Just as online music stores introduced the "rental" model to music listeners, it looks like we're finally getting beyond the rent / purchase model for online movies, with
Netflix mixing things up with its new Watch Now feature. A user gets an hour of video watching for every dollar they spend monthly on the service -- a $17.99 subscriber gets 18 free hours of video. There's no concept of buying or renting a movie, instead you just watch what you want to watch, with every minute spent watching each movie counting against your total, but nothing more. This helps users catch the last few minutes of recent rentals they might not have finished, or preview a bit -- or the whole thing -- of a prospective selection. With a good enough connection, the quality apparently approaches DVD, but there aren't any portability options or DVD burning here: it's all browser based and not a whole lot more. The feature is also XP only at the moment, but Netflix hopes to expand to other platforms, including cellphones. Currently there are roughly 1,000 titles available, which Netflix hopes to expand to 5,000 this year. Netflix is live with Watch Now for select customers right now, and will slowly expand to the rest of its subscribers over the next six months. It seems we've been waiting for Netflix to get into this gig for years -- oh wait,
we have -- and while it does seem to be taking a bit different angle to the biz, we're glad to have 'em all the same.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Silver @ Jan 16th 2007 9:55AM
wow, sounds intuitive!
Wonderboy @ Jan 16th 2007 9:59AM
Kinda weird that they're not allowing this for all customers, but slowly rolling it out.
Though I'm not going to complain about free...
anonymous @ Mar 1st 2007 12:17PM
Wonderboy, its not really wierd. they need to assess their bandwidth needs as it moves along to ensure they can provide the data. Does no good to allow everyone to access the service which could easily crash their servers due to the bandwidth needed to support streaming video for 10s of thousands of customers.
They have to employ a cycle of improvement to support customers
cycle of improvement
===================================
1. Add bandwidth/servers
2. service good? goto 4
3. service pathetic? goto 1
4. all customers have access?
5. yes, goto 7
6. no, goto 1
7. add servers/bandwidth, goto 8
8. monitor for service degradation
9. service good? goto 8
10. service pathetic? goto 1
==================================
end of cycle
ph @ Jan 16th 2007 10:03AM
does it do multichannel SPDIF?
WedgeTalon @ Jan 16th 2007 10:05AM
This won't get me back to Netflix. I may go back if the begin offering game rentals. It's just too expensive to subscribe to BOTH Netflix AND Gamefly.
I'm currently with Gamez N Flix ( http://gameznflix.com ). They're OK, but they have WAAAY too slow of a turnaround. Especially since one of their centers is, IIRC, about 100 miles from me.
So I'm about to switch to Intelliflix ( http://intelliflix.com ). I'm going to try them for a month or two and, if they have good service, plunge into their year's subscription which offers a deep discount over monthly rates.
CaptCaveman @ Jan 16th 2007 7:38PM
I'm currently doing Netflix and Gamefly. I have to agree with the turn around time with Gamefly. It's so bad that I signed up with gameznflix to compare the two.
I really don't plan on leaving Netflix because their turn around time is normally very very good (except for the current movie that they are sending me which shipped from Maryland, but they also told me that it would take longer and gave me a delivery date).
But Gamefly may be getting cut. The discounts that they have on pre-played games can't be beat. But I feel that they almost make up for that in the monthly charge that stick you with. And ti also seems that nothing is is stock anymore. I'm sure this is due to lots of new business from Christmas console purchases. But what better way to loose a customer then to suffer from growing pains.
I will also have to check out the Intelliflix that you posted. I didn't even know about them. ...And adult titles also. I'm not big on adult stuff but I like having the option available. Wait... used adult DVD's... Maybe I'll pass on renting those after all. Or make sure I have on a pair of latex gloves when handling them...
Zadillo @ Jan 16th 2007 10:06AM
Just checked my NetFlix account and this "Watch Now" function hasn't been enabled yet (although I'm also not browsing from an XP machine right now, so perhaps it just isn't showing), although I am on the $17.99/month plan.
Seems interesting at least. 18 hours a month of free online viewing (i.e. not an additional charge beyond what I was paying netflix anyway) seems pretty nice to me. Not sure how much I'll want to watch in a browser, but seems like a nice way to maybe watch something I wouldn't necessarily bother putting in my queue, etc.
BJ @ Jan 16th 2007 10:14AM
XP-only. IE-only.
Lets me out. They'd better cut the price of my service if they don't intend upon providing me with a full-featured account.
Peter @ Jan 16th 2007 10:45AM
BJ - Why should they cut the price? You are still receiving the same service you were previously paying for. They haven't taken anything away. They have just added features you choose not to take advantage of. I don't use the multiple queues, should I get a discount too?
BJ @ Jan 16th 2007 12:35PM
Are you seriously implying that the level of service enhancement offered by multiple queues is equal to that offered by downloadable movies? It's not...not even close.
Movie downloads represent a significant service enhancement, not some minor point update. In fact, they stand to become a major part of Netflix's future business. At some point, I see the "account-with-downloading" becoming the standard account. If, then, Netflix _precludes, by their own choices of technology_ my participation in that level of service, I should not have to pay the same as someone who gets the full ride. There's no reason I should be asked to fund infrastructure that I am refused the use of.
No one should be required to pay Porsche prices for Trabant service.
James Smith @ Jan 16th 2007 11:17PM
Hey I use Linux and Firefox so I'll probably be the last one to get the feature so all of you stop bitching that you don't get it yet cause you run win2k or 98. You don't deserve a discount cause you don't get a FREE feature. Just when I take the bus and I get a free transfer to another bus, if I don't need to take two buses I don't ask for a refund on the free transfer.
Danielle @ May 21st 2007 3:32PM
I was bummed to find that Netflix's solution is Windows XP only and also seems to be really deficient in the quailty of content arena. One reason I'm a Netflix subscriber is because they have hard-to-find movies, including documentaries that I would otherwise never have heard of.
It seems like a lot of us cinephiles have a problem with the lack of support for Macs, so I would have thought that building something for us might be a higher priority. On the other hand, I found Jaman (http://www.jaman.com), so I probably wouldn't even use Netflix for anything other than commercial big studio productions for the downloads.
Russ @ Jan 16th 2007 10:26AM
This might have actually saved me from tossing my MCE / Extenders setup. Now if someone can write a plugin for MCE this would be very, very nice!
zorg @ Jan 16th 2007 10:27AM
This is perfect. As you know, most movies start out strong, then suck harder and harder. The trick will be figuring out when to switch so you don't get slimed, but don't miss too many crashes, explosions, seductions of a starlet who never appears later, etc.
Yaktastic @ Jan 16th 2007 10:45AM
Do we have to watch Liar Liar? or are the also offering decent movies to download?
steve-o @ Jan 16th 2007 11:00AM
XP only, that's a bummer.
Why not DivX?
boriquajake @ Jan 16th 2007 11:34AM
Why not divX? Why not not bitch?
Marty @ Jan 16th 2007 11:03AM
Ah! Liar Liar! Ewww...
steve-o @ Jan 16th 2007 11:15AM
This is a good response to Blockbuster Video and their newest feature or free in-store exchange. They thought they had the one-up on Netflix, but I think this is even better than driving to the store to exchange your movie.
Blockbuster Video= OWNED!
Mike S @ Jan 16th 2007 11:22AM
I won't have it until June..
It's a nice feature for travelling with a laptop. Watch a movie in the hotel with thier wi-fi connection and it doesn't cost me anything extra over my current netflix subscription. For a FREE bonus it's a great idea!
I don't want to download a DIVX movie when I get the DVD in a day from netflix. I'd rather watch a DVD than a downloaded DIVX.
ericdrum @ Jan 16th 2007 11:34AM
I may be the only person who doesn't like this. I'm not interested in watching 'near DVD' quality video. Also browser based is only going to be interesting to a small percentage of people. If it can't be streamed to my TV I'm not going to use it. Anyhow, it's a great idea, but it seems to be pretty far from being useful to a high percentage of Netflix users.
Simon P @ Jan 16th 2007 12:31PM
Just checked the "My account" part of the page and there was a link to some info on "watch now". that's the first time i've seen it, but all it says is they'll add it to our accounts by june 2007. seems kind of vague. hope it doesn't take that long for the rest of us, i'm quite looking forward to it.
Mike S @ Jan 16th 2007 12:34PM
Maybe y'all can email Netflix about offering a DOWNLOAD service in DIVX format with DRM?
Steve @ Jan 16th 2007 2:07PM
BJ,
Excuse, but I can't help but feel that your logic is flawed. Netflix is only offering an additional medium to view films. You're still getting what you originally paid for.
Let's say that Sony started including portable versions of their artists' albums with the CD purchase. I'm assuming that these will either be UMD's, some type of proprietary format that will only work with some current or future Sony portable player, or maybe passcodes to download the films from a Connect-type store. Would you expect to pay less for the disc because you can't take advantage of the expanded portable formats, considering that you are still able to access the CD in all the traditional ways?
Cronick @ Jan 16th 2007 1:07PM
I just went to the page. http://www.netflix.com/InstantWatchingRollout
System requirements exclude Macs. This will prevent me from enjoying a service that other subscribers are receiving for the same price. In June I'll be switching to Blockbuster if this is not fixed.
bones @ Mar 1st 2007 7:50PM
off topic but just helping a fellow engadgeteer...
@ poster thinking of signing up for Intelliflix. DO NOT DO IT BY ANY MEANS! Just google reviews of it and you'll see. I paid for a year service (~$100ish) and received about 5 movies from my queue of about 20. When I did receive movies, they took up to a month between movies to arrive. I didnt receive any further DVDs and no updates on their webpage about my account status. They just vanished. Recently they billed me another $100 which I did not authorize (presumably for another yr of service) and now have to file a claim with my bank to get it back. Moral of the story...Intelliflix=no.
Danielle @ May 21st 2007 3:32PM
Yeah, definitely check out Jaman for the Mac support. http://www.jaman.com
Ben @ Jan 16th 2007 1:27PM
Hopefully you will be able to broadcast it to a tv box like apples in the future.
That would make me buy one in a heartbeat. I can download a movie a day easliy ... if not faster.
Marshall @ Jan 16th 2007 1:31PM
If they can implement this on the Wii's internet channel (Opera) then it will become my number one media hub...
DrDiesel @ Jan 16th 2007 1:42PM
http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snap1mi6.jpg
That's what I currently see with my account.
DrDiesel @ Jan 16th 2007 1:49PM
As just as I posted the above, I refreshed my NetFlix account page and it's now available to me, sweet!
BJ @ Jan 16th 2007 2:35PM
I appreciate your point of view, but I don't agree. I had a longish response composed, but instead, let me put it this way:
Would you be comfortable paying the same price for dialup as you pay for DSL/cable? Even given that dialup continues to provide the same level of service that it gave in 1998? No?
Of course not. The standard moves forward, and prices for the "old standard" drop. This is progress in the marketplace. If the new standard includes more services than the old standard, then people who are precluded from using the new standard should be offered the old service at lower prices. QED.
tpp @ Jan 16th 2007 2:42PM
This is not a download service, it's a streaming service.
That's why it's total crap. You can't watch the movies you "download" on anything else but your PC, and not only that, but only on a browser.
That may work for YouTube where the quality of the video does not necessarily have to be that great, but to watch full length movies on a freakin' browser? No, thanks.
ericdrum @ Jan 16th 2007 3:13PM
I agree. I am shocked this isn't getting panned by more people.
Ben @ Jan 16th 2007 3:13PM
BJ,
It's called capitalism. Market forces cause the changes you are describing. If Blockbuster would make you happier for your money, feel free to switch. The price for plain-old-boring-DVD-Netflix is not relative to Netflix-DVD+WatchNow, it is relative to the competition. Also WatchNow costs almost nothing to provide, relative to the physical DVD business... physical media, inventory management, and human labor ain't cheap compared to a few servers and some bandwidth.
That said, I'm sure the realistic course of things will be that after WatchNow gets traction, becomes more useful (MCE, etc), in general matures, it will become a paid feature and standalone DVD rental will be priced separately (e.g. they will be unbundled). But again that is partly dictated by the competition.
Oh and one other thing that is not really relevant to my point: if you take into account the phone line cost, dialup does actually cost the same as, or more than, base level DSL/cable in many markets. :) (Due in part to captive markets, and also similar costs for providing either service. Actually, again, DSL is probably cheaper to provide than dialup, all told.)
Eh, in summary, wait and see, and if think another service would make you happier, go for it, and don't forget to tell Netflix why you are leaving so that they can take it into account if enough people say the same thing. Yay for voting with the consumer dollar!
TV @ Jan 16th 2007 3:22PM
Quality will matter. They can claim bitrates all they want, it better look good (If they want people to use it).
Selection will matter. Can I get that movie that's been on Very Long Wait since I've signed up instantly streaming? That would be great, as long as the quality is there.
Steve @ Jan 16th 2007 3:28PM
BJ,
Very good argument. We'll see what comes in June, but I wouldn't be surprised if they:
A) treated it like their version of the Blockbuster program -- mail it in, or watch it on your computer, same price. It's just too new and raw to be a viable paradigm shift (see the griping from several other users about the sheer audacity of Netflix to offer a free, optional addition to their service that won't clean their house after pleasuring them).
-or-
B) Treated it as a paradigm shift, and provided the full version as some type of premium service (think the original days of DSL, when it was $20 for dial-up and like $80 for the faster connection).
Either way, I would be very surprised if Netflix "standard" became cheaper until much later in the product cycle.
Not BJ @ Jan 16th 2007 3:45PM
Following BJ's logic..
Netflix should offer me a free subscription, seeing how I can't take FULL advantage of their service because I don't have a DVD player..
Nerd
Wait
Don't use it
Get :
A PC
A Life
Over it!
Slocko @ Jan 16th 2007 4:20PM
it's sad to see these new services saying near dvd quality. first it was itunes, now netflix.
either way, i have moved on to HD. i simply refuse to watch movies unless they are in HD. for now this limits me to using an HD Tivo, but soon I'll be getting an Xbox 360 with the hd-dvd drive and at that point will sign up with netflix or blockbuster again.
starchy @ Jun 9th 2007 11:01PM
I think saying "HD only" is a little extreme, but it should be available for a paid service. I have an HTPC in my living room with a 42" HD plasma display. I have the HD Tivo from DirecTV, and an XBox 360 with the HD DVD player. Not enough is available on HD DVD, and the directv PPV in HD selection is very weak. I really thought that downloads from marketplace on the XBox was a great idea, and it is, but in practice I have had problems with all 3 movies I have downloaded and wont use that service anymore (even after the newest patch that made it a little faster, but is still too slow). I am searching for a site to download HD movies onto my HTPC to watch on my plasma screen, and would quickly sign up for netflix again if this was available. Vongo seemed like a good option, but is again in "near DVD" quality, and the audio is always in stereo - I want to watch my movies in 5.1 surround sound! The concept of the movie downloads is great, but someone needs to perfect this soon, with high quality video and audio, if I am going to throw my $ at it........ And yes, I think at some point my mother did refuse her tit to me...
Z @ Jan 16th 2007 4:03PM
Hopefully this service is a sign of good things to come.
Ezra Moore @ Mar 1st 2007 12:37PM
LMFAO... 'I simply refuse to watch movies unless they're in HD'... hahaha jesus you should've read that one before you added it. Did your mother 'simply refuse' her tit to you when you were younger?
lol
JR @ Jan 16th 2007 6:33PM
Before you sign up for Intelliflix, you might want to
read some customer reviews:
http://www.dvdrr.com/reviews/Intelliflix.html
glacia @ Jan 16th 2007 7:57PM
I think it's very cool added feature. I'll probably use it most to catch TV episodes I missed but don't want to get the DVD with X number of episodes I've already seen. Plus I've gotten used to watching stuff through a browser so I'm not that worried about that. Frankly if it's a good story do you even notice it's small screen after you're into it? If it sucks no amount of resolution will make it better. Besides it's not costing extra.
"XP-only. IE-only."
Didn't see a IE only qualifier so I'm assuming it isn't IE only. For the people complaining they do say it's going to be available in other formats. I run XP but I don't have it yet either but meh, it'll come and I'm not paying extra for it.
And for the people who don't even have Netflix I have no idea why you're complaining.
jtt777 @ Jan 16th 2007 8:34PM
i hope they can make it work for the ps3 web browser, that would be nice
Geektronica @ Jan 16th 2007 9:28PM
It's not DivX because it's streaming, not download.
Getting the studios to agree to a download service is not going to happen any time soon. They're still trying to keep MovieLink afloat, despite the fact that no one uses it.
I don't want to pay for an individual rental, and I don't want to buy a low-res download from ITMS. Ideally, I'd like to be able to download a movie to my iPod, with some type of DRM, as part of a flat-monthly-fee program like Netflix (of course, I'd still want to watch most movies on DVD via mail). The DRM could keep me within the three-at-a-time restriction, and would make the studios happy. But DRM was meant to be cracked, so I don't think it will happen soon.
anonymous @ Mar 1st 2007 1:00PM
Starz Ticket is a service for downloading and watching a movie for a monthly service fee. You actually download the movie and then can burn it to a CD and watch on your TV. I was part of the beta on this and it worked great. I would queue up several movies to download when I was asleep. Each movie had an expiration date and would not be usable after that date unless you go back and re-download. Could be one day could be a couple of weeks but you can see when it will expire before you queue for download. The quality was the same as the DVD.