Apple Wants to Store Your Video in the Cloud

Apple representatives have been speaking with major film studios about enabling iTunes users to store their content on the company's servers, according to CNET sources.

Apple has told the studios that under the plan, iTunes users will access video from various Internet-connected devices. Apple would, of course, prefer that users access video from the iPad, the company's upcoming tablet computer, the sources said.

Last month it was reported that Apple spoke to record companies about a similar plan involving music. "Basically, they want to eliminate the hard drive," a source said.


One of their concerns is that users who download large amounts of movies, TV shows, and music are running out of space on their hard drives. This problem could cause a slow down in purchases especially on a mobile device. Take the iPad as an example. Touted as being great for movie watching, the 16GB iPad can only hold about 16 movies.

So long as Apple intends to still allow for local storage, providing an online storage option seems like a good idea; however, Apple must get the studios to sign on. This may not be easy considering the studios want the service to work with non-Apple devices.

Hollywood isn't interested in any walled gardens, said James McQuivey, a media analyst at Forrester Research.

"The studios are very concerned that they're going to get roped into somebody's proprietary platform," says James McQuivey, a media analyst at Forrester Research. "They want a world where consumers have a relationship with the content, and not with the device or the service. They are in a position to force Apple to go along and make sure that content bought [via] iTunes will play on a Nokia phone. That is very un-Apple-like."


"Apple would prefer not to do this," McQuivey continued. "But it just doesn't have the leverage it once did. Apple can't dictate terms or position itself as a digital savior."

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