Sony Testing New Features On iTunes Movies

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is currently testing some special features for users who buy movies on iTunes. Currently, iTunes movies just includet he film with most of the special features available on DVD/Blu-ray.

Sony is “quietly testing” the ability to clip scenes from their movies to share on social networks as well the ability to search for certain words in the script. The hope with these new features on iTunes is for consumers to purchase digitally instead of DVD. These tests also serve as a way for Sony to test the boundaries of the digital medium.

The Other Guys, Salt and Resident Evil: Afterlife will be the first Sony films on iTunes to test these new features. The features are not available for rented movies, only films you purchase. If you were to purchase The Other Guys on iTunes you will find a search button allowing you to search for any word in the script, find it, then jump to that scene and clip it out to share. The Clip & Share feature is also available on Salt and Resident Evil, but they don’t have the script search.

Here is a snippet from a PaidContent.org article on the subject:

Mind-blowing add-ons? No, but they do represent the intent of studios like Sony, which declined comment, to offer differentiating value on digital platforms from that on DVD, where extras are often nothing more than a collection of additional short videos.

Just about all of Blu-ray's come with a digital copy and the digital content is available to be downloaded from iTunes. This looks to be a sign of one day more and more films only being available digitally. I don't think that Blu-Ray's or disc content will ever fully stop, but soon I believe that there will be more films going the route of digital availability only. If that is successful other films will follow suit and soon the vast majority of films will be for sale on digital download.

It makes sense for studios to do because the cost to produce a digital download is far less for them than a tangible disc. I know some people might prefer to have something in their hands, but the more I look at my disc collection I wish I had all of my content digitally and not taking up so much space in my living room.

What are your thoughts of this development?