Netflix TV

[KingIsaacLinksr]

The reason I like the DVD rental through Netflix are for the extras. You cannot get those through streaming. I hope it does happen in the future. I am currently watching all the old Dr. who, and occasionaly if a dvd is on the wait list, I will stream it and then watch the extras when I receive the dvd.
My wife, doesn't care for the extras, uses the instant service quite often. She watches mainly martial art and action movies (it's a filipino thing), she watches scifi with me and I watch Jackie Chan and Jet Li with her. Both my daughters steam movies through their Wii and I am so glad they like Scifi as much as I do.

RONZO ;D

Well, don't get used to those extras.  Studios are now thinking (and some acting on this thinking) of locking out extras of DVD/Blue-Rays to non-rental discs only.  So if you get it from Netflix or Redbox, you won't get that access.  

I personally think that is BS and violates some sort of consumer right, but idk.  We're subject to their whims.  

King

What consumer rights? You're not a consumer to them if you are renting. They lose money on that because it's not sales that they are getting. It's also in line with the previous rental agreements that they've had with other rental companies in the past. The rental company buys from them, but in a way that allows others to purchase the product with added features later.

It makes perfect business sense for all parties involved.

So basically if I rent a lawnmower I shouldn't get access to its extra features because I didn't purchase it?  (And there are extra features on those)

I know, two separate things, but it was the only renting-thing I could think up atm. 

King

[Jobydrone]

You're not a consumer to them if you are renting. They lose money on that because it's not sales that they are getting. 

Why do you assume that a rental = a lost sale?  I can't imagine the movie companies look at it this way or they wouldn't offer their products in this manner.  I can't even count the numerous occasions I saw something for the first time via rental and purchased it later because I enjoyed it so much and wanted it to keep.

That being said, it's been a long time practice for many companies to offer bare bones versions for rental and full featured versions for sale.

[Jobydrone]

Good news about the new shows added to instant streaming.  Looking forward to finally watching all the DS9 and Voyager I've never seen.  Hope the price doesn't go up again anytime soon though, or they're going to price themselves right out of a customer.

At $8/month, I think it's a screaming bargin.

Indeed, and I agree, but as I have stated elsewhere on these forums, it's the cummulative costs of all the monthy payments I make for entertainment I'm concerned with.  At $10.79 a month for Netflix after taxes, that totals $129.48 a year.  Not alot, but still considerable, and all I'm saying is that if the price keeps going up as they add content, streaming old movies and TV shows is probably first on my list of things to cut when I'm looking at my overall expenses.

[QuadShot]

 

What consumer rights? You're not a consumer to them if you are renting. They lose money on that because it's not sales that they are getting. It's also in line with the previous rental agreements that they've had with other rental companies in the past. The rental company buys from them, but in a way that allows others to purchase the product with added features later.

It makes perfect business sense for all parties involved.

Ah, X...not accurate. Why AREN'T you a consumer if you merely rent? A consumer is simply one who consumes the goods and services produced. Doesn't matter if you buy or rent, you're still a consumer. What in the world would you call someone who rents, if not consumer? They still use currency to pay for the services. Are then, lessors of autos or houses not consumers either? Just wondering. Although, in the NetFlix issue, I seriously doubt they're bound by any law to allow the renters see the extras on a DVD, unless of course the originator of the DVD states they shall offer them for rent unaltered. And ah, I can't see anyont losing money off of DVD rentals. Honestly, the production company makes out like crazy on those rentals.

[Rico]

Keep in mind the push seems to be rental across the board.  For music, TV, movies, books, etc.  I can easily see a time in the future where people don't buy any type of entertainment media - everything could be rented.  I turn on the mega-computer-entertainment center and queue up the last episode of "The Big Bang Theory", rent a movie and a rent a book for later.  All digital - no physical copy.  And all encrypted and encoded to avoid pirating.  It's headed this way.  I personally like to "own" movies, some books, comics, etc., but that is heading for big changes that have already started.

[Jobydrone]

Let go, Rico, let go...free your mind and your media will follow. ;)

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Keep in mind the push seems to be rental across the board.  For music, TV, movies, books, etc.  I can easily see a time in the future where people don't buy any type of entertainment media - everything could be rented.  I turn on the mega-computer-entertainment center and queue up the last episode of "The Big Bang Theory", rent a movie and a rent a book for later.  All digital - no physical copy.  And all encrypted and encoded to avoid pirating.  It's headed this way.  I personally like to "own" movies, some books, comics, etc., but that is heading for big changes that have already started.

I just wish they weren't forcing the commercials down our throat at the beginning of the DVD/Blue-Ray.  That is really making me not want to buy anything and rather get it through Netflix or other means.  If that isn't violating our rights as consumers (to force us to watch the commercials at the beginning before we watch the movie that WE BOUGHT with our cash) I don't know what is.

King

[billybob476]

I guess the thing is, at the end of the day, if I own a hard copy of Star Wars or I turn on my (as Rico puts it)  mega-computer-entertainment center and select Star Wars from the streaming list, I am still watching Star Wars. That is, of course if the quality of the streamed version and the owned version are equal.

Honestly to me, optical media just takes up space. If I can have Blu-ray quality streaming and no restrictions on bandwidth and access to media, it can live on Netflix's server just as well as it can live on my shelf. We're not quite there yet (especially in Canada) but it's coming.

[Jobydrone]

This is fine until the day that Netflix goes out of business, or is bought out, or whatever, and suddenly all your content goes "poof" into the ether, or is held hostage for increased subscription fees, or disappears because Big Brother decides certain content is inappropriate for whatever reason.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here, I actually agree with you, and have hugely curtailed my purchases of physical media over the past few years.  As far as purchaees go, almost all video, all music, some of my gaming, and the absolute entirety of my print consumption has been digitally transferred via Netflix, iTunes, Xbox live/PSNetwork, Comcast, or other various sources over the past two years or more.

[Rico]

I think it's going to take quite some time for bandwidth to give us solid, consistent hidef streaming quality.  Keep in mind, there are also working on 4K hidef. which is basically 4 times the resolution of 1080p (and of course MUCH bigger file sizes).

Personally, I'm slowly slipping more into the mode of if I can buy a hidef. copy of what I like and enjoy then I will eventually buy a physical copy.  For other things I view once, streaming is ok.

[Rico]

As a followup to this and getting even a little more off, one thing I love about my TIVO is the ability to transfer shows to my PC hard drives.  I can store hidef content and play it back when I want.  The file sizes are big, but it's true 1080p and looks great.  Of course, I'm going to need a big home, dedicated server soon to store all this stuff!  Ahh, my next PC project!  :)

[Jobydrone]

That is totally awesome, although for broadcast material I'd guess you'd need to do some editing to remove commercials.  I never figured out how to do what you're talking about with my Comcast DVR...I'll be advising Bryan to invest in Seagate stock if I ever figure out how to do it, considering all the hard drives I'll probably be purchasing.

Edit for questions:  Can you play back the files directly from your storage device or computer, or do you have to transfer them back to the Tivo?  If you have to transfer, how long does the process take to transfer say a two hour movie?

[Bryancd]

pssst! Looking for an investable idea for the future that's in the space you guys are discussing? Look to the "cloud"... ;)

[KingIsaacLinksr]

pssst! Looking for an investable idea for the future that's in the space you guys are discussing? Look to the "cloud"... ;)

Which is limited by your bandwidth.  For me, the cloud works up to pictures, but Video is touch and go because my internet service is crap.

One day...

King

[billybob476]

This is the bottleneck at this point. It's not even a question of speed, it's a question of arbitrary transfer limits set by providers. I pay extra to have 75 GB of transfer a month, that's not nearly enough to stream a reasonable amount of full HD.

I guess the point that I have trouble with is this: I can leave my TV on all day receiving whatever broadcast I want. I pay the same if I do that or if I never turn my TV on once. I pay for access to the content, not how much of it I access. With netflix and other streaming services, I pay for access to the content and then I am penalized by my ISP if I access "too much" of that content.