0.
Short version: Too expensive.
Long version: Rentals are a very common thing these days thanks to stores like Blockbuster that pioneered the idea of allowing people to rent videos.
A simple cost comparison will show why the AppleTV rentals are not a good value compared to Redbox or Netflix both of which seem to have higher overhead than Apple does with their medialess distribution.
Movies:
Redbox: $1 per day
Netflix: Roughly $1 - 2 per DVD depending on factors such as time to view and speed of U.S. Mail
AppleTV: $2.99 - $3.99 for older movies / $3.99 - $4.99 for new releases
Take into account the restrictions placed on them (24 hour viewing limit is a deal breaker) and it isn't surprising to see people aren't exactly abandoning their Netflix accounts.
I understand that there is a difference in time to receiving the content, but the services are still competitors so I believe it is a valid comparison.
TV shows:
This is where I really think the pricing is a joke.
Netflix: Roughly $1 - 2 per DVD depending on factors such as time to view and speed of U.S. Mail.
Each DVD will contain 3 - 6 episodes of a TV show with an average of 4 (from my experience). This translates to roughly $0.30 - $0.60 per episode via DVD.
AppleTV: $1.99 per episode with more for "premium" content from HBO.
The pricing of the content on the various services such as Unbox or Apple's iTunes will have to come down in price to reach a point where the mass market will buy it as an alternative to cable. It might be a good supplement to cable if you miss an episode of a show, but there is also competition from websites such as Hulu or the omnipresent option of Bittorrent.
Short version: Too expensive.
Long version: Rentals are a very common thing these days thanks to stores like Blockbuster that pioneered the idea of allowing people to rent videos.
A simple cost comparison will show why the AppleTV rentals are not a good value compared to Redbox or Netflix both of which seem to have higher overhead than Apple does with their medialess distribution.
Movies:
Redbox: $1 per day
Netflix: Roughly $1 - 2 per DVD depending on factors such as time to view and speed of U.S. Mail
AppleTV: $2.99 - $3.99 for older movies / $3.99 - $4.99 for new releases
Take into account the restrictions placed on them (24 hour viewing limit is a deal breaker) and it isn't surprising to see people aren't exactly abandoning their Netflix accounts.
I understand that there is a difference in time to receiving the content, but the services are still competitors so I believe it is a valid comparison.
TV shows:
This is where I really think the pricing is a joke.
Netflix: Roughly $1 - 2 per DVD depending on factors such as time to view and speed of U.S. Mail.
Each DVD will contain 3 - 6 episodes of a TV show with an average of 4 (from my experience). This translates to roughly $0.30 - $0.60 per episode via DVD.
AppleTV: $1.99 per episode with more for "premium" content from HBO.
The pricing of the content on the various services such as Unbox or Apple's iTunes will have to come down in price to reach a point where the mass market will buy it as an alternative to cable. It might be a good supplement to cable if you miss an episode of a show, but there is also competition from websites such as Hulu or the omnipresent option of Bittorrent.