LG & Netflix Team Up to Offer Downloadable Movies on TV

eldavojohn writes "It might seem like they've come full circle, but the movie injection method has gone from TV to mail to online download to TV on demand. And Netflix & LG are betting it's going to be a hit. They're also betting you will want to buy yet another device for your home theater. A Wall Street Journal article notes: 'The partnership between Netflix, Los Gatos, Calif., and South Korea's LG represents another gamble by technology companies that video from the Internet, which is commonly downloaded to personal computers, will go mainstream when users can easily access it from TV sets. So far, Internet television products such as Apple Inc.'s Apple TV have largely been unsuccessful, stymied by a poor selection of videos, complexity of use and other shortcomings.'"

Comments

This is Why blueray vs hddvd is irrelevant

[2.7182]

Because it is going to come down to the difference of just being able to read different FILE formats, like jpg vs. gif.

About bloody time

[SirGarlon]

Programming-on-demand is about the only future I can see for television. The advertising-supported broadcast model falls totally flat for me. I subscribed to Netflix so I can watch movies the few good TV shows when I want, without commercials. If I can do this for a reasonable price with instant gratification (instead of the current Netflix three-day latency), then count me in.

Re:colossally stupid

[Jeff DeMaagd]

I think Netflix officers said last year that they knew that physical media wasn't going to be around forever, and that they were working on IP-based rentals. A simple box that does that would fit their goals. The only problem is that I don't want to get yet another box. Vudu, AppleTV, a Netflix box, TiVo+Unbox and so on are not all going to have the same selection, and it seems like an unnecessary expense at the moment if I already have a working media player that's as good. If my disc player died, then maybe I'd consider buying an IP-based box.

Re:colossally stupid

[Lurker187]

The Netflix advantage is that they have a larger catalog of content and they are actually willing to distribute it.

That's always been their advantage. Yes, but the digital distribution rights are completely separate from the rental rights, hence the writers' strike. They're going to run into the same barriers that VUDU is running into, although with their established relationships, they might have an easier time of it. But they can't just rip their whole rental catalog. (At least, not legally.)