I just read on the sister blog, HD Beat, that the DVDs can be HD DVDs and/or Blu-ray. THAT'S the need they'll fill...

I don't see what need this service fills. If you need immediate satisfaction, buy the show from iTunes (or find a torrent.) If you want own the show (and rip it for use on your iPod), then you'll buy the whole season on DVD.

It doesn't matter how they package it, everyone is still going to pay twice, even three times for the same product when the media changes. How many times have you bought The White Album? What they should do, instead of selling individual shows, is rent them as a subscription like NetFlix, you get your shows in the mail, and return them for the next weeks episode. You pay for the subscription, and if you want the to own the box set, buy it. But really people, if you are watching a show all season, why do you need to buy the box set?

I would love to get shows like Lost, 24, and Smallville in the mail, have all week to watch them and return them so I can see the next weeks episode.

Such a waste of materials. Can you imagine accumulating 24 or so individual DVDs per show per season?

I love the 'buy what you want' model that iTunes has (rather than springing for a whole season box set), but I wouldn't want it applied to physical media. This could work as a mix-n-match subscription... say, every friday they mail out your chosen shows new episodes on one DVD (24, Lost, whatever) and you just pay a subscription rate. But even that seems kind of ridiculous when compared to iTunes. It reminds me of those sliced american cheese packages... they come in a box, take it out of the box and it's wrapped in plastic, take it out of that plastic and every individual slice is wrapped in it's own plastic... when did eating cheese become so wasteful?

I agree 100% tucker. You took the words right out of my keyboard.

GAH! Why does nobody understand what consumers want to do? I don't want to buy a DVD *OR* a download copy. I don't want to buy each episode individually, only then to turn around and purchase a superior commercial DVD set with extras, etc.

What I want is to pay for a "subscription" to a show, for lack of a better word, that will cost the same as (or even slightly more than) the commercial Season x DVD set. This "subscription" would give me access to downloadable, commercial-free versions of the show after it's aired, and on completion of the season and subsequent DVD release I'd get a friendly box in the mail (or some sort of voucher).

Why do retailers insist on believing that consumers will happily pay twice for the same content? It's ridiculous. I'm not trying to insult those of you cruising iTunes, etc. for your stuff, but I sure wish other people would start thinking more like consumers and less like "gee whiz, you mean I can download a shitty quality video for ONLY $3?!?"

I'm sorry, these retailers are all being lauded for highway robbery. Until someone provides a truly worthwhile "pay-to-download" scheme, I will continue to use BitTorrent for digital copies I don't record myself. I pay my cable bill, and most of the shows I care enough to download I either already own or plan to buy the DVD sets. Right there I'm already paying twice for the "privilege" of watching shows. Three strikes and you're a moron, in my opinion.