I wavered whether to post this one in Tech or Movies -- Netflix may offer download service by year-end:
Netflix VP of original programming Eric Besner revealed on Friday some of the online rental service's thinking on the movie download bizbiz, saying Netflix is planning to introduce a proprietary set-top box with an Internet connection that can download movies overnight.
Speaking at an Independent Film & Television Alliance production conference in Beverly Hills, Besner said the business model is still being worked out, but the download service likely would be offered in return for the subscription fee members pay for conventional DVD rentalsrentals. Service could launch as early as this year.
Users would add movies they want to watch to their rental queue online as they do now, and those movies would then be downloaded to the boxes overnight rather than shipped through the mail.
My issue with downloading is that you don't get commentary tracks (nor, I presume, other extras), which is one of the main reason I Netflix to begin with!
Assuming that is the case, yes, that would be annoying. I wonder if there's a workable way to do a mix of downloads and DVDs, because there are some things I really have no desire to see the commentary on.
And I could never get it cause I'm a tech moron.
I blanch at the idea of another set top box.
An even bigger issue with that downloading thing is that I've never figured out how to move something from my computer to my TV, and if I'm going to rent a film, I'd much rather see it on my 27" TV screen than my 19" monitor.
The movies download to a box you hook up to your TV, not your computer.
If you download the equivalent of a DVD disc image, there's no reason you couldn't have commentary and extra features with this service.
An even bigger issue with that downloading thing is that I've never figured out how to move something from my computer to my TV
In Netflix's plan, you download movies to a set-top box that's hooked up to your TV (or, I guess, any other monitor you want). It'd be like having an extra DVD player.
I blanch at the idea of another set top box.
Yeah...it would have to be a very small set-top box. Also, I think I'm already maxed out on connections (I know I'm out of component video-in jacks), so I'd need an A/B switcher to go with it.
I blanch at the idea of another set top box.
Isn't your home entertainment system already at risk of attaining sentience and naming itself SKYNet? I seem to remember a confusing array of devices being mentioned.
