This announcement makes a lot of sense but it totally caught me off guard. Most big companies struggle to release innovations and struggle even harder to release products that match the original idea. Microsoft has stuggled to get Vista and Office out the door but their other divisions have pushed out a lot of product in the past 12 months, from the Xbox360 to Zune.
As an HTPC owner, I think downloading video content is terrific. The real question is whether any company can create a product that provides a positive consumer experience.
My concern here is that if I want to watch CBS I use my Xbox and if I want to watch ABC I use iTunes - which means I need two solutions and two sets of software/hardware. The movie issues are similar, with each company differing in how they handle rentals and sales. Add the HD-DVD vs Bluetooth player to the mix and you get a very confusing consumer experience, which sucks.
Microsoft to offer movies via Xbox starting Nov. 22
Seattle Times technology reporter
November 7, 2006
Users will pay for the videos with the points system Microsoft already has to sell video-game features and other content to Xbox 360 owners. A user can buy a block of points online with a credit card or through the prepaid cards sold in stores.
The Xbox service doesn't have the vast library of TV content that Apple sells on its iTunes Music Store, nor does Microsoft have the partnerships Apple has with the ABC and NBC television networks.
But that will change, Microsoft executives said.
By year-end, the service is to have at least 1,000 hours of television programs and movies from partners that include the CBS and MTV networks, Turner Broadcasting System, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
Microsoft will sell TV shows such as episodes from the "CSI" series, but it will only rent movies. That differs from Apple, which only sells videos to keep permanently.
The terms of use for rentals are more rigorous than those offered by competitors. Once a user downloads a movie, for example, it must be watched in the next two weeks before becoming unplayable.
Movielink, a competing service, allows 30 days to watch a movie rental.
And once a movie starts playing on either service, there is only 24 hours to watch it. To extend that time, users need to pay more.
Hollywood has demanded those terms mainly in hopes of combating piracy and other illegal use of its movies.
