i was about halfway through a rental on my appletv, and it just kept on playing. when i was done, though, it popped up a notice saying that the rental was expired, and that it would be deleted immediately if I exited.

so the extensions for in-progress movies are meh.

but if I could re-watch it for a discount, that would be a nice option to have

ars_workerbee2

@ars_workerbee2: It has been noted many times that the way AppleTV handles that is illegal and studios weren't very pleased when they found out about it.

As for the news, it's very welcome as I've had to re-rent movies from Vudu a few times. I just wish that studios would get around to increasing 24-hour limit to at least 30 hours.

Rusdude

@Jeffrey McManus: No one is jumping for joy because of the fact that all VOD (Video on Demand) rentals expire after 24 hours (48 hours for independent studios, at least on Vudu). However, paying $2.99 is better than paying $3.99 to finish watching a movie. We don't know if this is something that Vudu is doing on their own or if they actually got studios to sign off on this, but it's a step in the right direction and lets hope that other services follow Vudu's lead.

Rusdude

So this is basically the equivalent of a late fee for a Blockbuster rental, right? Why is this a good idea again in a world in which Blockbuster is getting their ass handed to them by no-late-fees services like Netflix?

Jeffrey McManus

i prefer using the roku with netflix....although the collection is only 10,000 right now, soon there will be alot more and HD movies too. all for a low price of 8.99 a month for unlimited rentals, not a crap .99 - 5.99 PER rental.

by the way, anyone looking into that - the Roku is awesome, so easy to use and the menu system is great - and the quality is fantastic

kickace

Paying nearly twice for the same rental... almost as much as purchasing the video in the first place? How is that a good deal? No being able to finish your flick is necessary.

The only reason a video store needs a late fee is because you have to be able to give someone else the tape/dvd to rent. This stuff is digital. There's no reason a purchase should be time limited. You get to view it, all you want for 24/48 hours, but you get to finish it AT LEAST ONCE. That should be the policy.

socioecoboy

Oh sweet, so when I don't finish watching a movie I paid to rent on the box I paid a couple hundred dollars for on time I can pay more money to continue watching it.

Hold on I need to tell my boss I'm running out to buy a Vudu right now because it can't wait.

Canadian Impostor

@Canadian Impostor: Look, while Video on Demand services may not be to everyone's liking and certainly have their issues, at least one of the providers , Vudu, is taking a step forward and making things a little bit easier on the waller for their customers. Which is more than you can say about AppleTV, 360, Unbox, etc. who all have the same terms and same issues.

P.S. And you shouldn't be comparing VOD services like Vudu, ATV, 360, Unbox to Netflix. At least not until Netflix's streaming service is able to serve good library of content (I'm not even going to bring up stuff like surround, HD, ordering from the box, etc.)

Rusdude

@Rusdude: Being better than a handful of bad options doesn't make something good or a compelling purchase.

Canadian Impostor

This is sick. Hollywood greed is ridiculous. At least a Torrent doesn't expire.

hooniebear

@Canadian Impostor: Whether Vudu (or ATV or any other VOD solution) is a compelling purchase is certainly debatable. However, if you are an early adopter of VOD or even waiting on the sidelines, it signals that studios are willing to negotiate and more work can be done to relax the rules even further :)

Rusdude