Blockbuster's been
trying all sorts of, um,
innovative things to get more foot traffic in its stores, but thanks to a dastardly invention known only as "
Netflix," that very task has proven exceptionally difficult. Now, it seems the flagging movie rental company is giving one more far-flung idea a whirl:
movies on SD cards. Around six Blockbuster and Hollywood Video stores will soon begin offering titles on SD cards, though the included DRM only allows customers 30 days from the purchase date to view it, and once it's fired up, you've just 48 hours before it vanishes completely. Each rental will cost $1.99, and while we definitely see the benefit of renting something that you don't have to return, we're still skeptical that folks will be more willing to make even one trek for a card when Netflix brings it all to one's mailbox (and
PC, etc.) for just $8.99 per month.
[Via
FastCompany]
posted Nov 11th 2009 9:21AM
Skeptical? You just over-estimate the number of folks with sufficient broadband from a non-capping ISP and the patients to allow for streaming, which must be watched since it cannot be saved.
Netflix's core business model of rental movies on a queue system using the snail system is dated. I actually suggested this method of deliver back in the 1990's when Compact Flash (CF) first came on the scene. All it took was a flash memory that became affordable.
And it is easier to use a commercial packet switched network instead of a consumer broadband network to load a kiosk than individual set top boxes. One can load to flash memory in seconds at the grocery store faster than at home and not be burden by the streaming limitations.
Of course, I'll never use this Blockbuster service because of personal reasons, but I may be willing to consider something similar from another outlet provider.
Netflix using snail mail dated? What are you talking about? That's why all these video stores are being shutdown left and right. People don't want to go through the hassle of going to a store to rent a movie then return it. Which this at least you don't have to return it but you still have to go and rent it.
It's just so much easier to sit at home and pick moves you want to rent and have them show up in your mail. Then drop them off to mail them back.
Even using Redbox kind of sucks because you do have to go to the store and then return it at the store. I only use it now and then when a movie I really want to see is waiting in Netflix, such as most new rentals.
Streaming for rentals is the future but also snail mail is here for a long time. It's still more convenient than anything else out there. And if you have to bring your own SD card, some may take awhile to upload the movie to depending on the size. Think about it, DVDs can be 7-8 gigs. HD even higher, that’s a long time to transfer and I know I’m not going to wait at one of these while the movie transfers over.
A commercial network or not, it won’t really matter. The kiosks will have all the movies downloaded and stored to each kiosk. They would only need to push updates maybe once a week. The Internet is packet switched and most likely they would be using the Internet for the backbone, just they would have a commercial line to the provider, such as a T1 or something of that sorts. I’m not really sure why you even bring that part up.
Now granted, this would help you from reaching your cap with your ISP but still, the reasons above and my other post about this is why I don’t see this working. I’d rather just go to Redbox if I want to use a kiosk. No waiting, cheaper, and it plays on any DVD player instead of needing a device that can play this movie file from Blockbuster.
I think BarkingGhost is dead on about the over estimation of people with appropriate connectivity to stream movies. I disagree with most of the rest of the points.
People want it easy. They know how to put a disc in a DVD player. One shows up at their door, they put it in. When they 're done, they send it back. Until they have appropriate connectivity (going to take longer than than you might think), they're delighted with that model.
I have reasonable connectivity (Qwest sucks). If I can get it up to where it should be (again, Qwest sucks) AND Netflix's Watch Instantly collection gets big enough, I'll kiss the snail mail solution goodbye.
This Blockbuster model is an attempt to split the difference. It requires the technical savvy of the streaming model with the inconvenience of the store model. It has a market, but that market is small.
I think something like this could work out but how most people going to play this on their TV? You still need a device hooked up to your TV that allows you to play these files. While a lot of DVD players, TVs, etc... have SD slots, that doesn't mean this will work on them. I can see this working if in the future this working if the files were able to play on a lot of devices out there and if it's just as easy as it would be to put in a DVD in.
And...is this bring your own SD card or do they give you an SD card for each movie you rent?
Would you choose your format? I have a Panasonic BD Player with an SD Slot that reads AVCHD files, but I'm unaware of other options out there (besides other BD players). Unless the intent is that you would rent to watch on your computer, in which case streaming or download seems like a better solution.
I don't see why they don't also have a USB flash port. I don't carry around SD cards, but I often have a flash drive in my pocket.
The real question is DRM and codecs. We recently discovered that another company using this delivery method only uses a proprietary box they sell you to view the films on. You have to wonder if Blockbuster is planning the same thing because otherwise how do you guarantee the file will work with every possible configuration?
I totally agree that there are a lot of details still to be sorted out here, things like codecs and if they will give you a sd card and how exactly we will use this (directly in tv, set top box, pc, ect.). If they can sort that stuff out suitably, then I'd be interested, maybe.
The point I'd like to make, and continually do, is that Netflix is far from the be-all end-all. I think, like most of the population, I don't plan my movie watching. I say "hey, do you wanna watch a movie tonight?" and then I check the DVR or decide to go to the video store. Unless there is a 200 mph shipping option via Netflix, this will continue to be the case. Yes, they have streaming(on more and more devices), but the selection is faaaaarr from large or timely(particularly for HD). Basically Netflix steaming is out of the question for anything relatively new.
So I agree with the first post. The 'demise' of Blockbuster, and the like, is as much to do with the RedBox thingy's and online/PPV as it is Netflix...if not more.
This might be able to get some mileage in some where like Canada which has completely missed the whole video over internet thing that the US has. If the BB is sitting beside the grocery store you go to all the time you could load up on say 5 movies or some thing on that trip to the store. It gives the potential for more choice. They can get some mileage if they have better quality than internet downloads. People also wouldn't need megabuck internet connections to use the service.
im down for $2 SD cards.
I was wondering the same thing. They mention not having to worry about returning the cards, and if there's an expiration date on the video, why would you have to? So therefore, would one be able to keep the SD card? For $2, that's awesome.
sounds just like self destructing DVDs. Same concept, still stupid.
How is this as stupid as self destruct DVD? Maybe because you can wipe and re-use an SD, SDHC or SDXC card multiple times? Or is it because SDHC can hold 4 times as much as a DVD and SDXC will be available in 64GB (bigger than BD) within the next 12 months?
Maybe it's stupid because with a little bit more work the system could allow you to buy the movie you rented and store it on a media server, whereas the self destructing DVDs aren't capable of such a thing.
You pretty much made my point. They're going so far as to make a DRM system that requires physical connection. Wouldn't the people who are nerdy enough to use an SD card want to stream or download?
Requiring people carry SD cards around with them to buy a product is a losing proposition. No card = no sale. Imagine how well grocery stores would do if they refused to sell people groceries who didn't didn't bring their own bags?
Oh, and then there is the issue of how many people actually have SD card readers connected to their TV's.
Any smart business plan does not erect barriers to entry before it has even begun.
This will be an epic fail. 95% of the population couldn't tell you what a SD Card is. The other 5% are downloading BD rips right now at this very minute.
Sorry, but I had to vote you down for two reasons.
1. You used the term "epic fail".
2. You assume anyone with tech skills is a thief
Otherwise, I agree with you.
I don't follow what the kiosk is meant to do. It can't stop people from playing / copying movies from the SD if they are stored in a useful common format like xvid/divx and it is a complete waste of time if the movies are encrypted and dont play at all without special hardware or playback software. What sort of person is it even meant for? Someone who is tech savvy enough to play movies through a PC or specialist hardware is likely to have broadband and know easier ways to obtain movies legally or illegally.
Umm...seeing as how the name of this blog is EngadgetHD (note the "HD"), is it too much to ask that the post mentions whether or not high-def movies will be available? (Or is this beyond the limit of most SD cards?)
HD is probably at least a year out. Figure that movie with even a half way decent 720p encode & Dolby Digital + would be between 4-8GB, it would take a pretty long time to fill with a class 6 card. We'll have to wait until the Class 10 cards (22MBps writes) hit the market, but even then a 6GB load would take something like 40 min.
SDXC is supposed to start at 104MBps, so even then, loading a 32GB 1080p/TrueHD movie on to one would take about 45 minutes. Is that still a long time? Only the customer can make that call. SD card based kiosks have to potential of making the Netflix "Very Long Wait" or new released Blu-rays that are perpetually "all currently rented" a thing of the past. There are still plenty of ways for it to succeed or fail.
Your calculations are off by a decimal point.
22MBps for 4GB would be 3.1 minutes
104MBps for 32GB would be 5.25 minutes
Back on the main topic. A version of this could have worked 3 years ago (assuming we had the SD cards of today) but I don't see this working for enough people to make it successful. All we need is for Netflix to have more movies/TV shows or another company that can stream them for reasonable prices.
Oh, thanks for spotting that. Kind of makes a difference too.
I can see how driving demand is going to be key, but I don't think you're giving enough weight to the "All titles available, all the time." factor. As much as I'd love to have Netflix provide a BD quality 1080p/TrueHD stream, even my very clean 3 MBps won't help make that a very enjoyable experience. Even trying that over FIOS/Uvers won't fair well with that load.
The typical Hollywood Video or BlockBuster could host enough storage that the phrase "We don't have that title" could very well become a thing of the past.
If SD Card distro/rental succeeds, it won't be due to a single attribute, but the sum of its features.
Who the hell is this "mainstream" audience who is not comfortable with Netflix physical or streaming rentals yet happen to have SD card readers hooked up to their TV's? If someone is tecg savvy enough to have an SD card reader hooked up to their TV they aren't afraid of the internet or unable to find video online. Mainstream they are not and they are likely already using another service that doesn't require them to leave the house (Apple TV, Amazon, Vudu, Netflix, etc) or they are just getting their content off of bit torrent.
I consider myself an early adopter. I have an Apple TV, and Xbox360, and an LG BDP390 (replacing my earlier Sony S-300) blu-ray player all hardwired to a router with 14Mbps internet access connected to my LCD TV. Yet even with all that gear I still don't have a way to read an SD card at my TV so who the hell is the audience for this kiosk?
@nrb
Hello this is Steph at Qwest,
I am sorry if you have connectivity or speed issues with our high speed internet, if you would like any additional technical support, please let me know. You can email me a talktous@qwest.com, please include your billing phone number, address and best contact number and I will have a specialist call you to help.
thank you
Steph Lake
Manager - Talk To Qwest Team
talktous@qwest.com - attention Steph
www.twitter.com/TalkToQwest
"At Qwest your account information is confidential and protected by law, so I need your permission to access the account.”
I don't think my blood pressure could deal with talking to yet another Qwest specialist.
What's the resolution? What's the codec? What's the average time to transfer a movie? What devices can play them? So far everything I've seen on this is all questions and no answers. Obviously this is DOA; it might have worked a few years back, maybe...
If the bugs could be sorted I think this is a champion idea.
I don't Netflix, I don't wont to be, will not be, tied to a monthly account as I might not watch a movie for several months, than I usually binge and watch half a dozen in a 1-2 day period. Streaming is not an option, to slow, quality to low etc unless it's something small.
For me this would be ideal, when I'm in the mood I get half a dozen movies and don't have to worry about returning them, great. Biggest problem we have, we binge and watch a heap in a few days, forget to return them cause we aren't watching movies again and cop heavy fines for late returns.
Wow!
There is a European company called DigitalExpress which has developed a more interesting technology a long time ago. The machine allows a customer to buy any form of digital content (music, video, computer games) and then the machine burns the content on CD/DVD or a flash-drive. Please check www.automatic-store.com for information about the technology!