Netflix To Lift Streaming Limits
Posted by
kdawson
on Sunday January 13, @06:49PM
from the oh-my-groaning-pipes dept.
from the oh-my-groaning-pipes dept.
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.
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Apple: Netflix and iTunes Rentals Aiming At Different Crowds 164 comments
Engadget notes an article in the New York Times discussing the substantially different markets that Netflix and Apple's movie rentals are aiming for. The site views the loosening of Netflix streaming restrictions as a reaction motivated entirely by the iTunes movie rental announcement, but beyond that the two services seem to have little connection. From Engadget's observations: "After speaking with Netflix's Reed Hastings, it was found that the vast majority of its streamable content was 'older,' and considering that users of this service can never look forward to brand new releases being available, the cost (i.e. free to most mail-in subscribers) makes sense. As for Apple, it's able to focus on crowds who are looking for a more robust, generally fresher selection, but of course, you'll pay the premium each time you indulge. Furthermore, Netflix has yet to make transferring video to any display / device other than your monitor easy, and while an LG set top box is indeed on the horizon, the differences in content selection are still likely to lure separate eyes."
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Awesome (Score:4, Insightful)
Won't work on macs (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Won't work on macs (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Won't work on macs (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Typo in the story title. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Typo in the story title. (Score:5, Funny)
Compete with Apple? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Compete with Apple? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Compete with Apple? (Score:5, Interesting)
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: (Score:3, Informative)
Really? I'd blame Netflix for using a de facto single platform codec. They could have used Theora, which is open. They could have used QuickTime, which has Windows support. They could have used RealPlayer (as horrid as that would be), because it's at least
Re:Compete with Apple? (Score:5, Informative)
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
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Bullshit. The MPAA sells movies protected by CSS, MS's WMP, and Apple's FairPlay. What makes you think they wouldn't approve another DRM format if someone presented it to them? It is in their best interests, in fact, to have as many stores and DRM types
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
FWIW Mac users still can't buy music from Napster, or any of
God those summaries are entertaining (Score:3, Informative)
But is it still IE and Windows only? (Score:5, Interesting)
System Requirements:
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? (Score:5, Interesting)
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? (Score:5, Interesting)
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. (Score:5, Funny)
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: (Score:3, Informative)
Several quotes:
Let's Check (Score:5, Insightful)
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:For more information (Score:4, Informative)
Re:I'd be interested, but... (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)