TV shows from iTunes NOT OAR!! (1 Viewer)

[Anthony Clifton]

I personally don't get how the iPod is more popular than a myriad of cheaper, better players out there. There's no sense in trying to make sense of people.

 

[Scott Kimball]

While it is true that there are cheaper players, and plenty with more storage and more features, it's hard to deny the simplicity and elegance of the UI and the integration of the iPod and iTunes. Apple was the first to deliver the whole experience - a simple, solid player and easy, integrated access to legal downloads.

If only Apple would license Fairplay... but that ain't gonna happen.

-Scott

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This is definitely a good point. I guess I'm more critical because it's the only option out there at the moment. I know if they released episodes in a decent resolution, I'd be tempted to buy them — especially since I don't have cable in Boston. I know I miss having my SciFi Fridays on Friday nights.

 

[David Lambert]

When I'm not at TVShowsOnDVD, I have a full-time job during the day. That happens to be at the national repair center for laptops from companies like IBM, Dell, HP, Sony and Alienware. If you have a laptop computer from one of these companies, and it breaks and needs repair under warranty, the chances are it will be sent to the center I work at (even if you drop if off at Best Buy or CompUSA, they often send it on to us).

We have a LOT of experience at the center with customers who are disappointed from hard drive crashes and lost data. The rank and file employees there have been discussing from time to time the phenomenon of people who are more and more pissed since iTunes came along (for MP3s) because their hard drive is where all their music was...until the drive crashed. Quite a few end-users out there don't seem to know how to transfer the songs to burnable CD or DVD for removable storage...they just play them from the laptops. As soon as they started paying for the MP3s and then losing them to hard drive crashes, it became a big upset issue of having lost what they paid for and no good way to get it back without paying all over again.

Imagine how much more severe that disappointment and upset will be for having lost entire films and TV episodes, instead of just 2-or-3-minute songs? It staggers the mind.

I am not a spokesman for the repair center, nor do I pretend to be. Speaking from an individual point of view, though: at the repair center, a significant number of the individuals who work there do NOT see a long-term future for downloadable media, due to the terror to be learned from hard drive crashes. They see it as a fad that will go away in favor of "permanent media" (CDs, DVDs or whatever replaces them) once enough people catch on to the danger their purchases are in due to easy loss, whether it be due to a hard drive crash or a stolen unit or any number of other reasons.

Just one observation.

 

[Tim B]

I do not see the point in watching shows or movies on an ipod. When I am home, I have my TV to watch movies on. The time I would spend searching downloaded files, I could be using to watch the same program.

When I am away from home, I typically interact with other people. It's nice that the technology has allowed people to be "plugged in" 24/7, but for me I would like to just wait to get home to watch a program.

Besides, I would rather save my ears the trouble of being deaf by age 40. The studies released so far show that individuals who constantly listen to headphones have deteroriated hearing that they will never get back. Something most "videophiles" don't typically think about.

Now, to get back to the original issue, I do not feel that the OAR is important on an ipod. With DVD's I have purchased, I will never buy anything but the OAR. This is because the screen is large enough that I have the choice. However, with a smaller screen, there is no point in having black bars, especially with something as small as the ipod.

 

[MichaelColvin]

Just a quick note, the new NBC show "Conviction" is available as a free download and is a 16:9 image! so I guess that they heard our complaints...

- Michael

 

[ElijahS]

It's not that so much. Conviction will be shown letterboxed for 4:3 screens when it premieres. You'll notice that The Office and the last few episodes of Law & Order are also shown in 16:9 on iTunes to reflect how they're shown on NBC. Sorry, but it's not hearing your complaints.

 

[RoryR]

Why are you complaining? Firstly, thats how it would appear on your iPod - why would Apple give a file that would look terrible on an iPod (a.k.a the sole reason for selling video files).

And for those complaining about iTunes resolution - thats what the iPod is, what do you expect from a 3 inch screen?

 

[LindseyS]

This is slightly off topic, but does anyone know if the Itunes download for Saved by the Bell are broadcast or syndicated versions? Thanks!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Not everybody goes deaf from headphones. Just the people that have their headphones cranked so loud the whole room/T car can here what they're listening to.

At a proper volume, only the person wearing the headphones should hear what's being played over them.

Chalk me up as another roped in by the free "Conviction" pilot on iTunes. I wish more shows would do this; it's a great way to sample which new shows are worth following up on. I'll never download another episode of "Conviction", but I might catch it on NBC fridays after the d/l.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

OMG, SBTB over iTunes? I would nearly be convinced to download them I plan to buy an iRiver G10 or a video iPod whenever either is released, so I'd hope that any content I may feel compelled to pay for, is in its OAR.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Would this be the "deal" that one of the others has, where if you ever stop paying the subscription fee, everything that you have ever downloaded stops working?

 

[ElijahS]

I believe so.