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And no, none of the content I want is available via the streaming services that I could purchase.

You're not looking hard enough then. I found all three available for rent/purchase on Vudu in under 3 minutes:

https://www.vudu.com/content/m...
https://www.vudu.com/content/m...
https://www.vudu.com/content/m...

Not sure why you'd want to watch Johnny Mnemonic though; the short story is so much better, and can be finished in under 20 minutes.

And no, none of the content I want is available via the streaming services that I could purchase.

You're not looking hard enough then. I found all three available for rent/purchase on Vudu in under 3 minutes:

https://www.vudu.com/content/m...
https://www.vudu.com/content/m...
https://www.vudu.com/content/m...

Not sure why you'd want to watch Johnny Mnemonic though; the short story is so much better, and can be finished in under 20 minutes.

And no, none of the content I want is available via the streaming services that I could purchase.

You're not looking hard enough then. I found all three available for rent/purchase on Vudu in under 3 minutes:

https://www.vudu.com/content/m...
https://www.vudu.com/content/m...
https://www.vudu.com/content/m...

Not sure why you'd want to watch Johnny Mnemonic though; the short story is so much better, and can be finished in under 20 minutes.

Vudu, which is how I'm watching the current season of Better Call Saul.

I paid like $30, and I get to watch each episode the day after it comes out. At that price, it's not a heck of a lot different from buying a Blu-Ray set, and I don't have to wait.

Of course, if I were more patient, all the episodes would be on Netflix in about a year.

Can't beat the Netflix service perhaps, but around the same price as Blockbuster used to be for a new realese:
http://www.vudu.com/movies/#!c...
http://www.vudu.com/movies/#!c...

A touch more, but not much (I remember paying $3-5 for new releases, a 2-3 days), and the back catalog varies, but outside of deals is close (http://www.vudu.com/movies/#!content/4798/Vertigo $2-4 for 3-5 days back in time)

Here's UK rental prices over time, I seem to be in the ballpark. https://stephenfollows.com/the...

Sure, it's a one day rental now, but you don't need the extra time to return it, so that seems reasonable to me.

Definitely more expensive than Netflix by mail, but in the ballpark of rental stores I think

Can't beat the Netflix service perhaps, but around the same price as Blockbuster used to be for a new realese:
http://www.vudu.com/movies/#!c...
http://www.vudu.com/movies/#!c...

A touch more, but not much (I remember paying $3-5 for new releases, a 2-3 days), and the back catalog varies, but outside of deals is close (http://www.vudu.com/movies/#!content/4798/Vertigo $2-4 for 3-5 days back in time)

Here's UK rental prices over time, I seem to be in the ballpark. https://stephenfollows.com/the...

Sure, it's a one day rental now, but you don't need the extra time to return it, so that seems reasonable to me.

Definitely more expensive than Netflix by mail, but in the ballpark of rental stores I think

Well some people just want to watch a movie once, and that's pretty much the standard price across the various services.

http://store.steampowered.com/...

https://store.playstation.com/...

http://smile.amazon.com/Hunger...

http://www.vudu.com/movies/#!c...

https://play.google.com/store/...

I don't think it's worth $30 either. But in the above, you're technically incorrect on a few points, which is the best kind of incorrect ;-)

You most certainly CAN format shift the movie and make backup copies. However, this doesn't mean you can transfer to DVD (yet), it just means you can download local copies. These are still DRM'd, and require a custom player, but the movies can be viewed offline - be it on PC or tablet - you don't need to use the copy stored on your retailer's servers.

In terms of reselling, technically no. On the other hand the big UV providers do allow you to share your library with other people - for example this is how you do it with VUDU. So you can at least let other people borrow your discs, in a virtual way.

It's a different system and has advantages and disadvantages over physical disks. The main disadvantage is that theoretically they can screw you over at any time. The advantages - well, it's extremely convenient, and makes most movie watching activities extremely convenient.

I have good eyesight, but I'm not seeing myself buying a 4K TV, let alone spending $30 for 4K movies, any time soon.

The service you're looking for is VUDU

So now what I'm wondering is whether there will ever be a service that does for video what Google did for music, in the sense that you can take your DVDs and other video content and upload them to the cloud, for access anywhere, any time.

There's been a service that offers that for awhile now, http://www.vudu.com/in_home_disc_to_digital.html. A fair number of smart TVs and BluRay players support the service along with, of course, apps for Android and iOS.

"The Disc to Digital service is a new feature added to the VUDU To Go application. It lets you convert your Blu-ray discs and DVDs to digital copies at home and store them in the cloud so you can watch them anywhere."

Like Google Music, this service only lets you backup content from content distributors with whom the service has signed a license. Unlike Google Music, there is a charge (one-time fee per-DVD) for backing up content.

More and more content is being delivered via the web, so more and more people are wondering how to hook their PC up to their TV.

No, more and more content is being delivered via non-web Internet technologies, so more and more people are wondering how to hook their consumer electronics device up to their TV.

It's simply not believable that the various studios will cooperate on a single delivery system

In the United States, at least, there's UltraViolet and VUDU. Believe it. Five out of six major studios have adopted it, and Walmart is selling it for $2 per film.

Biz Model NetFlix or Vudu [ http://www.vudu.com/ ], which is better?

I have a PS3 (presently DS is best, repeat), Linux PC, Comcast DVR hooked to a 32" screen.

The PS3 now offers both NetFlix and Vudu. I checked both and decided to turn off my Vudu box and use the PS3 for Vudu service.

I chose Vudu because of the pay-as-u-go model and user interface was for me a better solution. The NetFlix monthly-fee would be a waste or me.

For online gaming I would probably pick a pay-as-u-go service provider before a monthly-fee gouger like Comcast.

At ~60yo, I am very intolerant of inflexible games, limited/fixed-avatars/view (mods/moves), no surprises (one time is enough), no kill/map/weapons... randoms/variations/options, time delays, audio/video-issues.... Unless the game service provider can figure out how to nationally/globally distribute/virtualize/containerize infrastructure and functionality to geographic/temporal-communities, and client-game-side app requirements and very fast small data-transactions for MMOG/Experience... They will not get me to use/subscribe.

Sony doesn't need to pay attention, the PS3 is already there.

- Local media: The PS3 can do local media (video/audio/pictures on the HD, or a USB drive).
- Remote Media: The PS3 can act as a DLNA client
- CD/DVD/Blu-Ray: The PS3 has it built in.
- Netflix: Since the last update, the Netflix client is now built into the console.
- Hulu+: The Hulu+ client is available as a free download from the PSN Store (you DO need to have a Hulu+ account with Hulu though). Also, Hulu is still working on expanding the content available on Hulu+ devices versus Hulu, so some things are still missing.
- Vudu: They just added a Vudu client for "Same day as DVD release" Video on Demand.
- Sports: both "MBA.tv" and "NHL Gamecenter LIVE" have Clients (great if you're a sports nut, or married to one)
- VoD: Sony has been working to build out their VoD service. rent/buy TV/Movies (including next day availability of Cable TV shows, and making shows available by Channel to make things easier to find including HBO, Showtime, SyFy, etc.)

Coupled with the increased quality of Over The Air signals since the Digital Switchover, and the need for cable is less and less (depending on how you consume). In a busy city I get at least 10 stations (plus substations), with HD quality reception.

Personally I ditched cable and went with a PS3 and a TiVo.
The TiVo adds an easy to use DVR with a Dual Tuner (record up to two shows at once, while watching a third pre-recorded), includes a Netflix client, is supposed to get a Hulu+ client (according to both Hulu and TiVo), and also includes:
- YouTube client
- Blockbuster Video Client
- Amazon Video On Demand Client
- Pandora Radio Client
- and a few others (I'm getting too tired to list).

=========
For me the cost breakdown was as follows:
Cost:
- Top of the line TiVo with a lifetime subscription runs $500 + $13/month recurring. (gives capacity for ~150 Hours of HD quality recording or >1000 of SD level quality)
- Low end PlayStation 3 runs $300.
- Hulu+ runs $8/month
- Netflix runs $8/month (for streaming only, +$2 to include DVD shipping also)

Total cost:
Initial cost (minus tax, cables, antenna): $800
Recurring month cost: $30

Cable used to run me $130/month (for Cable+Internet), I switched to DSL (~$30/month) and what I listed above, and it dropped my monthly bills by $100 a month (though it takes 8-9 months before the savings kicks in since you're purchasing your own equpiment).
That allows me to get the occasional VoD Movie from Amazon VoD, or purchase a season of a Cable only show or two, and still come out ahead overall (plus I can budget myself and decide if I have the money for it, instead of being hit the cost every month, like it or not, wether I use it or not).
=========

As an added bonus, the PS3 also play games, and the TiVo records other shows constantly once it know what you like, so there is usually SOMETHING you might find interesting, even if it is a rerun of a different show.

You could also throw in a cheaper/cheap DVR if you don't care/want the dual tuners, or NO DVR if its just not feature you're interested in, which drops both the initial cost and the recurring cost quite a bit.

Cable's days (as we know it) are numbered, depending entirely on the Nets ability to absorb the extra use and the Cable Co's willingness to break Net Neutrality.

At 4 Mb/s, 250Gb is 138 hours of HDTV per month. That's for the HDTV version of Vudu. NetFlix Roku also needs 4 MB/s. Apple TV needs 5 Mb/s in its best mode. Note that if you actually used one of those boxes that much, you'd be paying over $500 per month in video rental charges. (It's much like the iPod; filling up a large iPod with music from Apple's store would cost tens of thousands of dollars.)

One implication of all these set-top box movie devices is that there's going to be much more pressure on DSL and cable ISPs to deliver at least 4Mb/s sustained.

Sadly their streaming movies are crappy quality I've read, put up some HD movies, 720p even, and I'll gladly pay $20/month. http://www.vudu.com/ seems to be the only doing this, and its expensive as hell, then there is the 360 downloads, but their selection is crap and its still quite expensive at 3-4 bucks per movie.

My next purchase will be a high def network media centre.