Netflix says No Downloads for now

Om Malik, Friday, October 21, 2005 at 8:42 AM PT Comments (4)

Netflix’s download plans get a reality check as studios refuse to play ball. And for those who had hopes this would happen, I have an amazing deal on a beautiful bridge in Brooklyn.

Rating: 75% Thumbs Up Thumbs Down

4 comments so far

October 21st, 2005
10:03 AM PT
Jesse Kopelman said:

Bah. There is an easy way to get around studios not wanting to play ball, it just requires the right software on the user end and some man power to rip DVDs on NetFlix’s end (the same man power they already have to stuff the DVDs into mailers). If they keep a 1-1 correspondance between how many physical DVD you bought and how many digital copies are out a one time, there is nothing the studios can do. I think it is the user end of things they are having trouble with. There is also the possibility that it is actually much cheaper to use the USPS form of distribution than it is to pay for the bandwidth that this would require (even assuming use of bittorrent, which would help for the more popular titles). Maybe they need to partner with Google on buying up dark fiber.

In a related story: I think I will soon be getting a media hub (those things that stream off of your pc and connect to tv/sterio). I think I’m probably a year or two ahead of the curve, despite these things having been around for years. That said, I think Apple needs to hurry up and release a video airport express to play in this space. It really makes no sense to be selling video and only have the iPods.

October 21st, 2005
10:52 AM PT
Iain said:

divx site has nice selection of players. io data avel link player works great for mac or pc. Unfortunately it doesn’t support purchased items from iTunes.

October 21st, 2005
12:08 PM PT
Jesse Kopelman said:

That’s exactly what I’m saying, Iain.

October 21st, 2005
12:29 PM PT
brandon said:

wait, do you mean the Brooklyn bridge? I tried searching craigslist, have you posted it yet?

i guess this means i believed in netflix :/

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