing bandwidth costs as is the case after a digital purchase. Also, with the way digital is setup when a new master is released digital just gets it for free, while they can squeak another purchase out of physical.

Digital purchases are always a bad deal compared to physical purchases. But for many other mediums like music and video games, its worth the bad deal for the convenience of being able to hop from one track to the next, or one game to the next, without having to change discs - plus being able to use in car easily. For a 2-hour movie that you aren't going to be flipping back and forth to other movies, and that you can't watch in the car, that functionality improvement doesn't carry over. Even for a commuter, digital movie purchases often don't work because the files are too large to store more than a few movies on a phone, and the signals are often unreliable on mass transit so you can't reliably stream purchases either.

Also, IMO people shouldn't be buying on itunes (or google play etc) but instead movies anywhere or VUDU. Reason why, cause if Movies Anywhere ever goes belly up those itunes purchases are now all locked to a single brand of digital device, which sucks. People should support the multiplatform services for their own good!

[Dr. T]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Also, IMO people shouldn't be buying on itunes (or google play etc) but instead movies anywhere or VUDU. Reason why, cause if Movies Anywhere ever goes belly up those itunes purchases are now all locked to a single brand of digital device, which sucks. People should support the multiplatform services for their own good!

iTunes and Google Play are both Movies Anywhere partners. And the Apple TV app is no longer locked to an Apple streaming device. I can watch Apple purchases via the Android app on my Sony TV. The advantage to buying from Apple is that they upgrade HD purchases to 4K when available. Apple also allows you to download an HD copy of your purchases for storage. This has allowed me to download both versions of Superman IV, the old transfer and the new transfer.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Dr. T

iTunes and Google Play are both Movies Anywhere partners.

Hence, if Movies Anywhere goes belly up, the content from those stores will be locked to iPhone/iPad and Android phones/tablets respectively. Kind of short-sighted to rely that much on Movies Anywhere for cross-device compatibility and then ultimately not support it, no?

And the Apple TV app is no longer locked to an Apple streaming device. I can watch Apple purchases via the Android app on my Sony TV. The advantage to buying from Apple is that they upgrade HD purchases to 4K when available. Apple also allows you to download an HD copy of your purchases for storage. This has allowed me to download both versions of Superman IV, the old transfer and the new transfer.

While it is true that Apple and Google currently have licenses with some TV manufacturers, both have their own digital device ecosystems where their stores have exclusives. For instance, I can't natively watch iTunes content at all on an Android phone or tablet, and you can't natively watch Google Play content at all on a iPhone or iPad. And at any time, Apple or Google could stop licensing to TV manufs so that they can focus on their own ecosystem hardware if they chose to.

Thus, supporting the most consumer friendly options (VUDU, Movies Anywhere) are really the best choice. Yeah, it might be a little more expensive at times without the free upgrades, but if you are going to upgrade the physical disc anyway that usually comes with a free code that isn't too much of a big deal.

[starmike]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Hence, if Movies Anywhere goes belly up, the content from those stores will be locked to iPhone/iPad and Android phones/tablets respectively. Kind of short-sighted to rely that much on Movies Anywhere for cross-device compatibility and then ultimately not support it, no?

Um, no. Remember UltraViolet? The account info will shift. You'll still have access to everything.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by starmike

Um, no. Remember UltraViolet? The account info will shift. You'll still have access to everything.

With ultraviolet, the licenses shifted to VUDU which does not have cross compatibility with itunes. If MA disappears, stuff you redeemed or purchased in itunes may just end up staying in itunes. I'm not sure why they would give you a second copy in VUDU. And if that is the case, they will all be locked to apple devices. On a side note, UV redemptions actually still work in VUDU to this day for LG 4K discs.

Movies Anywhere is the service that allows itunes to be used across devices. Without MA you are stuck with whatever apple let's you use them on

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Also, IMO people shouldn't be buying on itunes (or google play etc) but instead movies anywhere or VUDU. Reason why, cause if Movies Anywhere ever goes belly up those itunes purchases are now all locked to a single brand of digital device, which sucks. People should support the multiplatform services for their own good!

Movies Anywhere is not a retailer. It's a locker system that links with other retailers. You cannot buy from them.

Originally Posted by Ruined

Hence, if Movies Anywhere goes belly up, the content from those stores will be locked to iPhone/iPad and Android phones/tablets respectively. Kind of short-sighted to rely that much on Movies Anywhere for cross-device compatibility and then ultimately not support it, no?

Movies Anywhere is for cross-service compatibility. It connects with Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play/YouTube, Microsoft (Windows/Xbox), VUDU, DirecTV, xfinity, and Verizon.

Originally Posted by Ruined

While it is true that Apple and Google currently have licenses with some TV manufacturers, both have their own digital device ecosystems where their stores have exclusives. For instance, I can't natively watch iTunes content at all on an Android phone or tablet, and you can't natively watch Google Play content at all on a iPhone or iPad. And at any time, Apple or Google could stop licensing to TV manufs so that they can focus on their own ecosystem hardware if they chose to.

Google has a Google TV app for iPhone/iPad. You can also watch your purchased content via the YouTube and YouTube TV apps on both iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS.

Originally Posted by Ruined

Thus, supporting the most consumer friendly options (VUDU, Movies Anywhere) are really the best choice. Yeah, it might be a little more expensive at times without the free upgrades, but if you are going to upgrade the physical disc anyway that usually comes with a free code that isn't too much of a big deal.

Movies Anywhere is NOT a retailer. They're a locker.

If you click on the purchase link on Movies Anywhere from an iPhone/iPad, it literally takes you to iTunes. If you're on the website, it gives you a list of retailers to purchase from.

iTunes has a considerably higher video bitrate than VUDU, and often, a higher audio bit-rate than VUDU, which coupled with free 4K upgrades, definitely makes it the more consumer friendly options to me, but YMMV.

Originally Posted by Ruined

With ultraviolet, the licenses shifted to VUDU which does not have cross compatibility with itunes. If MA disappears, stuff you redeemed or purchased in itunes may just end up staying in itunes. I'm not sure why they would give you a second copy in VUDU. And if that is the case, they will all be locked to apple devices. On a side note, UV redemptions actually still work in VUDU to this day for LG 4K discs.

Movies Anywhere is the service that allows itunes to be used across devices. Without MA you are stuck with whatever apple let's you use them on

What the heck are you talking about?

All my UV movies that were MA enabled shifted to MA FROM VUDU. All my iTunes purchases and redeems transferred to VUDU from MA.

Originally Posted by Ruined

I'm not sure why they would give you a second copy in VUDU. And if that is the case, they will all be locked to apple devices.

Have you ever used Movies Anywhere? Do you even know what it is?

My apologies for the off-topic post.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

Movies Anywhere is not a retailer. It's a locker system that links with other retailers. You cannot buy from them.



Movies Anywhere is for cross-service compatibility. It connects with Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play/YouTube, Microsoft (Windows/Xbox), VUDU, DirecTV, xfinity, and Verizon.



Google has a Google TV app for iPhone/iPad. You can also watch your purchased content via the YouTube and YouTube TV apps on both iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS.



Movies Anywhere is NOT a retailer. They're a locker.

If you click on the purchase link on Movies Anywhere from an iPhone/iPad, it literally takes you to iTunes. If you're on the website, it gives you a list of retailers to purchase from.

iTunes has a considerably higher video bitrate than VUDU, and often, a higher audio bit-rate than VUDU, which coupled with free 4K upgrades, definitely makes it the more consumer friendly options to me, but YMMV.

My apologies for the off-topic post.

It does not change the point - if you like being able to watch your content on all devices , redeem on Movies Anywhere/VUDU instead of itunes when given a choice, or buy on Vudu instead of itunes. Use the options that natively allow multiplatform support instead of the proprietary ones that rely on additional services for multiplatform support.

If you want best quality, watch the disc!

[starmike]

Originally Posted by Ruined

With ultraviolet, the licenses shifted to VUDU which does not have cross compatibility with itunes.

Nope. None of my UV stuff is in Vudu. It's all in MA now.

[Dr. T]

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Ruined

It does not change the point - if you like being able to watch your content on all devices , redeem on Movies Anywhere/VUDU instead of itunes when given a choice, or buy on Vudu instead of itunes. Use the options that natively allow multiplatform support instead of the proprietary ones that rely on additional services for multiplatform support.

If you want best quality, watch the disc!

I edited my post after you replied.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

I edited my post after you replied.

Let me make it a bit more simple .

Imagine the digital locker system goes away because people just buy everything on itunes anyway, and apple tells MA to go pound sand. On which portable digital devices can you play your itunes content without the digital locker system? Then, on which portable digital devices would you be able to play back VUDU content?

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Let me make it a bit more simple .

Imagine the digital locker system goes away because people just buy everything on itunes anyway, and apple tells MA to go pound sand. On which portable digital devices can you play your itunes content without the digital locker system? Then, on which portable digital devices would you be able to play back VUDU content?

I don't watch movies on portable digital devices, but I would be able to watch my MA titles on iPhone/iPad and Android phones and tablets, as well as Amazon Fire tablets.

Oh yeah, and Windows tablets.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

I don't watch movies on portable digital devices, but I would be able to watch my MA titles on iPhone/iPad and Android phones and tablets, as well as Amazon Fire tablets.

How can you watch MA titles if MA (the locker system) doesn't exist in my question? You didn't answer my question about itunes content as asked.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Ruined

didn't answer my question about itunes content as asked.

Yes, I did.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

Yes, I did.

Can I see a link that indicates that itunes purchases can play on something other than portable apple devices without movies anywhere?

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Can I see a link that indicates that itunes purchases can play on something other than portable apple devices without movies anywhere?

Not the best source, but maybe it'll help you.

https://www.vudu.com/content/movies/ma

[mulscul]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Let me make it a bit more simple .

Imagine the digital locker system goes away because people just buy everything on itunes anyway, and apple tells MA to go pound sand. On which portable digital devices can you play your itunes content without the digital locker system? Then, on which portable digital devices would you be able to play back VUDU content?

I believe once rights have been transferred to Itunes and VUDU and Amazon, your content stays no matter what, I have the old listing of Cruel Intentions, purchased on ITUNES, when it was MA and it is still in all of my services even though it cannot be found on these sites anymore, its still in my library to view on Itunes, VUDU, MA, and Amazon

https://www.blu-ray.com/digital/Crue...s-Digital/337/

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

Not the best source, but maybe it'll help you.

https://www.vudu.com/content/movies/ma

Yeah a link on VUDU from the hypothetically failed MA is not a great source. Let's see something from Apple.

Originally Posted by mulscul

I believe once rights have been transferred to Itunes and VUDU and Amazon, your content stays no matter what, I have the old listing of Cruel Intentions, purchased on ITUNES, when it was MA and it is still in all of my services even though it cannot be found on these sites anymore, its still in my library to view on Itunes, VUDU, MA, and Amazon

https://www.blu-ray.com/digital/Crue...s-Digital/337/

Right this is all the locker system you describe (MA). if that goes away, the only portable itunes apps are for apple devices. My question is why would you depend on said locker system (especially when the first one UV failed) to have access to your content across all devices when multiplatform stores exist?

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Yeah a link on VUDU from the hypothetically failed MA is not a great source. Let's see something from Apple.

Have you ever used MA?

Originally Posted by Ruined

Right this is all the locker system you describe (MA). if that goes away, the only portable itunes apps are for apple devices. My question is why would you depend on said locker system (especially when the first one UV failed) to have access to your content across all devices when multiplatform stores exist?

Apple TV app is also available on Windows 11 tablets (to my knowledge).

All my UV content that was available on VUDU that was also MA enabled titles are now available on my iTunes, Amazon, Google/YouTube, accounts, etc.

What if VUDU shuts down? What if their apps are pulled from portable devices?

[unsung122212]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Can I see a link that indicates that itunes purchases can play on something other than portable apple devices without movies anywhere?

There is an app called Apple TV that you can download on Roku devices, Amazon devices and such. There you can play Apple content without the need to have an Apple device. The only downside is that you can’t watch Apple Extras on non Apple devices. Apple content is no longer limited to Apple devices as it used to be.