The Incredible Shrinking iTunes Store

If you’ve been to the online iTunes Store lately, you can see the result of the spat between Apple and NBC over movie and TV show pricing. A significant amount of what iTunes had to offer came from NBC, though there’s still plenty of TV shows that remain for consumers to pick from. Unfortunately for me, NBC bought out the SciFi Network (a move that sent a well-warranted shudder through me when it happened) so that my favorite shows, like Battlestar Galactica and Eureka, are no longer there. That’s a loss for all three of us since there are few other shows I’ve been willing to spend money on.

Even worse, Apple has given in to several of the major movie studios and will be raising iTunes movie prices from $9.99 to about $15.99. At $10, I’ve been willing to buy a few movies from the iTunes Store whose DVD’s I did not already own. Most of the time, these are movies I love but I know my wife won’t be much interested in seeing. Additionally, there was also enough of a monetary savings where I was willing to bypass the other things that actually owning a DVD brings with it (like better resolution and special features). But with the prices at the iTunes Store rising as much as 30%, that no longer holds true. For instance, I can buy the Battlestar Galactica’s RAZOR for $16.99. Why would I not want to do that when it’s available at that price? And if part of the movie studios’ overall plan is to jack up DVD prices, think again. Buying a DVD movie is not something I ever have to do.

In my house, I have a Samsung DVD-R/RW attached to my TV cable box, a Mac Pro sitting in my home office and just waiting for something to do, a copy of Handbrake as well as Mac the Ripper and Cinematize, video editors in the form of iMovie and Final Cut Pro 5, as well as iTunes and iDVD. I’m going to leave what you think I can do with that set-up to your imagination. I will say I have the means to bypass the whole unpleasant situation and my iTunes library and my iPod won’t suffer one bit. I’d rather continue to buy the final season episodes of Battlestar from the iTunes Store at $1.99 each; but there’s no way I’d pay five bucks for one when I have the means to capture it for a lot less, and anyone who thinks I’m going to sit at my computer and watch these episodes online is crazy.

I keep hoping that some sanity will rule, but it won’t. There’s big egos involved. Unfortunately, in the end, everyone will be the loser; but I‘m going to make sure I lose least of all.