iTunes Rentals (and other MWSF stuff)
Once again, Europe has to wait…
I haven’t bought any films or TV from iTunes (DVD still preferred) but I can easily see myself renting. DVD rental with no waiting for the post - decide what you want to watch and then watch it straight away - video on demand has been around for so long but iTunes is the first decent implementation. The pricing seems reasonable, too, if they don’t charge us the usual premium for being outside the US.
Meanwhile, with HD rentals, is this a new player in the field, already over-crowded with Blu-ray and HD-DVD…?
Also from the keynote: the Time Capsule. Presumably it can also be a regular Airport Disk (can it be partitioned?) Has it got AirTunes? (I bet it hasn’t). And the MacBook Air. I guess I was wrong to disbelieve the rumours on the grounds they couldn’t use such a rubbish name. Pricey, but I guess worth paying if it’s a second Mac and you really can’t be bothered with the extra couple of pounds.
Hye, you guys got the Enlightenment first (and seem to have kept it a little longer), so it’s only fair you get to wait a while for Apple products. These things balance out.
Looking at the pictures of the back, no output for airtunes is a definite. I don’t understand why they’ve stopped doing that. It’s wonderful.
At least you can still buy an airport express and make it an extension on the airport extreme (and, presumably, the Time Capsule).
How many people actually want their entertainment system to be in the exact location that their wireless access point is most efficient and/or wired anyway?
Apple have a nice little table, showing the Express only has AirTunes:
http://www.apple.com/wifi/
My place is small enough that one access point (my old Extreme) will cover the whole property (including garden and three houses each side) so the exact location is less of an issue. Also, I’d put one in the study - and thanks to Rogue Amoeba I’ve already got Airtunes to my hifi - but have a pair of speakers to play iTunes through in the study would be a bonus. Basically, even if you have to get an Express for your hifi and a capsule for wherever is best to put it, wouldn’t be great to have Airtunes in that other room too if Apple gave you that option? In short, the answer to “how many people” is 100% based on the internal survey (sample size: 1) that I just did. But then I think Airtunes is one of the best things Apple have done.
Also, I don’t really want to buy another Express. Out of the three I and two friends bought they’ve all failed. I’m waiting to see how long the replacement for one of these will last. I’d like to think Apple have fixed this (especially as I just got one for Mum) but a bit of evidence wouldn’t go amiss, given the track record.
I too would like to think it fixed - tho in fact I did not know it was a problem! Mum.
PS - I really love it!