Wed
Jun 25
1:59pm
Aussie iTunes Store now selling TV shows
I’ve been waiting for this one - iTunes Australia adds TV shows.
A quick look in iTunes shows there aren’t many there yet (only 23 shows, to be precise), and Aussie content seems to be Channel 9 and ABC only, but I’m sure the list will grow. I think I’ll buy/download one just to check out the quality.
You’re gunna PAY for free TV? There are other ways you know!
Comment by Rob — June 25, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
Like what?! I’d be watching these on my iPod on the train - these are my options:
1. Download them off the internet. But I’d need a bigger monthly plan than my current 3gb. Costs money. Also I then have to convert them to iPod size.
2. Buy the DVD. Already doing that for some shows. Costs money. And I have to convert them.
3. Record digital TV. Already doing that for some shows. Is free, but I can’t convert them.
$2.99 a show is reasonable, I reckon. Where it falls down is you can buy a whole series in one go for a special price, e.g. 14 episodes of Lost = $41.86, which is more than the DVD would be.
Comment by Marty — June 25, 2008 @ 5:54 pm
Hmm. Surely downloading them from iTunes also counts towards your download limit?! I’m not sure where the difference is unless they are small for the ipod already.
Our service provider offers extra data blocks at about $3 per GB. That should mean that not including your current limit, you’d get about 3 episodes for the price of 1 on iTunes, for anything OVER your limit.
- To download an episode a day from iTunes would cost about $60 on top of your internet costs AND still add to your downloads.
- You could download an episode a day for under 10GB which at Internode’s pricing would be $45 at 512kbs with no additional internet costs. So an upgrade in your plan would probably be the best bang-per-buck.
Although you’ve just bought a PVR, a cheap USB DVB-T card ($50-$150) would allow you to tape straight to your PC in a size and format suitable for your ipod. You’d also get to tape an extra channel.
The only real benefit I can see of the iTunes option is that it’s 100% legal compared to iffy laws on downloading Free to Air shows.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Comment by Rob — June 25, 2008 @ 6:36 pm
Except that all the episodes you want to download per day with your TV card/download deal have to be broadcasting at the time of recording…
There isn’t an easy way to download a good quality copy of Lost Season 1 - episode 5 right now, without getting into nitty-gritty torrent downloads etc…
Just like you could record the next song off the radio, but not one that you like which isn’t on mainstream radio yet and only on an album.
iTunes offers the convenience of safe, good quality and legal archives…which happen to only work well on Mac products. :)
Comment by sim — June 25, 2008 @ 10:32 pm