iTunes Movie Rentals

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Anyone else have a problem with the iTunes movie rental sharing and period? I have recently missed watching 4 movie rentals in the iTunes store because of two reasons:

  • I have 3 year-old twins and sometimes I just don’t find the time within 30 days to watch my rentals.
  • I have multiple Apple computers and two Apple TVs, and rentals made on a computer don’t transfer to my Apple TV automatically.

I don’t understand the reasoning behind limiting a rental period to 30 days to watch. As long as the rental is available on the iTunes store, shouldn’t the ability to watch a rental remain active? What’s the big deal with limiting the time-to-watch? As an app developer, my customers buy my app, own it forever, and I can never charge an upgrade, but I can’t keep a movie rental around for more than 30 days?

Also, Apple touts its total integrated experience, but sadly this doesn’t apply to movie rentals. If I make a rental purchase on iTunes on my old laptop, I have to turn it on and keep it on for the duration of my viewing of a movie on my Apple TVs. Huh? The Apple TV knows about my iTunes account. Why can’t it pick up my rentals and allow me to watch them? Rentals made on a computer don’t even show up in the Movie area of the Apple TV!

After my recent experiences I am hesitant to do any more rentals unless I am sure we will start watching them immediately. I do plan to keep an eye out for a better on-line rental service.