Netflix Now Allows Unlimited Movie Watching Online
Filed under: Tech Stuff, Home Entertainment
WalMart may have floundered as far as video downloads are concerned, but Netflix is certainly picking up the slack. Earlier this month, Peter Martin posted about Netflix's plan for a box for your television that would stream movies from the Internet to your HDTV. Now the company is adding a fully on-line option to the mix -- one that I imagine will be strengthened by this whole TV box plan. Reuters reports that Netflix Inc. will offer their subscribers unlimited access to movies and television on the Internet. The company currently offers a limited number of online hours for their subscribers, but for those who already have unlimited rental plans, they will soon be able to watch flicks online to their heart's content -- approximately 6,000 films and shows so far. Right now, this will only be tasty to those with fast connections and decent enough monitors to watch them, but assuming this box idea goes through, Netflix could very well be the frontrunner of the Internet film push. I would hope, however, that the future boxes would have some sort of temporary recorder in them so that there's an option to capture the whole movie before it starts playing. If, for some reason, the film was to stall, or the connection was too slow for an immediate HD film, that would make for one heck of a crappy and annoying movie experience.
But even without the box, and on your smaller monitors, it'd be a great way to fill in the less-pressing holes in your viewing history. Personally, I'd hit every movie I've been mildly interested in seeing, but completely uninterested in paying to see.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-14-2008 @ 1:32PM
dana said...
I really, really hope this means that Mac users can soon watch instantly, too. Or I am going to be mad as hell.
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1-14-2008 @ 2:34PM
Midnight13 said...
What's the point of spending so much money building up a good home theatre, (Widescreen tv, DVD Player, speakers) and then watch something on a small computer moniter, with low quality speakers? I don't see the appeal.
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1-14-2008 @ 3:25PM
MCW said...
"What's the point of spending so much money building up a good home theatre, (Widescreen tv, DVD Player, speakers) and then watch something on a small computer moniter, with low quality speakers? I don't see the appeal."
The good thing is, if you've spent so much money on that crap, then you can connect a cable from your computer to your TV and watch movies on your TV instantly. See the appeal now sucka'?
Netflix rules.
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1-14-2008 @ 8:39PM
Al said...
"The good thing is, if you've spent so much money on that crap, then you can connect a cable from your computer to your TV and watch movies on your TV instantly. See the appeal now sucka'?"
My thoughts exactly. It's really an attractive concept.
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1-17-2008 @ 8:57AM
L. said...
I never used the option to watch instantly on NetFlix before because of the low monthly limit, but I may give it a shot now. The computer may have finally earned a spot on the a/v switch. It'll give me something to do while I wait for discs to come in through the mail.
I just wish NetFlix would quit censoring my movies. Not that I actively seek out full frontal nudity, but it distracts from a scene when there are random blurs in it. I have yet to find anywhere on their site where they state that they censor movies, but I've rented at least two where it has been very noticeable.
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