iTMS video.

A week ago, Apple announced they’d be selling video via the iTunes Music Store. I wrote at the time that I couldn’t see myself paying $2 to watch a single episode of a TV show, but I think I was wrong about that.

Desperate Housewives screenshotIt’s been a rough few days; Amber and I couldn’t muster the energy to go to down to rent a movie, but we needed a distraction. Ah-ha: iTMS. We ended up buying three episodes of “Desperate Housewives.” Neither of us had ever seen it, nor did we know much about it, but the price point was low enough that we could justify a little experimentation.

I have to say, I’m impressed with iTMS’ video. We turned the couch around, so we could watch it, fullscreen, on my widescreen flat panel. I’d heard some complaints about the video quality, but from 4′ away, we didn’t encounter a single flaw, hiccup, or bit of weirdness. Watching an hour-long show with the commercials stripped out means 45 minutes of uninterrupted viewing pleasure. It was like watching HBO.

“Desperate Housewives” is unusually good for network television, adding to the HBO illusion. It owes its entire plot structure to soap operas, and, at times, it got a little close to a soap for my taste. But the characters are interesting, the cinematography is very solid, and the dialogue is intelligent. I’m not sure that I’ll continue to buy episodes…though I do want to know what the deal is with the woman and her son who keep their husband in a dungeon under their house.

I’m not about to plunk down $2 every time I want to watch a TV show, but I might get close to that. The fact is that I’m not likely to watch more than an hour of TV perhaps four nights a week — far more than I watch now, since we just barely get a single channel — and simple math yields $32/month. That’s competitive with the cost of getting satellite TV (our only option here), only with, for the time being, considerably reduced selection. That doesn’t include the cost of building a MythTV box, which I’d need to be able to watch on my own schedule, as purchasing via iTMS permits.

In short, I think I was wrong — a la carte television seems like a good deal. It’s convenient, has a reasonable price point and, once the selection is expanded, I intend to be a regular customer.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »

One reply on “iTMS video.”

  1. I’ve got a MythTV box, and I couldn’t live without it. How else would I watch all of my cartoons?

    Also, I’ve seen ever episode of DHW. I am aware that that does make me a big loser ; )

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