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It would be neat if we could easily wrap these various streaming services up in one UI so that you simply search for a movie and it streams it from Netflix or h

It would be neat if we could easily wrap these various streaming services up in one UI so that you simply search for a movie and it streams it from Netflix or hulu if possible and bittorrent if not. Its unfortunate that in today's world this would get you sued out of existence.

wanderingstan 12y ago
That's a rather interesting startup/service idea. On setup you tell it what services you have accounts on, and then when you search it will tell you the options (with links to signup on new services), and always with a "BitTorrent at your own risk" fallback.
- colinbartlett 12y ago
  CanIStream.it is 90% of the way there to your idea.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- eightofdiamonds 12y ago
  Roku does this. They have a universal search and any channel on the device that the movie or show is available on will come up with the pricing.
8_hours_ago 12y ago
This is something that a company such as Microsoft or Apple should implement. It would be a killer app for either the X Box or the Apple TV.
marwatk 12y ago
Tivo currently does this (albeit without a bit torrent option) for upcoming live TV, Comcast on-demand, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video and Netflix. There may be more now, but those are the ones I use. You search for a title and it will tell you where it's available and you can watch it from any of them directly from the Tivo UI.
bduerst 12y ago
It would be impossible to access content as Netflix, Hulu, etc. would most certainly block your service. For them it's also about controlling the overall experience, not just regurgitating the content they serve (e.g. users spotting gaps in coverage).
- wooger 12y ago
  This already happened with Google TV and various online video services. The original plan was to offer a service exaclty like this.
- colinbartlett 12y ago
  On the contrary, Netflix recently shut down their API and CanIStreamIt was one of only 8 services they allowed continued access. I think they understand the value of it. http://developer.netflix.com/blog http://developer.netflix.com/blog
  - bduerst 12y ago
    If enough customers are using those 8 services, then they're not going to shut it down with the API when they block everyone else. It's a common deprecation strategy for APIs, and only proves Netflix is tightening control over their user experience.

wanderingstan 12y ago

That's a rather interesting startup/service idea. On setup you tell it what services you have accounts on, and then when you search it will tell you the options (with links to signup on new services), and always with a "BitTorrent at your own risk" fallback.

colinbartlett 12y ago
CanIStream.it is 90% of the way there to your idea.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
eightofdiamonds 12y ago
Roku does this. They have a universal search and any channel on the device that the movie or show is available on will come up with the pricing.

8_hours_ago 12y ago

This is something that a company such as Microsoft or Apple should implement. It would be a killer app for either the X Box or the Apple TV.

marwatk 12y ago

Tivo currently does this (albeit without a bit torrent option) for upcoming live TV, Comcast on-demand, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video and Netflix. There may be more now, but those are the ones I use. You search for a title and it will tell you where it's available and you can watch it from any of them directly from the Tivo UI.

bduerst 12y ago

It would be impossible to access content as Netflix, Hulu, etc. would most certainly block your service. For them it's also about controlling the overall experience, not just regurgitating the content they serve (e.g. users spotting gaps in coverage).

wooger 12y ago
This already happened with Google TV and various online video services. The original plan was to offer a service exaclty like this.
colinbartlett 12y ago
On the contrary, Netflix recently shut down their API and CanIStreamIt was one of only 8 services they allowed continued access. I think they understand the value of it. http://developer.netflix.com/blog http://developer.netflix.com/blog
- bduerst 12y ago
  If enough customers are using those 8 services, then they're not going to shut it down with the API when they block everyone else. It's a common deprecation strategy for APIs, and only proves Netflix is tightening control over their user experience.