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Netflix is successful mostly because they have over 40,000 titles on tap. That's more than Blockbuster. Their queueing system allows you to add a movie to your rental queue when you hear about it ... instead of wandering into the store, wondering what's good, and trying to remember what your friend mentioned 4 weeks ago. Oh: and you get to browse reviews by other people who have watched the movie. They have over a million movie reviews from customers in their database!

How often have you picked up a box in Blockbuster and thought, "Hmph. Pretty pictures. I wonder if it's any good?"

Anyway, Netflix recently announced (http://ir.netflix.com/, listen to Webcast "Morgan Stanley Small Cap Conference") that they no longer felt download was a viable approach in the short term, and they were investing their time in other directions.

As mentioned elsewhere here, DRM is a big issue with downloads. Yes, you can rip DVDs, but it's the STUDIO EXECS that you have to convince about the "safety" of downloading. If they won't sign on for letting their movies be downloaded from Netflix, then it's not gonna happen. End of story.

Hoarding is defined as "A hidden fund or supply stored for future use; a cache." Which fits the netflix/"timeshifting" model described above.

However, I tend to think of hoarding in terms of scarcity. With Netflix being available to anyone who is willing to pay the monthly fee, these DVDs are not scarce. By me 'hoarding' a personal copy of them, the only one harmed is me in the form of lost data storage and optical media.

Plus, I may be the only one doing this, but often times I'll really use this method for timeshifting and convenience of viewing the movies/shows and delete them after watching for the sake of HD space. I will "hoard" up some movies and TV shows during the week, then watch some over the weekend or when I have time.

Well, according to ForeSeeResults.com, their recent survey of customer and browser experience satisfaction had one company doing better than Amazon.

Obligatory disclaimer: I manage the web QA group for Netflix, so I have both a vested interest and a certain amount of pride in people discovering this particular fact.

Someone *could* theoretically get 24 dvd's/month from Netflix http://www.netflix.com/ for $19.99 USD and copy them for free

You could probably get at least 40 or 50 a month if you returned them the same day you got them. And if you signed up for Blockbuster's in-store service, which I believe is $15 for the first month, you could get every DVD in the store for one month's fee.

Of course, you'd probably spend $1/dvd or so on media.

Someone *could* theoretically get 24 dvd's/month from Netflix http://www.netflix.com/ for $19.99 USD and copy them for free ...and I'm sure they might even find a title or two they've actually heard of. Not that "The Killer Shrews" isn't on my Top 10 list.

I like to rent out some British comedies but I couldn't find them on NF. I also couldn't find a good foreign selection so far.

I like to rent out some British comedies but I couldn't find them on NF. I also couldn't find a good foreign selection so far.

I like to rent out some British comedies but I couldn't find them on NF. I also couldn't find a good foreign selection so far.

I dont (sic) think you can get porn on netflix anyway

I call Bullshit. You can keep Netflix movies indefinitly, and the only thing you pay is your monthly subcription fee. Also, Netflix tells you right in their faq that you can return two disks in a single envelope. So, again... Bullshit.

Actually, it's for a class called "Novel & Film" where we read the book, watch the movie and write things about both (high school senior writing elective).

So I'll end up seeing it anyway.
And when I do, I'll probably just put it into my Netflix cue.

The Barbarian Invasions depicts Canadian health care from an interesting perspective. Never having seen socialized medicine first-hand, I found it a real eye opener.

Here is a little factoid from their website.

On a busy day Netflix ships about 5,000,000 gigabytes of data on DVDs, this is approximately 70% of the entire daily capacity of the Internet in the U.S. and Canada (7,000,000 gigabytes per day).

That suggests that internet delivery of movies will start to become practical (at least for early adopters) when the current internet capacity doubles.

Since postage costs are a significant portion of netflix's cost, internet delivery could be a a very good thing. Currently, though, bandwidth costs are substantial. Bandwidth costs are dropping, however, as postage costs increase. As the service becomes more popular, however, I can see companies like netflix locating server farms at all major exchange points. This would eliminate the need to pay backbone providers for long haul costs.

Just out of curiosity... Wouldn't NetFlix be a better option than driving that long? Or are you not covered by their service?

ditto that Josie and the Pussycats reference. Hey, "adults" on /. If you haven't seen this movie, it's a gas. Seriously, some of it is stupid, but there's a lot of funny pop humor. Oh, and the chicks are hot. Josie and the Pussycats

Actually, you've got a good point. Had no idea. mod parent up ...

Netflix doesn't buy the DVDs. It pays for them by using a revenue sharing agreement with the studios. From their site

We are extremely pleased that the major studios recognize NetFlix as an important distribution channel for their content," said Reed Hastings, co-founder and chief executive officer of NetFlix. "With these revenue sharing deals we can continue to deliver on our promise to provide the best movie experience possible -- giving our customers the titles they want, when they want them, and allowing them to enjoy the movies for as long as they like. The agreements also help us keep pace with our extraordinary growth, without compromising our quality of service."

In other news, the BBC series is available on Netflix.

Winterbottom is one of my favorite directors.

Hey, I once had that same sig.

Anyone, the "GNU" is not supposed to refer primarily to glibc/ gcc. It's supposed to refer to the GNU implementation of the standard unix tools, like grep and ls and more and so forth. If we take X and everything graphical out of the model and just imagine a console-based system, then the real bare bones of it would be the kernel, a shell (probably from gnu) and the basic utilities (probably from gnu). With just a kernel, this system would be useless. Of course, you probably want applications too, but in terms of the bare essentials of a usable system, you need linux and the gnu stuff. Which is why it is the "gnu/linux" system. Which made some sense. RMS explains this in the film Revolution OS so if you watch that, you'll see that I'm not just making this up.

But my point was that today, stuff like KDE and X are core to most people's experience of using Linux and most people would consider those pretty essential, so by his reasoning, those people should put those in the name too, but then the whole thing spirals out of control. (I admit that my inclusion of things like XMMS was gratuitous).

Invader Zim on netflix, as requested.

If you really are interested in increasing your movie collection this way, I recommend:

1. NetFlix - has the ability to turn around 9 movie per week if you live in a good area on the 3 movies at once plan
2. DVD burner
3. Blank DVD cases,
4. High-res scans of DVD covers

My movie collection has grown by over 35 movies in my first 5 weeks with NetFlix doing this, at an avg. cost of less than $1.50 per movie.

The thing that makes it hard to target bit torrent users for lawsuits is the structure of the bit torrent networks itself. One network, one file. They can't just search for "Britney Spears - Latest Heap of Crap" and sue people who are sharing it like on kazaa. They also can't just look for the person with the largest library available for dowlnoad like they did with kazaa and Napster because on bit torrent everyone is only sharing one file at a time. The best they can do is connect to as many trackers for their copyrighted material as possible which is complicated by the short life span of most of these trackers and that people may not leave them on for very long. In this environment the best they can do is throw darts blindly in to the network with equal probability of catching a curious first timer or a life-long pirate. hopefully be the time they get to me they will have sued all their customers and nobody will be left to buy their music.

I personally hardly ever get music or movies off bit torrent anymore. Most new music is crap anyway, so I only leach the occasional cool song off kazaa, and for movies netflix coupled with a dvd burner is better than any p2p network. The one thing that bit torrent is ideal for is downloading tv shows the day they air. I've noticed that The West Wing, The Simpsons, and South Park are usually available on suprnova.org they day they air. If the tv networks would just come to their senses and offer their own high quality copies of these shows with commercials included (like Jon Stewarts live televised bitchslapping of Crossfire) viewers (their customers) could use bit torrent like a free tivo.

I get mine mailed to me. Get it, burn it mail it back. No chance of a partial movie, no waiting forever because the guy went offline. It's working out great(for me)!

But let's not act all shocked and surprised at the general negative attitude towards Microsoft found in this forum; it's always been there.

1. Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War by Producer/ Director Robert Greenwald, 2003, 56 minutes. Independent film by the Producer. Web site: Uncovered. Reviews: Powell's (out of stock, no reviews) Barnes & Noble Amazon

   This documentary shows the actual video of Bush administration officials justifying the war in Iraq. The overall effect is powerful.

   Quotes:

   • "... it is a federal felony, it's a crime, to mislead and distort information and present it to the Congress." -- 23:14 minutes into the movie.

   • "... the administration has not been honest..."

   • "... very disturbing ... intervention by people particularly from Vice President Cheney's office and Vice President Cheney himself ... to produce precisely the language which would allow them ... to support the decision to go into Iraq." -- Dr. David C. MacMichael, former CIA analyst. Page 7 of the transcript, 7:32 minutes in the movie.

   • "It is somewhat puzzling, I think, that you can have a hundred percent certainty about the weapons of mass destruction's existence, and zero certainty about where they are." -- Hans Blix, chief weapons inspector, referring to the administration's statements, at 34:44 minutes into the movie.

   This work is available several in several forms, some of which are free:

   • A transcript of the movie is available online. NOTE: Both forms of the transcript contain errors. The errors I've seen are minor. The quotes here have been checked against the movie.

   • The transcript is also available as a downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF file. The Acrobat PDF Reader software needed to view the transcript is a free download for all computers.

   • You can buy the DVD online for $9.95 from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or from CafeShops.com, at a Cafe Shops online store that is inappropriately titled Disinformation. The store originally sold items connected with a humorous TV show called Disinformation.

   • The DVD is available on loan through Netflix.

   • Make your own copies: Kate McArdle, one of the producers, told me that they encourage people to make copies of the DVD and give them to friends (but not sell them, of course). Also, they encourage people to play the movie for groups of people, without extra payment.

2. Unprecedented - 2000 Presidential Election by Richard Ray Perez, Joan Sekler, and Robert Greenwald, 2002, reissued 2004. Web site: Unprecedented. Reviews: Barnes & Noble Amazon, DVD Amazon, VHS IMDB

   From a

One of my favorite movies of all time.

http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?trkid=73&movie id=60000361

Like when my son and I watch a Tivoed episode of Oobi or Maisy, or take in Finding Nemo or Potty Time With Bear together... or those evenings after the boy goes to bed, when my wife and I stay up and watch Surreal Life and some good movies ( actually, right now we're working through The Sopranos ).

In all seriousness ( although, maybe sadly, we do all of the above, and my son is an expert on the Noggin and Sesame Street websites ), my post was *designed* for the "Funny" rating it now has... still, it is true that Tivo and Netflix are my two favorite entertainment sources. I'd probably give up my horses first, if only because they're more expensive...

I'm only posting on /. because I'm at work, what else am I going to do? Oh, yea, right...

Like when my son and I watch a Tivoed episode of Oobi or Maisy, or take in Finding Nemo or Potty Time With Bear together... or those evenings after the boy goes to bed, when my wife and I stay up and watch Surreal Life and some good movies ( actually, right now we're working through The Sopranos ).

In all seriousness ( although, maybe sadly, we do all of the above, and my son is an expert on the Noggin and Sesame Street websites ), my post was *designed* for the "Funny" rating it now has... still, it is true that Tivo and Netflix are my two favorite entertainment sources. I'd probably give up my horses first, if only because they're more expensive...

I'm only posting on /. because I'm at work, what else am I going to do? Oh, yea, right...

Like when my son and I watch a Tivoed episode of Oobi or Maisy, or take in Finding Nemo or Potty Time With Bear together... or those evenings after the boy goes to bed, when my wife and I stay up and watch Surreal Life and some good movies ( actually, right now we're working through The Sopranos ).

In all seriousness ( although, maybe sadly, we do all of the above, and my son is an expert on the Noggin and Sesame Street websites ), my post was *designed* for the "Funny" rating it now has... still, it is true that Tivo and Netflix are my two favorite entertainment sources. I'd probably give up my horses first, if only because they're more expensive...

I'm only posting on /. because I'm at work, what else am I going to do? Oh, yea, right...

Like when my son and I watch a Tivoed episode of Oobi or Maisy, or take in Finding Nemo or Potty Time With Bear together... or those evenings after the boy goes to bed, when my wife and I stay up and watch Surreal Life and some good movies ( actually, right now we're working through The Sopranos ).

In all seriousness ( although, maybe sadly, we do all of the above, and my son is an expert on the Noggin and Sesame Street websites ), my post was *designed* for the "Funny" rating it now has... still, it is true that Tivo and Netflix are my two favorite entertainment sources. I'd probably give up my horses first, if only because they're more expensive...

I'm only posting on /. because I'm at work, what else am I going to do? Oh, yea, right...

Here in So Cal, the center is in Orange County- between LA & San Diego. I always get my movies (here in SD) in one day. It would be cost prohibitive to make centers everywhere to guarantee one day delivery.

I imagine Walmart and Blockbuster will mirror the Netflix model, and use centralized processing locations. I doubt you'll see service improve to less populated areas with competition. I imagine most letters take longer to deliver in your area versus my area.

I use Netflix, for my "movie going" experience. The ratings on the site are tailored for my movie tastes. If the rating ways 4 starts chances are very high that I will give it 4 stars after seeing it. The more movies I rate/see the better the matching gets. The recommendations also lets me see movies I've never heard of but end up liking a lot.

• Conservation of energy. i.e. Laziness as a virtue, not a vice.
• Computers are toys to be played with.

Now, with that in mind I can think of some MUCH better uses of that $120 per month.

First things first, hop on over to levenger for some book storage. When I'm through with you you'll turn off that idiot-box altogether! Well, except for quality DVDs and TV shows (which are becoming all the more scarcer by the moment, don't even get me started on that topic!)!

So, unless you already have an AMPLE solution (meaning a decent bookcase with lots of pictures, carded star wars figures, hummels or whatever the heck you may be into) you're gonna NEED some first rate book-stashage! :D

Not that there's anything at all with grabbing a bit-torrent of something that's not yet out on DVD. And in my mind Netflix is a perfectly fine solution! Just more convenient than torrenting, less brain cycles that could be devoted to reading. If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend treating yourself to Lain and to Cowboy BeBop, as well as City of Lost Children.

But if you're a coder, I really honestly feel that developing fascility with Assembly is a good move. I am only part way through a great book from No Starch called [CAUTION:PDF] the "Art of Assembly" that (in the short time I've been reading it) has allowed me to tighten up my C++ code a bit! I cant wait to see the result when I am finished! I also planning to read another book I have on Assembly, but this one is so good I'm not sure how much I'll need it! I'll probably read that second book anyway though. The author contends that no matter WHAT the language in question, be it C, C++, Java, Perl, Ruby, Python, or Lisp, your coding will benefit.

I accidentally ran into the president of No Starch at the last 2600 conference. His name is Bill, and he's a really mellow very nice dude! I've been emailing him back and forth and he was nice enough to email me sample chapters from the upcoming title "Enterprise Linux Clustering". Honestly I haven't given them a thorough read, just a perusal but it seems top notch so far! I honeslty believe that No Starch is developing into the "New O'Reilly". Not in every sense of course, because O'Reilly's website is far more developed in the form of information and online instructive articles and news. Not even to mention that I have yet to be disappointed by an O'Reilly release! But NS is DEFINETLY an admirable up and commer!

Once you're through a good set of skill building in Assmebler, you can reinforce your mad skillz by moving onto what will eventually be a 3 part series specifically written for people wo like their High languages like C++ or Perl or whatever called "Writing Great Code" by the same author as the Assembly book. I understand the series to focus mostly on machine archictecture, rather than assembly which will benefit every coder from Assember on up to C or maybe even VB. From there you can move onto some more interesting uses for your newfound knowledge (sorry if I'm incorrectly assuming you to not be a veteran Assembly yoda). What's the fun of writing ANY language if all you get to write is "Hello World" shite? So you can move on to cool and useful things like how to crackpro

I canceled my cable last week due specifically to my dislike for the Sci-Fi network. I'll put that $120/mo into something more worth while and any shows that I deem worthy enough to waste my time watching, I'll just grab from bit torrent.

I cancelled my cable back at Christmas, 8 months ago. Read my reason here. I recommend getting a netflix account. It's cheap, commercial-free and they've got tons of discs to choose from.

I'll point out just a couple of figures for ya'll when considering the cinematic qualifications of people associated with "The Postman":

"The Postman" opened in over 2,000 theaters and got a per screen revenue of $2400. "People I Know", a film executive produced by Robert Redford, opened in 5 theaters and got a per screen revenue of $6800. "People I Know" was never distributed in more than 10 theaters.

What I think we can safely say is that Brin's message was given a lot better chance by the distribution channels and that the market just didn't care.

Netflix

Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with backup tapes

How many people:

• Can watch 100 movies a month
• Only want to see what's on Starz
• Have a 600kbps connection, and
• Like watching movies on their PC

is this Cube.

The internet and the increased availability is going to drastically change the way software companies do business. Sure you and I probably don't want to mess with software as a subscription but think about the majority of users. If Microsoft, Sun and IBM can sell them on the idea of free hardware and updated software for a monthly/yearly fee, they'll take it. Look at Netflix and Gamefly now and then look at them in a couple of years. They're going to be doing well.

Even when lost in contemplation of my navel over days of inadequate sleep...I can still tell when the weekend has arrived...thanks to slashdot. With a show of hands, who's seen best in show.

Lucas has pretty much dug his own grave when it comes to the SW franchise - I think early on it was his ego demanding "bigger/better/faster/more" which produced some truly good movie moments.

But then the terms for 'success' shifted from making 'good' films to making 'profitable' films. I think he knew that marketing would have to take a more important role in his decisions for the newer films in order for them to be considered more'successful' than its predecessor. As Ep1 and 2 showed, the marketing Lucas overtook the filmmaker Lucas. It's like he's his own Darth Vader - succumbing to the Dark Side where dollars are king.

Unfortunately, when you're George Lucas, your ego tells you that anything you decide must be the right thing. How could he go wrong?...he's George Lucas! He did Star Wars! That being the case, I think Ep3 will be the train wreck many of us expect.

I skipped seeing Ep2 in the theater, and will do the same for 3. I felt with the original trilogy there was a reason to go see these films on the big screen, but now I see more reasons to wait until it's rentable a few months after being released to DVD.

I really wonder why retailers won't sell AO games, 7-11 sells porno mags, video stores carry porn...

Here in Texas, the ancestral home of 7-11, I don't see porno mags like Penthouse or Hustler or Playboy for sale. Just Maxim, FHM, Stuff, Cosmo, Sports Illustrated...

Ok, I stand corrected. Sorry.

One time payment category
Cheap terrestrial antenna : $40
HDTV decoder to pull stuff off antenna : $130

Monthly stuff
Netflix for unlimited DVD rental: $20/month

Grab your local news off the antenna (in HDTV if available), watch your favorite TV shows with your Netflix account

FYI: There is some unlimited DVD rental folks that work exactly like Netflix here in Canada
Movies for me
Cinema Flow

I'm interested in trying one of them, anyone have previous experience with them?

Cool, i'd be able to watch this at school instead of having to wait those few agonizing days watching the mailbox. That insatiable nazi commandant

But cable companies ... are given a monopoly over their customers

Netflix has a search feature that suggests movies based on your previous ratings of films. This is the type of thing that really ought to be applied to search engines and web logs. What I'd really like is the ability to say search for eateries near where I am that folks with tastes like mine liked--or posts on a weblog that folks with tastes like mine liked.

Well said and bravo--mod the parent up. I always enjoy reading a post that focuses on the issue and its nature, not on feelings or rehashing on what we already know (and what's already been posted).

Separately, I wonder about the new video CD standard. Wheather it's 1, 3, or 5 years from now, some new disc format is gonna appear. Now, for all those yahoos out there who feel it necessary to own every film they like on DVD, they're screwed in that the $18 they paid for a title won't carry over to the new disc format. And since they're dedicated movie people, they'll no doubt start to buy all their beloved titles on the new format, shelling out $$ the same publisher/distributor. (This is why I tell peolple, amoung other reasons, why netflix is the way to go).

Andy

Jerry Doyle, the actor who played Security Chief Michael Garibaldi on Babylon 5, said that the first season was filmed for about $950,000 an episode -- he figured it was about $19 million for the whole season.

With B5 doing extremely well in DVD boxset form (Doyle commented that 350,000 boxsets at about $80 apiece would bring in $21 million) he remarked that they could effectively film a season and throw it in a box set and it'll eventually make money.

Obviously, that has some pitfalls -- I'm not going to shell out $75 to $100 for a season of a show I haven't watched any of -- but it does lend credence to what you're saying.

Another example would be Red Vs. Blue. Sure, the episodes are free for download in a low-res form; if you donate money, you can get access to high-res versions of the episodes; at the end of the season, they sell a whole season on DVD, and the best part is, if you basically donate the amount the DVD costs over the course of the season, you get it for free!

Leaving aside the fact that Paramount would bury them in lawyers for basically doing fanfic episodes in the vein of Star Trek: the Original Series, Starship Exeter would be another good example of something that might be entertaining, at $8 - $10 a DVD for two episodes, to pick up once in a while. (I'm not sure how they're making money doing basically fanfic episodes in the vein of Star Trek: the Original Series; I assume it's simply for the fun of it.)

I haven't had cable for over 4 years, and it hasn't hampered my ability to socialize with the world; I get my news from Google News and the local paper; friends will record stuff and loan it to me once in a while (I watched Battlestar Galactica and the SciFi Dune miniseries this way) and if you're good at listening, you can get people to tell you what happened on that show you used to watch. (Oral storytelling takes on a new life...?) I'm thinking of signing up for NetFlix and watching TV shows on DVD that way, at least enough to know whether or not I want to buy the box set.

If the MPAA or the networks or whoever want to try to force me to watch shows their way, on their schedule, they will fail. In fact, I'd say they've already failed, not just with me, but with the demographic that's typically the most lucrative for them as well.

Jay (=