Amazon.com opened up its online video download service, called Unbox, to its customers. Unbox provides film and TV episode sales, and movie rentals, that can be played on a PC or a TV. The offering has drawn a great big “meh” from some quarters, though.
Compared to the ease of use of video on demand from cable providers, Unbox may not offer enough to excite people beyond a certain hardcore segment of computer users. While provisions of Unbox movie and TV purchases permit the videos to be stored on two PCs and two portable media players, a burned DVD cannot go for a ride in a family’s Honda Odyssey to entertain the kids.
There is also the competitive factor to consider. “Apple to the starting gate when it comes to movie download business, but that doesn’t ensure success,” wrote GigaOm’s Om Malik. His informal website poll showed overwhelming support for the idea that Apple will be the big movie download winner, should next week’s Apple announcement deliver that news.
Techdirt ran down a list of issues with the service, and acknowledged that these limitations may have been inflicted by Hollywood movie moguls:
Unfortunately, the offering is about as “me too” as you can imagine. It’s got all the problems of just about every other video download offering out there. It only works on Windows. Copy protection galore. Limited usage. Relatively high prices compared to alternatives.
Rather than making the content portable, you basically get to download two files: one that must stay on the computer you downloaded it on, and one that can be transferred to an approved (i.e., has Windows media copy protection) mobile device. You can burn the movie to a DVD… but it’s of almost no additional value, since that DVD will only play on the computer you downloaded the movie to.
Discounting the DVD portability issue is the same as disregarding the purchasing power of families who buy DVDs to keep their children entertained on car trips. While one could argue the merits of having children plugged in on the road like this, DVD players are a sought-after feature in minivans and certain SUV models.
Rafat Ali at paidContent pointed out a gaping hole in the list of studios offering movies through Unbox:
Disney’s not participatingof course opting for Apple instead. This feud/partiality can’t last forever if either of these services want to succeed in the long term.
Disney and its recently-purchased Pixar have a huge presence in the entertainment of families. Nickelodeon is a lot of fun, but Disney holds tremendous power when it comes to shoppers looking for an entertainment brand.
Ali also noted another red flag with Unbox, this time in the terms and conditions of the service. Amazon recommends that buyers make a backup copy of their videos as, “From time to time, videos on Amazon Unbox may become unavailable for further sale or for further downloading from Your Media Library, due to content provider limitations and for other reasons.”
Just as the studio give rights to Amazon and Unbox for distribution, those rights could be withdrawn as well. Currently these rights only include the ability for Unbox to sell content to US residents. That and other limitations, like the time-expiring movie rental provision of a 24-hour deadline to watch after hitting the play button for the first time, may make consumers choose to leave Unbox in the box and buy a DVD instead.
—
Tag:
Add to 
Bookmark Murdok: 
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
