Apple introduces iTunes Movie Rentals in HD

If anyone can do this right it's Apple.

This is the real competition to Blu-ray.

These are rentals only though, so if you want to own HD movies, these do not compete directly with Blu-ray. DD 5.1 audio only is also somewhat of a limitation against lossless audio and potential 7.1 mixes available on Blu-ray (although you need a sound system capable of letting you hear the difference for this to matter). It also isn't clear what HD resolution is being used for the iTunes rentals or how heavy the compression will be. Finally, the 30 day window on new titles will likely keep these from taking over the market.

It's definitely a first step though and if Apple can prove to the studios that the entire population of the world are not thieves, perhaps they will inch their way towards the modern world and poke their bleary eyes out into the light :p

I'm really surprised that no one has brought up the issue of COST. This is a great idea, but I get, for 12.99 or whatever about 17-24 movies a month from Blockbuster.com

They're not paying for physical disks so why the hell aren't all the rentals 1$? It's a rental.

good point guys. i agree with the 2 previous msgs