I’ve been using my new iPod Touch to watch videos about twice as much as I’ve been using it to listen to music. Heretofore I’ve been putting both HandBrake and TiVo To Go through their paces–I’ve now got all the US Office episodes and 98% of the episodes of Arrested Development ready to throw on the iPod at a moment’s notice. I swear that when it comes to waiting for ANYTHING (except red lights) there’s nothing like it.
When Apple announced they were renting movies through iTunes I was pretty skeptical. I can use Handbrake to convert most of my DVD library, and most rentals are something I’d want to watch with my spouse on the big TV you don’t hold in your hand.
But I honestly couldn’t resist trying it out, so I decided to give Alien Vs. Predator a whirl. I’ve seen it before, but the pickins are slim right now, and I like sleek special effects-y stuff.
The experience is much like Amazon’s UnBox. The download is pretty slow (of course, that’s all due to our at home network speed), and you have 30 days to keep the film. Once you start watching it, however, a countdown lets you know you have 24 hours before the thing evaporates into the ether.
Unlike UnBox, you CAN transfer the film from your computer to your iPod and back again–which is handy.
I’ve read several reviews of the experience and most of them are like mine. Slow download, but fun. Everyone seems to be clamouring for All You Can Eat pricing a la Netflix and Napster, because $2.99/$3.99 per film seems a little steep. I’d be intrigued by a model like that, but I don’t think right now there are enough videos in stock for me to think it’s worth it. Right now I think I’ll limit my rentals to chick flicks and other movies we’ve decided we don’t want to see together.
(27 Dresses, here I come!)
Just Another Pretty Farce 
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