Definitely. I use the AT&T wireless app as well.
Not only that, but my name is also Eric...
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Netflix Surveying Users Regarding Interest in iPhone Streaming via Wi-Fi
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Not only that, but my name is also Eric...
I love Netflix as well. I wish they did have newer titles available for streaming. I know they are growing it all the time, but it seems when I am looking for a movie they are not available to stream and it ends up being a little bit of a bummer.
i think Amazon has a much larger streaming library than Netflix. some new TV's and blu-ray players have the Amazon digital store built in. you just register the serial number with Amazon and you can buy right from your TV or blu-ray player
Remember that both Netflix and Hulu are USA-only markets. Adding another 20-30% of units sold world-wide seems huge, unless you were talking about USA sales only.
Have you looked at Mint.com? Pretty neat service, and their iPhone app does allow you to monitor all the linked accounts, credit cards and the like. I have no affiliation with said co. other than being a happy customer.
+1
While I think the concept is neat, I think there are some major obstacles regarding streaming Netflix movies to the iPhone:
1)For those of you wishing to watch a full movie at the airport or other 3G area, I have news for you: Not in the next 5 years. Honestly, there are so many factors regarding this (here is just one): a)have you ever streamed a Netflix movie over your home WIFI (such as my PS3)?...it stinks...so if my 20Mbit downstream/2Mbit upstream connection (max I can pay for) stinks using Netflix, don't get your hopes up on abismal wireless access points (free or paid) at public sites like airports and coffee shops or libraries that have dozens of users sharing a single 5-15Mbit connection. And don't get me started about hotel WIFI connections.
2)Netflix itself would have to have an enormous internet pipe...again with my point about their current stinky streaming over your home network what makes me/you believe they can roll this out and add tens of thousands (if not millions) users and have the streaming IMPROVE?
3)Are you really going to sit and stare at a 4" diagonal screen for 1.5 hours watching a movie? I don't think often...sure, maybe you will at first but I bet the novelty will quickly wear off. Or those rare times that you are stuck at an airport or similar predicament. Nice to have, but I doubt people are going to sit in a coffee shop or library for 1.5 hours watching a movie (nor will they be allowed to by the owners)...and although I travel a lot, it is very rare that I am actually at an airport, sitting down, for enough time to watch a movie...let alone hear the movie with all the announcements and loud people.
4)Battery life...I can just imagine how much streaming a movie over WIFI would drain the iPhone battery.
I think there are a lot of technical roadblocks to this becoming a true reality for the masses even within 5 to 10 years. Youtube is constantly buffering their simple 6 minute clips and you believe Netflix is gonna be able to stream a full movie that is 20 times longer? There is also the problem that Netflix's movie list of streamable content is pretty weak making it not very appealing.
I think the future of movies, in general, will eventually be some kind of stream or digital copy and 20+ years from now physical media (dvd, bluray, cd) may disappear. But there are huge technical hurdles, copyright hurdles, and adoption hurdles to overcome before it's mainstream.
I want to stress that although this Netflix topic may be possible right now, it will be very limited and likely very shoddy on many levels. It's a great business relationship, however, for Netflix and Apple and maybe even ATT.
20 years from now, this Netflix offering is likely the the very beginning of the streaming revolution.
-Eric
1)For those of you wishing to watch a full movie at the airport or other 3G area, I have news for you: Not in the next 5 years. Honestly, there are so many factors regarding this (here is just one): a)have you ever streamed a Netflix movie over your home WIFI (such as my PS3)?...it stinks...so if my 20Mbit downstream/2Mbit upstream connection (max I can pay for) stinks using Netflix, don't get your hopes up on abismal wireless access points (free or paid) at public sites like airports and coffee shops or libraries that have dozens of users sharing a single 5-15Mbit connection. And don't get me started about hotel WIFI connections.
2)Netflix itself would have to have an enormous internet pipe...again with my point about their current stinky streaming over your home network what makes me/you believe they can roll this out and add tens of thousands (if not millions) users and have the streaming IMPROVE?
3)Are you really going to sit and stare at a 4" diagonal screen for 1.5 hours watching a movie? I don't think often...sure, maybe you will at first but I bet the novelty will quickly wear off. Or those rare times that you are stuck at an airport or similar predicament. Nice to have, but I doubt people are going to sit in a coffee shop or library for 1.5 hours watching a movie (nor will they be allowed to by the owners)...and although I travel a lot, it is very rare that I am actually at an airport, sitting down, for enough time to watch a movie...let alone hear the movie with all the announcements and loud people.
4)Battery life...I can just imagine how much streaming a movie over WIFI would drain the iPhone battery.
I think there are a lot of technical roadblocks to this becoming a true reality for the masses even within 5 to 10 years. Youtube is constantly buffering their simple 6 minute clips and you believe Netflix is gonna be able to stream a full movie that is 20 times longer? There is also the problem that Netflix's movie list of streamable content is pretty weak making it not very appealing.
I think the future of movies, in general, will eventually be some kind of stream or digital copy and 20+ years from now physical media (dvd, bluray, cd) may disappear. But there are huge technical hurdles, copyright hurdles, and adoption hurdles to overcome before it's mainstream.
I want to stress that although this Netflix topic may be possible right now, it will be very limited and likely very shoddy on many levels. It's a great business relationship, however, for Netflix and Apple and maybe even ATT.
20 years from now, this Netflix offering is likely the the very beginning of the streaming revolution.
-Eric
While I think the concept is neat, I think there are some major obstacles regarding streaming Netflix movies to the iPhone:
1)For those of you wishing to watch a full movie at the airport or other 3G area, I have news for you: Not in the next 5 years. Honestly, there are so many factors regarding this (here is just one): a)have you ever streamed a Netflix movie over your home WIFI (such as my PS3)?...it stinks...so if my 20Mbit downstream/2Mbit upstream connection (max I can pay for) stinks using Netflix, don't get your hopes up on abismal wireless access points (free or paid) at public sites like airports and coffee shops or libraries that have dozens of users sharing a single 5-15Mbit connection. And don't get me started about hotel WIFI connections.
2)Netflix itself would have to have an enormous internet pipe...again with my point about their current stinky streaming over your home network what makes me/you believe they can roll this out and add tens of thousands (if not millions) users and have the streaming IMPROVE?
3)Are you really going to sit and stare at a 4" diagonal screen for 1.5 hours watching a movie? I don't think often...sure, maybe you will at first but I bet the novelty will quickly wear off. Or those rare times that you are stuck at an airport or similar predicament. Nice to have, but I doubt people are going to sit in a coffee shop or library for 1.5 hours watching a movie (nor will they be allowed to by the owners)...and although I travel a lot, it is very rare that I am actually at an airport, sitting down, for enough time to watch a movie...let alone hear the movie with all the announcements and loud people.
4)Battery life...I can just imagine how much streaming a movie over WIFI would drain the iPhone battery.
I think there are a lot of technical roadblocks to this becoming a true reality for the masses even within 5 to 10 years. Youtube is constantly buffering their simple 6 minute clips and you believe Netflix is gonna be able to stream a full movie that is 20 times longer? There is also the problem that Netflix's movie list of streamable content is pretty weak making it not very appealing.
I think the future of movies, in general, will eventually be some kind of stream or digital copy and 20+ years from now physical media (dvd, bluray, cd) may disappear. But there are huge technical hurdles, copyright hurdles, and adoption hurdles to overcome before it's mainstream.
I want to stress that although this Netflix topic may be possible right now, it will be very limited and likely very shoddy on many levels. It's a great business relationship, however, for Netflix and Apple and maybe even ATT.
20 years from now, this Netflix offering is likely the the very beginning of the streaming revolution.
-Eric
+1. Very insightful. Contrary to some people *cough*LTD*cough* who are writing off physical media in simple one-liners without any motivation behind it.
Netflix 720p HD streams currently max out at 3.8mbps (not that they'd be used on the iPhone anyway) …the 480p streams top out at 1.5mbps and they go much lower. I watch Netflix streaming practically nightly and have never really had any issues with it. Even back when I was on a 3mbps DSL connection I had no problems.1)For those of you wishing to watch a full movie at the airport or other 3G area, I have news for you: Not in the next 5 years. Honestly, there are so many factors regarding this (here is just one): a)have you ever streamed a Netflix movie over your home WIFI (such as my PS3)?...it stinks...so if my 20Mbit downstream/2Mbit upstream connection (max I can pay for) stinks using Netflix, don't get your hopes up on abismal wireless access points (free or paid) at public sites like airports and coffee shops or libraries that have dozens of users sharing a single 5-15Mbit connection. And don't get me started about hotel WIFI connections.
-Eric
It's likely that the ability to get consistent enough high bandwidth data flow over 3G is the issue. Rather than release something that sort of works, but is really crappy, and the quality issues are something netflix has no control over, they'd rather restrict it to wifi only - which is much less likely to suffer from those same issues.
The YouTube app is different - it's free, so expectations are lowered. Netflix is not free (yes, the app likely would be, but you need to pay subscription fees), so it needs to work really well or they get a black eye.
Um, you're wrong. Been there, done that already.
They have a bigger pipe than you can imagine. Multiple ones, in fact. They rent rack space at multiple sites around the country that plug right into major backbone interconnections.
As expensive as that sounds, on a per-movie basis it's amazingly cheap compared to the USPS.
Well, I did watch one on a 13" laptop screen in the aforementioned airport once.
I have a half-hour commute on CalTrain and most mornings I watch either a third of a movie or a TV show on my iPhone.
So... yeah.
Which is why they're, you know, rechargeable.
I've got news for you...
Sounds to me like you have issues with your internet connection. You should not attempt to extrapolate your poor experience. Anecdotal evidence is not evidence.
Do they really need a survey for this? As long as the cost is notadditive to the service that they already have. Or at least if it is nominal they should have a winner. If anything they can use it as a way to fold in a price increase for a trivial amount of extra work that will pay for itself over a short period of time. If airlines really get going on wifi then this blows up, but for the fact that their streaming catalog sucks...
This would be fantastic. Not only would this make me interested in subscribing to Netflix again, but it would help with my decision of purchasing the iPad. I hope the app goes through and is offered soon.
I watch Netflix streaming video through my PS3. The picture is clear, no disruptions. I wish they had a better selection of movies but I have no complaints.
Agreed with those who think over 3G needs to be offered. I jailbreak and use unrestrictor, but you shouldn't have to jailbreak for this.
Why does there need to be an app, though. Just stream it with html5 over safari and avoid the Apple App Store tyranny and restrictions. (I know, piracy concerns.)
Why does there need to be an app, though. Just stream it with html5 over safari and avoid the Apple App Store tyranny and restrictions. (I know, piracy concerns.)
On the iPad... maybe. But I've watched a movie or two on my iPod Touch, and it's just not that appealing to me personally.
It's probably not going to be a short-term offering though, given that the rest of their streaming seems to be Silverlight-based now, and AFAIK there's no Silverlight app on the iPhone/Touch. So there'll be more development work needed than usual to get this functional.
It's probably not going to be a short-term offering though, given that the rest of their streaming seems to be Silverlight-based now, and AFAIK there's no Silverlight app on the iPhone/Touch. So there'll be more development work needed than usual to get this functional.
But it is. They need to spend money to develop the app. The question is whether or not they can recoup that expense by bringing in more subscribers.
The only way they can try and do other than just guess that is to survey folks. What they want to know is, would enough people be more likely to subscribe to NF if streaming to iPhone were available to justify the cost of developing an iPhone streaming app.
So where is the actual survey? I logged into netflix and don't see it. I get emails from netflix all the time and haven't gotten one. I'll vote yes on wanting one, even though I've moved to a Nexus One as my primary device.
This would be great. Even though the on-demand catalog for Netflix is fairly small, I end up watching movies I never would have rented via mail. Netflix streaming hooked my wife and I on Weeds and it's great for catching other TV shows where we've gotten into the game late.
Actually, silverlight is just a shell. They can choose to use any media behind the shell and for ipads/iphones just choose not to use silverlight but html5 secure streaming.
http://http://www.reelseo.com/silverlight-announces-h264-support-for-online-hd-video/
I agree on both counts. I was thinking of canceling my cable (FIOS) or at least the movie channels packages and using NetFlix instead for movies, but the instant selection is pretty poor compared to flipping channels on the big movie outlets like HBO/Showtime, etc.
Picture quality on my PS3 and TiVo (both stream NetFlix) is really good, maybe not HD quality, but better than a DVD (I'm on 25mb/s FIOS).
i would definitely use this. how many times are you stuck somewhere without something to watch?
also, wifi is ok.
I couldn't find the poll on Netflix after i logged in. but i would vote for it.
also, wifi is ok.
I couldn't find the poll on Netflix after i logged in. but i would vote for it.