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Leaked Screenshots Show Netflix Downloads

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the only-a-matter-of-time dept.

Mike1024 writes "US DVDs-by-post company Netflix appears to be planning a service that will let users download movies over the internet. Hackingnetflix.com has some accidentally-revealed screenshots, and the Netflix jobs page includes a product manager position, saying "The Electronic Delivery Service (EDS) will augment Netflix's current DVD delivery model with high quality movies delivered to consumers' home TVs through the Internet, on a subscription basis". Apple's iTunes demonstrated many people are willing to live with some DRM and hardware/vendor lock-in."

8 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. Goodluck... by Afecks · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As long as it's better than http://www.cinemanow.com/ Nothing worse than watching bad movies AND having to buffer every 5 minutes.

    1. Re:Goodluck... by aussie_a · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I was under the impression Netflix is quite a bit cheaper then your local rental store. I know it's popular to make out anyone using online products must be avoiding human interaction, but when it's cheaper it's completely unwarranted. Then again this is slashdot so enjoy your +5 Funny mod. I'm content to receive a -1 Troll.

    2. Re:Goodluck... by BackInIraq · · Score: 4, Insightful

      True, because nobody lives in small towns that feature video stores with horrible selections of videos.

      There do still exist people in North America for whom the drive to a decent, well-stocked video store is much, much more than 5 minutes...and many of them do have access to broadband. Entire towns full of such people exist, all across the midwest and mountain west.

      Not everybody lives in metro areas...even small metro areas.

    3. Re:Goodluck... by Aggrazel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Its not about the convenience, its about the selection and the availability.

      Even Blockbuster with its "Guaranteed In-store" policy is occasionally out of a movie I'd like to see. A downloaded version won't have the problem of being "out". Plus your selection on downloaded movies will be much greater.

      At the end of the day, this is about the same thing as pay-per-view on demand, only with a much wider selection, and possibly a more consumer friendly pricing model.

  2. Well, yeah. by 'nother+poster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple's iTunes demonstrated many people are willing to live with some DRM and hardware/vendor lock-in.

    People don't mind this as long as the DRM allows the consumer to do what they want with the media. As long as I can listen to my music when and where I want it's no problem. When the DRM is used to limit where and when I use what I purchased, that's when people get upset.

    It will be interesting if netflix learned this. If I pay a fee and can only watch the movies when, where, and on what netflix decides, they won't get my money. We'll see.

    1. Re:Well, yeah. by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "What vendor lock-in? People are willing to put up with Itune's DRM because it's simple to "break" (merely convert it to another format, it's something even I would be able to do, and I know very little about computers), therefore there is no vendor lock-in."

      I see these sorts of comments on /. on a daily basis, and yet they still surprise me. Don't you have any non-geek friends? Almost no one cares about Apple's DRM - outside of /. types. Heck, most people don't even seem to realize there is DRM present at all!

      --
      #DeleteChrome
  3. Re:That's a Lot Of Bits by pcidevel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I currently wait two days for my Netflix movies instead of going to the Blockbuster around the corner (1 day to ship to Netflix, 1 day for the movie to come back), so I don't see why waiting a couple of hours would be a big deal.

    And no, I don't use Netflix because I'm lazy (it's really more of a hassle than going to Blockbuster). I use Netflix because they have a HUGE selection of movies. Their buisness model provides for a much larger selection of movies than a brick and morter store. And going to a "movies on demand" format can only help to increase their selection, it sounds great to me (since I don't tend to watch the normal summer blockbuster style movies and instead watch more obscure stuff)..

    --

    I thought someone said there was going to be free beer!

  4. Re:That's a Lot Of Bits by LurkerXXX · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I don't think there's a problem with bandwidth. What does your computer do all day with the bandwidth? Nothing. Most everyone has plenty of bandwidth to spare.

    I think your ISP may disagree when half their customers start saturating their pipes 24 hours a day so that they can watch a new movie each night.