Netflix To Lift Streaming Limits

The AP has a story on Netflix's move to head off expected competition from Apple: the company will lift limits on streaming its movies for most subscribers. The story reports on rumors of an Apple movie-download service that may be announced by Steve Jobs on Tuesday. In the past Netflix has imposed limits on how long its subscribers could watch streamed movies; for example, those who paid $16.99/mo. could stream up to 17 hours per month. The limits will end on Monday for most subscribers (except for those paying $4.99 for two DVD rentals a month, said to be a small minority). The company has 6,000 movies available for streaming, compared to 90,000 that you can get delivered in the mail.

Comments

Typo in the story title.

[palegray.net]

I've seen some typos in story bodies recently, but not in a story title... who is Netfilx? Are they the new, hot, up-and-coming competitor to Netflix?

Re:Typo in the story title.

[edwardpickman]

I don't know I use Blockbutser.

Compete with Apple?

[Laguerre]

Of course, you can't watch streaming movies on Netflix with a Mac...

Re:Compete with Apple?

[Mateo_LeFou]

That's because only Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium's Digital Rights Management Trustation Computing can secure Intellectual Property for your Enterprise etc.

Re:Compete with Apple?

[hedwards]

I realize you're kidding, but if Apple cared about its customers they would just license the WM DRM codecs and allow access on Macs.

It makes 0 sense to pay for a second DRM codec for a user base which is only 7% or so of the total. I don't like it either, but they can't just hand out free copies of every movie no strings attached, people who want that can already go with torrents.

Apple has chosen not to license any of the DRM types available to the rest of the mainstream computing world, it's unfortunate that the Mac users are ultimately the ones that lose out. 7% isn't really a that much leverage, especially since the majority of the account holders don't use the download service at all.

Re:Compete with Apple?

[Sri Ramkrishna]

Dude,

Netflix is forced to use Windows because the MPAA only allows windows DRM to be used. So they aren't mandating the codec, the MPAA is. They would love to use everything if they could, but the restriction is coming from the movie industry. So complain to the MPAA who seems to be propogating a (former) monopoly.

sri

But is it still IE and Windows only?

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

System Requirements:

• Computer running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher, or Windows Vista
• Internet Explorer version 6 or higher
• Windows Media Player version 11 (DRM version 5145) or later

Well gee, that makes the service pretty much useless to me unless I want to watch movies in a VM on my laptop, instead of on my TV. No thanks. I told them a year ago that if they didn't come up with viable solution Blockbuster or Apple would and that would probably be enough to make me switch. They replied back with a comment that it was impossible but that as soon as MS's silverlight technology was good enough they'd use that. Who in their right minds would bet the future of their company on a technology that is both completely controlled by Microsoft and in a market MS will probably want to compete in? I foresee the end of Netflix.

Re:But is it still IE and Windows only?

[Yold]

Umm... buy an s-video cable and a mini-jack to rca converter, grand total $15. Watch it on a television. And most of the on-demand movies are so-so anyway.

Netflix probably picked Microsoft DRM because it was ready off-the-shelf, and suits the needs of 90% of its users. They don't have the luxury Apple does, that is to say controlling the source of a widely popular media player. And software development, especially a cross-platform DRM system, isn't cheap or easy. Can you suggest any viable alternatives to Microsoft DRM?

Netflix has a great business model, returning movies in 3-days is a pain in the ass. The on-demand is just a nicity that a minority of customers use.

Great! Now how about better OS support?

[proxima]

It's a shame that Netflix only supports Windows XP/Vista for streaming. I'd love to have a Mac OS X or Linux client.

Of course, I consider the mailed DVDs worth the subscription price, so Netflix doesn't have much incentive to make clients for people like me. I wonder if they would get many more subscribers if they offered a Mac client.

I am Netflix's complete lack of selection.

[bigtangringo]

Seriously, the "Watch Instantly" selection sucks. I have 24hr/mo and I think I've used maybe 24 hours since I signed up for the service 6 months ago.

On an unrelated grammatical note, should that be Netflix' or Netflix's?

On yet another unrelated note: I wish people would stop editorializing in tags. I'm looking at you Mr. "!netfilx"

Re:I'd be interested, but...

[SageMusings]

None of the movies I'd be interested in are provided by Netflix

Yes, their snuff film collection is rather weak at the moment but I understand the studios in East Los Angeles are picking up the pace.

Let's Check

[markdavis]

DRM: Check
Low-def only: Check
Low bitrate: Check
Watch only on computer: Check
Poor selection: Check
No non-streaming option: Check
No Linux support: Check
No MacOS support: Check

I am ***so*** excited about the limits being lifted on my Netflix account!! Guess I will continue to use their old-fashioned DVD's. I *do* like Netflix, have used them for years, but this whole "Watch It Now" thing is about as interesting to me as watching grass grow.

Re:Won't work on macs

[gabebillings]

My media PC is in a nice case that even the wife approves of, and is cooled by one nearly silent 120mm fan. Being able to stream movies directly onto my 52" LCD is very nice.

Re:Won't work on macs

[(negative video)]

Oh. I thought he was bragging about having a wife.