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If that's the case, that leaves the problem (from the consumer's point of view) of where to get access to a complete(ish) catalog of films. Netflix actually ach
by paol 10y ago
If that's the case, that leaves the problem (from the consumer's point of view) of where to get access to a complete(ish) catalog of films. Netflix actually achieved this back in the disc-by-mail days. So we're actually moving backwards.
I'm not particularly ashamed to say I turn to unlicensed torrents for this purpose, but I would prefer if it weren't necessary.
- manuelflara 10y agoWell, there's iTunes (a PPV service, of course). I'd like to know how big of a catalog iTunes have in terms of % of the 1,000 most popular movies they have.
- coldcode 10y agoNot all movies on iTunes are rentable. Been waiting for the third Hobbit movie forever.
- whatusername 10y agoI'm pretty sure that's streaming on Netflix. (Australian catalogue)
- pmoriarty 10y ago"Netflix actually achieved this back in the disc-by-mail days." Netflix's DVD service still exists.[1] They have a fantastic selection, compared to their streaming service. [1] - https://dvd.netflix.com/ https://dvd.netflix.com/
- hobofan 10y ago(In the USA)
- Nelson69 10y agoIs there anything that competes with that in terms of catalog? Redbox has replaced all the local rental places around here (Colorado) If something isn't streamed then dvd.netflix.com is the only option I know of.
- tracker1 10y agoThat was my thought as well.. no, it isn't instant gratification, but it does have value... I wonder how legal a dedicated feed rental system would be. Effectively, you rent a movie (as available) and someone puts it into a drive in a data center, that is then played for you directly, with the software interface controlling playback... you then click "return" when done watching... maybe a bonus for early returns (vs checked out for 24hrs). It might take some custom hardware, but just a few larger central stores vs something like redbox for example.
- zo1 10y agoThere was a company that did this. They don't exist anymore: https://www.wired.com/2011/10/streaming-movie-service-zediva-pays-hollywood-1-8m-shuts-down/ https://www.wired.com/2011/10/streaming-movie-service-zediva...
- swift 10y agoBelieve it or not, this was tried years ago: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/03/is-zedivas-new-release-movie-streaming-service-legal/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/03/is-zedivas-new-re... It turned out that the courts were not impressed by this workaround.
- oconnor0 10y agohttps://www.vidangel.com/ https://www.vidangel.com/ does something similar. You buy the movie for 20$ and then can stream it whenever, but if you return it within the first 24 hours, you get 19$ back.
- caleblloyd 10y agoTheir DVD service may still exist, but my DVD player does not.
- dragonwriter 10y agoDVD players are cheap, so that's an easily solved problem.
- gregmac 10y agoMy willingness to deal with physical media, let alone the postal service (any more then I am forced to, anyway) disappeared a few years ago. How is Netflix able to get rights to send physical media, but not stream? It seems to me that literally the only real difference is physical media means there is a limit on number of concurrent viewers.
- dragonwriter 10y agoPhysical media is subject to the Doctrine of First Sale, which means Netflix doesn't have to get a special license for DVD rentals. From a copyright perspective, that's a fundamental difference from streaming.
- turc1656 10y agoI understand the desire for instant gratification, not to mention the desire to be free of the money pit called the USPS. That being said, physical media has far superior audio and video quality. A Bluray disc vs streaming 1080p (especially a Netflix stream) is a world of difference. Streaming media is usually bit-starved to near death. If you care about quality (and you very well may not), it's the only way to fly. If you don't mind the subpar video and audio quality, then I can understand why people use the streaming service. It's just not for me, though. I have a 49" 4k TV and a Bluray player that upscales for a reason. I don't want that swill they serve up over ethernet, lol.
- rjbwork 10y ago
- bonif 10y agohttp://imgur.com/a/d6ZTM http://imgur.com/a/d6ZTM
- kleiba 10y agoUnfortunately it exists only in the U.S. :-( (while their streaming service is available in many countries.)
- fluidcruft 10y agoWe stopped DVD service because we moved. After the move 4/5 disks came unplayably scratched. And it somehow took two weeks for the next disk to come in the mail. So you can imagine we found we were getting zero value for our subscription fee.
- pmoriarty 10y agoMaybe I've just been lucky, but my Netflix history shows I've watched close to 100 DVDs, and only one of them was unplayable for me. For that one, they shipped me a replacement right away and it worked fine.
- fluidcruft 10y agoYes. That was our experience before we moved. Customer service kept blowing us off, too. So very likely where we are now is not a priority market or something. Which is sad because serving rural america was supposedly part of the whole long-tail thing.
- blakeyrat 10y agoI'm nostalgic for Blockbuster's disk-by-mail service, which had a much better selection than Netflix's ever did. (Ironically; considering how poor the selection in actual Blockbuster retail stores was.) Whenever I wanted some mega-obscure Japanese or Thai movie, Netflix never had it and Blockbuster always did. Oh well.
- pmoriarty 10y agoThere was a company called GreenCine which had the same business model as Netflix, but focusing more on independent and rare films. I meant to give it a try once I ran out of interesting movies to watch on Netflix. But I guess I waited too long, because now they're out of business. Despite Netflix not having absolutely everything, I think Netflix still has a really good DVD selection, with plenty of relatively obscure films (along with tons of mainstream ones). It could definitely be better (on selection, and also wish they offered more letterboxed and full-length films instead of shortened ones), and I wish there was more competition in this field. But overall I'm pretty satisfied and would recommend their DVD service to others.
- karpodiem 10y ago'I'm not particularly ashamed to say I turn to unlicensed torrents for this purpose, but I would prefer if it weren't necessary.' No studios will collectively give a tech company the majority of the licenses to make this possible - so torrents it is.
- cybernytrix 10y agoRenting a movie is less than what you will spend in Starbucks (most of them).
- gnicholas 10y agoSome rentals are cheaper than Starbucks, but many new releases are $5-$6. Also, I frequently find that a movie I'm looking to rent on iTunes is only available for purchase ($15). I understand why studios push for these sort of arrangements, but since there aren't any brick and mortar rental locations anymore, it means there isn't a way to check out that movie for less than $15.
- oldmanjay 10y agoIt's hard to argue with the convenience of free and immediate, that's for sure, but it's really hard to care that a person craves entertainment so strongly that they feel their unwillingness to pay for it is somehow a compelling argument to take it.
- Finnucane 10y agoHow could it be less than zero?
- cybernytrix 10y agoRenting a movie is less than what you will spend in Starbucks (most of them).
- chx 10y agoDo you seriously think there'll be a legit service which can replicate the arthouse, cult and alternative films selection of a certain tracker with four A in the name? I think we would sooner see a blanket fee making it legit.
- knicholes 10y agoVidAngel has had what I've looked for.
- jonny_eh 10y agoThat's great, it's an opportunity for another company or startup to solve.
- seattlefreeze 10y agoThe other option is not watching the films -- this would prevent consuming a good without paying for it.
- sqeaky 10y agoWatching a movie does not "consume" it. In the economic sense consumption means a resource is used and cannot readily be re-used at its original quality. Copying a file does not deprive anybody of anything, I cannot even see a reasonable argument when the case involves a market where the good is not even offered for sale.
- khedoros1 10y agoI'm pretty sure that they meant "consume" as in "watch", not "consume" as in "make unavailable for further use". So, watching a movie doesn't consume it, but one does consume movies.
- gozur88 10y agoI suspect if the studios had to choose between people not watching a film at all and people using torrents, they'd probably want the torrents, particularly if they could document it for the companies paying for product placement. Though obviously they'd much rather have you pay for it and watch it.
- pkulak 10y agoUmm... there are about 100 services that will rent/sell you a movie online. I use Amazon for all my movie rental needs. Works great.
- bogomipz 10y agoCould you recommend some that have deep catalog? I find the that iTunes and Amazon don't have anywhere near the deep catalog that I once enjoyed at my local video store. For a real film buff being able to go rent F. W. Murnau's "Noseferatu", Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blowup" or Polanski's "Knife in the Water" was really important to me and something I took for granted. Almost every large city had a least one such film nerd rental place. And now that video stores are gone there's just a void for so much of this content. One beacon of hope though which is supposed to launch soon is a streaming venture by TCM and The Criterion Collection: http://www.filmstruck.com/ http://www.filmstruck.com/ I am really forward to this that and I hope its huge success.
- guelo 10y agoI just looked up those three movies at dvd.netflix.com and they are all available.
- manachar 10y agoAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nosferatu-Silent-Max-Schreck/dp/B001O96JC4 https://www.amazon.com/Nosferatu-Silent-Max-Schreck/dp/B001O... https://www.amazon.com/Blowup-Vanessa-Redgrave/dp/B000I157KO https://www.amazon.com/Blowup-Vanessa-Redgrave/dp/B000I157KO https://www.amazon.com/Knife-Water-Leon-Niemczyk/dp/B004D22R98 https://www.amazon.com/Knife-Water-Leon-Niemczyk/dp/B004D22R... Amazon + Netflix + Blueray player has become my perfect combination. The few titles that I can't get streaming I just buy the discs.
- bogomipz 10y agoHa, wow. OK I guess I need to give Amazon another look then. I think I maybe looked for these or similar ~ 1 year ago and went away disappointed. This is great. Thanks.
- anonymousDan 10y agoIn the Uk at least you should check out cinema paradise, great range of films (especially independent and world cinema). Furthermore if there's something you want and they don't have just ask them and they'll get it in. Reasonable price too.
- brown9-2 10y agoI'm not particularly ashamed to say I turn to unlicensed torrents for this purpose, but I would prefer if it weren't necessary. It's not necessary if you accept the cost that the makers of these films want to charge you.
- Nadya 10y agoThis assumes the product can still be purchased or is for sale in the country. Not every country has a licence to sell certain movies. Literally can't pay the money the makers of the films what they want to charge me because they don't want to charge me. This also applies to music and other products (though other products can't necessarily be pirated). My options are: a) Pirate the movie at no cost to the creator b) Do not watch the movie at no cost to the creator Morally - I don't see the difference. Financially - there is no difference. Culturally? There is a huge difference. Many people fail to realize how much culture is shared/discussed around movies/music (esp. American movies/music).
- jameslk 10y agoI'm not sure why you're getting downvoted. This is actually a pretty good argument for why piracy is still relevant. There's been numerous occasions when I wanted to share something with a friend, but the content was blocked just because of geographical differences. These limitations create incentives to find the content elsewhere, which is usually illegitimate means.
- novaleaf 10y agoI didn't downvote, but... well, honestly this is a bit of a strawman, if you consider that most of the internet using public is able to legally view the content in question. That a small percentage of people can't... OK that's true. but bringing that up as a reason why piracy can be justified doesn't really seem conductive to a cross-discussion.
- Larrikin 10y ago
- Paul-ish 10y agoWhat if, overall, film watching just goes down?
- ChuckMcM 10y agoI think it is the case and it is where Amazon video is winning seats. Basically if you want to watch any of the IMDB top 250 films you can do so using the Amazon Video app on Roku or many smart TVs by renting it for $4 - $6. (depending on SD or HD).
- thebigspacefuck 10y agoWith Amazon Prime, iTunes, and Redbox, you can get access to pretty much anything. Yes, it costs $1-4 per movie, but that was actually the price of a rental anyway and I had to get in my car, drive to the store, and hope that they had what I was looking for. Netflix still has DVD service if you choose. For me, the risks of being caught stealing outweigh the benefits of saving a few bucks.
- evo_9 10y agoA while back I decided it wasn't worth trusting any online service - netflix or otherwise - for my personal favorite content (whatever that may be). For that reason I invested in a nice NAS that can stream to my ps3/ps4, phones/tablets etc and to just rip my own content. Otherwise you may suddenly find Twin Peaks is not available to you (it's on Amazon Prime now btw), or some other such lost classic film or tv show.
- serge2k 10y agoIf you're willing to stream then buying from Amazon is an okay option.
- bcrescimanno 10y agoSadly--this isn't really something Netflix (or anyone) can possibly offer given the way that the entertainment industry licenses content. When they made the transition to streaming, they had to acknowledge that they could no longer provide the one-stop shop with everything to watch. Instead, they had to pivot to a model largely based on "something for everyone to watch." My personal opinion is that they missed a good opportunity to socialize that pivot.