http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/ Engadget Comments for Best Buy partnering with CinemaNow to stream first-run DVDs to 'all web-connected devices sold' http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 4:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 5:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 8:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 4:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 4:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 8:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
Digital content has the possibility of making repaying for format changes a thing of the past. That is, if the content industries don't f*ck it up, and that's a BIG if...
]]>Nov 3rd 2009 10:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 4:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/> "Are you ready to buy into owning a license without any physical property to show for your purchase?"

No... lemme just pay $2 to "rent" the new movie on my web-connected device. I just wanna see the movie... I don't need to own the movie.

Look at RedBox. It's $1. Even if I could buy a DVD for $10... I'd have to watch that movie 10 times before it paid for itself. With new movies coming out every week... who has that much time to re-watch old movies?

Even CinemaNow's current prices are crazy... $5 to rent, $20 to own. Look... I wanna see Pelham 1 2 3. But I'm not paying $5 to see it once... when I can get the same rental experience from the little red vending machine at my grocery store... for a dollar.

I'm ready for digital distribution... for a replacement for rentals... not purchases.]]>Nov 3rd 2009 4:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
The old model, go to blockbuster and rent a movie for $4 for a few days, or possibly pick up the same dvd in the discount bin at walmart for $8 makes purchasing seem a lot more reasonable (only have to watch the movie twice to make the purchase pay for itself).

But redbox has definitely changed things (same with the weekly $.99 iTunes movie rentals) - I would now have to watch the movie EIGHT times before a purchase was justified. I have literally only seen 2 or 3 movies that many times (and even then, only because friends were watching, etc - not out of pure desire to see it).

Redbox and iTunes and even netflix to some degree, have set a new pricing model that no longer favors purchasing. ]]>Nov 3rd 2009 8:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/


Ditto... I'm almost there with Netflix on my Roku and Tivo HD, but the library is still limited. I have zero desire to "purchase" digital downloads.]]>Nov 3rd 2009 12:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
If this in fact delivers RENTALS at same date as DVD release, then its interesting. If it doesn't it isn't. If its only for a few movies, its not interesting. It has to be for the vast majority of DVD rentals or I don't care. I'm not going to BUY a digital media streamer for something that works once in a while.

I *suspect* that they'll want to charge more for the rentals when they are closer to DVD release dates. I'll pay a little more to get the convenience of a digital download, but anything over $5 forget it.]]>Nov 3rd 2009 7:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 4:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
To quote:

“QuickTime X takes Internet video streaming to new levels with support for HTTP live streaming. Unlike other streaming technologies, HTTP live streaming uses the HTTP protocol — the same network technology that powers the web. That means QuickTime X streams audio and video from almost any web server instead of special streaming servers, and it works reliably with common firewall and wireless router settings. HTTP live streaming is designed for mobility and can dynamically adjust movie playback quality to match the available speed of wired or wireless networks, perfect whether thevideo is watched on a computer or on a mobile device like iPhone or iPod touch.”]]>Nov 3rd 2009 5:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
For an article that's not even about Apple, I can't believe they were even mentioned like they would have a say on what Best Buy can do with the other web connected devices that are sold by Best Buy. If Apple doesn't want to play, then screw them. Best Buy's target devices are more like Blu-ray players, set-top media streamer, etc... something that would be placed in the home theater not the iPhone or iPod.]]>Nov 3rd 2009 5:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/* The movies were not cheap - comparable to DVD prices.
* The DRM is very strict, with only 3 computers that can be authorized and no way to de-authorize a computer. So after a few years and new laptops / desktops later you may have nothing to play the content on. I emailed their customer support and they offered to sell me the movie *again* to allow playing it on more devices.
* The movies all had stereo sound - no Dolby Digital. This is the studio's licensing agreement, so I can't hold it against CinemaNow, but it stops me from buying the movie.

I'll stick with Netflix for renting and buy my own BluRay discs for the ones I'd like to own.]]>Nov 3rd 2009 6:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
The guys with money are not jacking off in the corner, they spend their days and nights trying to figure out how to get every last cent from your pocket into theirs... and they are working diligilently towards their goal... The inexorable push towards serfdom, indenture, perpetual slavery... they want everything you have and they want to feed it to you when they feel like it. Really, they just want to own you... in time they will.

The first part of that plan was convincing you to despise each other... dis-organized labor... then they sold you everything they could including the idea of women's liberation - 2 effects of which are to split up the family and double the labor market - worked perfectly... they now sell you gadgets with limited lifespans - planned obsolesence - but that's not enough... they want to have you pay for software that you cannot keep - why? whose bright idea was this?... they'll keep it on their servers, for good measure, they'll liberate you of your right to ownership...leasing the home, leasing the car, leasing the appliances, lease on life... the concepts are in place for exploitation... it's all becoming cloudy like computing... no media, no ownership, no privacy, I rent everything... everything. Forever. I pay someone everything for the conveniene of now owning it.

Thank the lord for this fantastic innovation.

They win. I better own the damn thing and it better be on my media, and I better be able to replace it at will, and I better be able to move it from place to place as I decide. Or no deal. Capiche?

Now wake the *uck up and project these trajectories a bit further than the right hand that's pleasing you... ]]>Nov 3rd 2009 7:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 9:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 3:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 7:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
I always hear about convenience, but i'd like to hear more about consequence from others... ]]>Nov 3rd 2009 9:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 7:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
Yeah... I'm sure their won't be any hassles at all with just owning a license and not actual media and trusting that their won't be any hassles with my actual use of what I have purchased - particularly from the easygoing movie studios.

Maybe we could make some progress if they realized that their declining sales are mostly due to the endless line-up of dross and crap that they are producing.]]>Nov 3rd 2009 7:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
As for the films themselves, those who favour quantity over quality would be pleased with these kinds of schemes... they can go on watching "Transformers", "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" and every Vin Diesel/Jennifer Lopez flick ever made on their DRM-infested equipment, and bleed a few dollars everytime they do so.

Those of us who want to have what's called a library, with the likes of "Casablanca", "Citizen Kane", "Lawrence of Arabia", and every Tarkovsky, Kubrick, Kurosawa or Polanski film, will continue to amass and carefully guard shiny )physical) digital discs.

And then, one day, the servers go down, the ISPs collapse, the payment is late, and suddenly the Pay-for-Play system shows its real, ugly face.

Like Divx, this is a wet dream for the industry... and it's sad to see that some people are too gullible or lazy to think it properly, in the long run, and allow themselves to get duped like this.

These schemes will work in the US. Luckily, they'd never catch on in places like Europe. We know what happens when someone else can dictate the terms. We've seen what happened in Communism, when the state controlled all the media, and restricted our access to it. We've seen how this worked under the Fascists as well. It won't get any better under the new Corporatism, even if the overlords give you the illusion of choice. Whoever invented leasing was the benefactor, patron saint and god of technocapitalism.]]>Nov 3rd 2009 10:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
Your copy of Fight Club in both book and movie form will be thrown on the same pile to be burned by the firemen.]]>Nov 3rd 2009 11:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
Sadly, we're already there with connected Blu-ray players.]]>Nov 3rd 2009 12:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 7:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
I'm afraid that we've already reached an apex, where the monied class has already inflicted enough damage on the middle and lower classes, that we're losing more and more power / validity every day.

The economic collapse was when we lost a lot of strength. The fact that the monied class not only recouped their losses but even made gains from that fiasco is a sign that we are now on the downard slope and from here on out, we have to be much more diligent or we risk literally returning to a feudal or pre feudal societal structure where we don't own even our own freedom, let alone property.

It may seem like we're talking about movies, but the subtext is about our rights and what rights corporations think they can get away with stealing from us... ironically, no one really seems to talk about a corporation or financial interest as an organism with it's own unique character... it's always presented as mostly innocuous because it's comprised of people obviously... yes, obviously so is a Mob or Gang... but corporations manifest a sinister form of autonomy where the end result is malevolence towards the people it's meant to serve. The entire hierarchy is twisted. We serve corporations... why exactly?

It really is that important...

Ironically, I think our true salvation relies on disawoval of private property and private ownership. But that's a bigger battle for another century... right now, we just need to maintain or regain relevance. :o]]>Nov 3rd 2009 9:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/Nov 3rd 2009 11:10AM