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Netflix Now Offers Instant Online Movie Streaming

An anonymous reader writes "If you're the owner of a video rental store, it may be time to start thinking about getting into a different business, according to ZDNet. Netflix, the online movie rental service, is offering a new feature that allows its subscribers to instantly view movies and TV shows on their PC. From the article: 'Following a one-time, under-60-second installation of a simple browser applet, most subscribers' movie selections will begin playing in their Web browser in as little as 10 to 15 seconds. Movies can be paused and a position bar gives viewers the ability to immediately jump to any point in the movie. In all, the instant watching feature requires only Internet connectivity with a minimum of one megabit per second of bandwidth.' These movies are in addition to the standard DVDs you can have at home, it should be pointed out. You can see a demonstration of the service at the Hacking Netflix blog." Only a small percentage of customers have it available at the moment, but they hope to roll it out to everyone within six months.

3 of 247 comments (clear)

  1. M$ Only by smartin · · Score: -1, Troll

    Worthless

    --
    The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
  2. Re:Wrong about Sympatico by Shaman · · Score: -1, Troll

    See the newsgroup can.internet.highspeed. Lots of people with contracts, etc. have been billed for further usage.

    Also, 30GB is not a ridiculous cap. If you aren't stealing software, movies, music from the rightful copyright holders (whether you agree it's stealing or not, that's my opinion) then 30GB is more than enough. Very, very few people need more than 30GB of transfers.

    Frankly, even at $10 a megabit for bargain-basement bandwidth, unlimited is unworkable. Bell's customer takeup went on a plateau and they wasted no time in moving to a profitable business model from an unprofitable growth phase model.

    --
    ...Steve
  3. Re:Say goodbye to the Internet you knew by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Last I checked 100Gbps links don't exist.