Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
and some can be rented in HD only on the iPad. This crazy and confus-
ing distinction is the result of the movies' rights holders (Hollywood
studios) trying to wring profit, establish some measure of misguided
control, or…well, to be honest I don't know. What's worse is that the
availability of these options changes over time; some movies previ-
ously available for rent can only be purchased, or no longer appear in
the iTunes Store. What this means for you and me is that we need to
make sure we examine what we're about to purchase or rent.
■
HD movies you rented on the iPad can be viewed only on the iPad,
not transferred to your computer or another device. (However, AirPlay
helps in this regard, as I'll discuss shortly.)
■
After renting a movie, you must watch it within 30 days. If you don't,
the movie is automatically deleted from your library.
■
Once you begin to watch a rental, you must finish watching it within
24 hours, at which point it's deleted.
note
I apologize for sounding cranky, but I should be able to purchase a
movie—in SD or HD, if available—and watch it wherever I want, espe-
cially if it's within Apple's ecosystem. As it is, Apple and the studios are making
it difficult for people like me to give them money that I'm willing to part with in
exchange for entertainment, which is a terrible business model.
The iTunes Store isn't the only source of movies, of course. Home movies
you shoot and edit can be viewed on the iPad, too. Export them from
your video editing software (such as iMovie or Windows Live Movie
Maker) to iTunes as .m4v, .mp4, or .mov files. Once in iTunes, movies can
be synced to the iPad.
