While our readers have made it clear that they're pretty on the fence about viewing cable TV on the Internet, the movie industry's approach to curb illegal downloads has been pretty diverse when it comes to handing over movie rights to the people. Whether it be Internet-enabled televisions to set-top boxes to streaming your own personal stuff through one of many media servers, it seems like our means of acquiring films these days have become as varied as the movie selections themselves.
Survey: How Do You Watch Movies These Days?
Personally, we are still digging the idea of Internet-enabled TVs. They're not mainstream now, but we're pretty sure they will be by the end of 2009. Not only does having a mini-computer built into the TV removes the confusion that came with set-top box setups to begin with, having no set-top box means less clutter. And you know how we feel about clutter. The less, the better.
While Blockbuster has been great to us for all these years, we continue to firmly believe media streaming is the future for high definition distribution. In all likeliness, this includes games as well. Having a new format come out every 2-3 years can become infuriating to collectors who must re-buy entire movie collections in order to keep up with the times.
Why not buy movie rights and let them roll over every technology cycle? Surely, this will create for incentive for collectors to buy more knowing that they'll be able to easily obtain a copy of it in a newer format a few years down the line. Though realistically, it all depends on how quick copyright holders are willing to change their business models to adjust with the times.
Have any ideas or further articulations for improving movie-watching experiences in the future? Let us know in the comments!
Comments (13)
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I do a mix of Netflix streaming to my TiVo and actual DVDs from Netflix.
view Doug in DC's profile
I don't know any Blockbuster "associates" who are a joy to talk to or particularly knowledgeable about movies. So the online community of comments on Netflix is a bonus. It also provides a much larger selection than a store could provide (get me my Bollywood).
I do enjoy a theater on occasion.
view mandelbrotr's profile
I use a (borrowed) Roku box. I love it, but there are a few things things that concern me.
1) There is no off switch - I emailed the company asking about this and they stated that Rokus should be kept on at all times to make sure they are up to date. I am an unplugger and I hated having to move the tv to unplug this thing.
2)Sometimes, even with the best of wifi connections, the Roku picture can get a little dicey. It is rare, but it sucked whenever I would watch something and the picture would get all pixelated
2) The price - With shipping and taxes it's a little over 138 bucks. Not something I can afford right now. I want to just buy one, but I'm afriad the moment I buy it, they'll upgrade the hardware. I was assured by the company that any and all upgrades would be done via the streaming, but somehow I doubt that.
I need to give the Roku back to it's owner, so I am going to buy XBOX live Gold and stream this. for less than 40 bucks, I have 13 months of streaming netflix, as well as Rockband jamming with friends.
view chusmabilly's profile
Use to rent for years but stopped. Now, I mostly borrow or purchase a movie, or rent it from P.P.V.
I also, on occasion, just like going to theater.
view E.I.F.'s profile
We do a combo of Netflix, Netflix streaming to our Xbox 360 (Which totally rocks!), the occasional rental from a local store, and a few movies a year in the theater.
view teawithsteph's profile
The boyfriend and I use the Blockbuster Total Access - receive movies in the mail AND then exchange them in store... but they're changing the program to have the in store exchanges count against your queue... so we might switch to Netflix. :( really bummed about this since we were essentially doubling our movie watching.
Since we started, though, we've only seen a couple of movies in the theater, and stopped buying DVD's - way more cost effective to rent them! Especially since the nearest theater is $24 to see a movie (without popcorn or drinks!) unless we think ahead and get tickets at Costco for cheaper.
view cptnruthless's profile
$24 for a movie? Ouch.
view ekoshyun's profile
i do it all ways. still go to the occasional movie at the theatre, subscribe to netflix for DVDs and stream stuff off the internet.
view Matt. M's profile
i've postponed my netflix service twice in the past year. from time to time, i'll go through a few months where i don't watch movies and just stick to tv or video games. then i'll remember some old gems or flicks i've wanted to check out and reactivate my account.
as for theater - i haven't seen a film in a movie theater in about a year. i haven't been psyched to leave the house for a film in a long while actually. might be because i'm single.
view FightTheFuture's profile
pretty much everything we watch is netflix - either dvd or blu-ray or streaming from xbox. Only thing we watch live is Lost - we don't even have a tivo.
view bordjon's profile
why no option for downloading?
I download all my content. via itunes or torrent. I stopped paying for cable years ago. stopped with blockbuster, stopped buying pysical media that needs a shelf.
digital is smaller and alphabetically organized.
view fyrebug's profile
download and stream via XBox
view BigD's profile
sdfsdfsdfsad
view Pakhi's profile