iTunes $9.99 Multi-Pass: Just What Videos Needed

[Jeremy Charette]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/itunes-999-multi-pass-just-what-videos-needed/' target='_blank'>http://ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/itunes-999-multi-pass-just-what-videos-needed/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"This morning brought a very pleasant surprise for fans of two Comedy Central shows - and those hoping to see Apple’s iTunes Music Store become an even bigger force in digital downloads. Along with the addition of popular political news show parodies The Daily Show and The Colbert Report to iTunes, Apple unveiled Multi-Pass, a $9.99 subscription package that provides 16 episode downloads for a single low price. Individual episodes can still be purchased for $1.99."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/mp1.jpg" /> <br /><br />Finally, the price of video downloads from iTunes appears to be coming down. And what a drastic cut it is: 16 episodes of your favorite TV show previously cost you $32 on iTunes. Now that's down to $10. At those prices, it just doesn't pay to buy single episodes anymore. The caveat here is that this doesn't apply to all shows, just "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" (for now anyway). If they bring this out for Battlestar Galactica, or Law and Order, I'll be one of the first customers to sign up. Sounds like a great idea to me. Frankly, it'll be cheaper than what Time Warner charges me for DVR service, and the picture quality will likely be better than my digital cable signal. All I need is an iPod dock to hook up to the TV, and I'm in business. Can't wait.

[Jason Dunn]

Frankly, it'll be cheaper than what Time Warner charges me for DVR service, and the picture quality will likely be better than my digital cable signal. All I need is an iPod dock to hook up to the TV, and I'm in business. Can't wait.

I haven't yet seen an iPod Video connected to a TV set, but I find it very hard to believe that a 320 x 240 video coming over composite video cable can look as good as a digital cable signal at 720 x 480 connected to your TV over component/DVI/whatever. I'd be really interested to hear what your experiences are with that.

[Jeremy Charette]

I guess we'll find out when I get home tonight!

[Kent Pribbernow]

I haven't yet seen an iPod Video connected to a TV set, but I find it very hard to believe that a 320 x 240 video coming over composite video cable can look as good as a digital cable signal at 720 x 480 connected to your TV over component/DVI/whatever. I'd be really interested to hear what your experiences are with that.

I have seen it. The results are rather mixed, and often vary from one TV to another. Generally the experience isn't too bad, but it just doesn't compare to say DVD quality.

I've downloaded a few shows simply to watch on my PC/Mac, and for that I think this format is ideal. Especially on a notebook for portable entertainment purposes. As for downloading video to watch on your TV...uh, not so much. I'm really hoping there's truth to these rumors about Apple offering full movie content, though I shudder to think what the cost and download time will be. For frequent business travelers wanting to download a movie (or two) to watch in-flight, this would be a wellspring.

[Jeremy Charette]

I have seen it. The results are rather mixed, and often vary from one TV to another. Generally the experience isn't too bad, but it just doesn't compare to say DVD quality.

I'm not necessarily looking for DVD quality, just something better than my current digital cable picture, which sucks. I'll report back after I try it out on my own TV set.

[Jake Ludington]

If your digital cable image sucks, downloads from iTunes won't fix that. Why not get somebody out from the cable company to fix it? Yes, I know the cable companies all have lousy customer service, but I have had good experience in getting better reception by making someone come out and tweak the settings.