Netflix Finally Gets Download Option (netflix.com)

For years, people asked Netflix to give them the ability to download movies and TV episodes. Though this might not seem like that big of a deal in many regions where internet connectivity is cheap and omnipresent, same is not the case everywhere, especially in developing regions. Netflix is finally addressing this need: the on-demand media streaming service said Wednesday that people can now download shows on their Android and iOS devices . From the company's blog post: Just click the download button on the details page for a film or TV series and you can watch it later without an internet connection. Many of your favorite streaming series and movies are already available for download, with more on the way, so there is plenty of content available for those times when you are offline.It's worth pointing out that the offline playback -- or the ability to download videos isn't available on desktop platforms. Also, it appears that a heck lot of shows currently don't have this feature -- as of today.

Comments

Good for bad internet connection

[XXongo]

Good. They finally figured out that not everybody has good internet connection, and even people that do have good connection don't have it everywhere-- sometimes they're travelling some place with poor connectivity.

I tried Netflix once: it was so annoying to wait when the video freezes at random intervals for 40 seconds as the loading wheel spins that I never looked at it again. Maybe I might give it a try--

--oh, wait, you can only download on mobile devices?!? Shit, what's the point?

Re:Better Idea

[Jason Levine]

Honestly, this isn't a Netflix problem. If they could, I'm sure they'd just rip their DVD catalog and put it online. However, this would be massive copyright infringement and the entertainment industry would launch lawsuits immediately on a scale that would likely shut Netflix down. Instead, they need to go about this the hard way of making deals with the copyright owners and paying them for each show that they put on streaming. It's a slow process made harder by many in the entertainment industry acting as though Netflix is the enemy and streaming leads to piracy. (In reality, putting a show on Netflix makes it less likely that the title will be pirated.) Netflix only has so much money to spend on content so they need to pick and choose among what's available to them.

In short, if your favorite show/movie isn't on Netflix, the copyright owner is likely more to blame than Netflix.