October 16, 2005
Apple's dirty little secret
Steve Jobs:
There is one more thing that we're announcing today, that you can buy off the iTunes music store... and that is TV shows.
[...]
Let me go show this to you now. So, you can go back to the home page of the music store, and I'll go to TV shows over here, and there they are.
And indeed if I set my country to USA, there they are. If you're in the UK (or in fact any country other than USA) however, the "TV Shows" link is not available. I'm surprised this hasn't been picked up by the press. You can buy the new iPod (150 hours of video in your pocket), but good luck filling it with anything interesting.
Compare the UK's product description:
... with the product description for the USA:
This is silly. Jobs specifically said that these shows were only available in the US. It's not a secret at all. Part of the reason is the ridiculous regulatory and licensing environment in Europe. The other part of the reason is that the US is a much more important market, and a better place to test the program.
Posted by: David B at October 16, 2005 4:57 PMI have read 40-50 articles about the new iPod. At least 4-5 times I have seen this mentioned. So while it hasn't received wide coverage, it is out there for those who care to look.
Posted by: annon. at October 16, 2005 5:49 PMOh well, must have missed him saying they were only in the US.
Maybe the post title should have been "foreign markets stiffed again by stupid industry regulations".
Posted by: Andrew Savory at October 16, 2005 6:33 PMWe live in the US but have a credit card with a Japanese bank which allows us to buy music from iTMS Japan while in the US. Perhaps the licensing log jam will spawn a new business. Banks will find ways to give you credit cards which make it seem that you live in any country you like for the purpose of internet commerce. This will satisfy the content owners and it will make the customers happy and the banks get their customary small fee.
Posted by: JohnK at October 16, 2005 9:22 PM