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iPod Rental Service

Rent video iPods for travel entertainment.
  (+6, -1)
(+6, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

I only use my two 30 Gb video iPods for holding kid movies. It keeps them occupied on long car rides and during air travel. That means I have $500 in capital (2 iPods + accessories) tied-up but only used a handful of weekends every year.

For the times when I'm not using one of the iPods, I'd like to offer them for rent. How about $5-$10 per week? Of course, there should be some kind of damage deposit or insurance.

The iPod would come with a library of about 30 movies, customizable from my collection or the renter's DVD library.

Is it illegal because DVDs can't be legally ripped? If I have a copy of each DVD I don't think it is unethical. Perhaps I have to buy the movies from iTunes.

Edit: How about as a subscription service that rivals NetFlix? $10 per month for an iPod filled with your movie selections.

rgandhi, Jun 07 2007

Cinétrain http://www.springwi...ns_and_automobiles/
When you take a high-speed train in France you can rent a DVD-player with a movie, though not a P2P concept like this [rrr, Jun 08 2007]

[link]






       This is a pretty good idea. What would happen if someone were to say sync the iPod to their computer and accidentally turn it into a brick? Would the customer or the computer be blamed?
punk_punker, Jun 07 2007
  

       //Of course, there should be some kind of damage deposit or insurance.//   

       when i rented a nintendo 64 from blockbuster, they charged a refundable fee of $200 for damage fees. only to be returned once the nintendo was returned.   

       the only problem i see with this is buying all those movies on itunes so it isn't illegal. (+)
vias7268, Jun 07 2007
  

       You would need to pay a license for the movies, It doesnt matter if you download them off Itunes, rip them from dvds or what ever else you want to do. Also I can see many problems with renting out ipods as they simply aren't built to last - I was talking with a man who handles all returned stock and warranty repairs at a local electronics store and he says they last on average about a year and a half. Also, I would seal up the USB interface on the ipods, so people wouldnt just rent them and steal all the movies off them.
andrew1, Jun 08 2007
  

       less waste of natural resources [+]
rrr, Jun 08 2007
  

       You are basically renting out movies here. You are also renting a playback device. I suspect that someone is going to want a piece of the action.   

       If you are going to mail or ship the device(with movies) in any way, you are going to have to pay a royality to netflix. They have patent rights to renting movies through the mail pretty tightly nailed down. (I know this because I have a complementary patent in the works and had to be REALLY careful not to infringe on theirs.)
Galbinus_Caeli, Jun 08 2007
  
      
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