Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Netflix to Offer Mac Video Streaming in 2008
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
10.6!? They still haven't pushed 10.5.2 out to users.
I'd have a least a good year and a half of movie time with Netflix before I'd have to worry about anything.
In a year and half I'd expect a lot of things to change-especially since tv goes digital in a year.
Why not use RealVideo? It's DRM enabled on both PC and Mac. The new Mac client is actually not that bad.
Actually, studios are making money on the deal. Netflix is swallowing the cost of running the service for the time being, because they know they have to be competitive in the electronic movie delivery business for when DVDs become irrelevant and their core business model no longer makes sense. I believe they've spent about $45 million in the last year on R&D and licensing fees for the streaming service and intend to continue operating it at loss with their eyes toward the future.
Ugh. Figures this happens after I decide to close my Netflix account.
ha. i'm right there with you. i closed my account two weeks ago, and i'm too lazy to sign up with them again.
I guess they aren't aware of the BBC's iPlayer which runs on Macs (and IIRC Linux), which uses flash.
Why should the studios bother? Other than a few ok-ish TV show dvds the video content that is available for streaming is the "dust-gatherers". Virtually none of it has been in mainstream theaters in the last 10 years. I was really disappointed when I checked it out after hearing they were offering the streaming essentially free. I suppose its great if you like to watch old documentaries, foreign films, and classic movies, but it had little to interest me.
Combine that with the fact that you will always have to watch it on a cpu (im using a laptop as my main) and its really a completely different product than ATV. I dont think Netflix wants the hassle of negotiating for the prime movies with the studios and setting up a more complicated viewing structure. If they were going to let you stream their whole DVD catalog (forget about HD) I cant imagine a monthly subscription fee of less than $30.
Who Cares?!?!
Okay, I believe there is one thing that everyone is missing here (except mbene12 above) - Has anyone actually seen the 6,000 movies that Netflix has to offer via Instant Viewing?!
I've had a Netflix account for about 2 months now. When my wife and I want to watch a movie and we don't have any Netflix DVDs that we haven't watched yet, we spend 20-30 minutes just trying to find something decent to watch!
Sure they have a *few* good movies, but once you watch those, there isn't anything left! 99% off all their content from the past 5 years are either from no-name studios or are TV shows. AND they have almost NO good content for my little kids to watch. (no good cartoons or animated movies)
Right now my wife and I decided to watch the old TV show Columbo because there just isn't anything else better.
For the record, if you use Parallels to watch the movies it is choppy. BUT if you boot natively to Boot Camp it runs VERY smooth and looks great! If you don't have Boot Camp installed, you can always use VMware's Fusion. If you enable dual processor support then it is much smoother compared to Parallels.
Okay enough ranting.... Now, having said all that, I still have my Netflix subscription because there just isn't anywhere to rent DVDs here up in the mountains so I get unlimited instant viewing for free. I'm sure I've already wasted 8+ hours trying to find something good to watch and I'm sure I'll probably spend another 20+ hours looking again! (I'm convinced they must have at least ONE more movie that is worth viewing)
PS. For those of you who don't have accounts, here is a list of their instant viewing movies:
http://netflixwatchnow.blogspot.com/
Okay, I believe there is one thing that everyone is missing here (except mbene12 above) - Has anyone actually seen the 6,000 movies that Netflix has to offer via Instant Viewing?!
I've had a Netflix account for about 2 months now. When my wife and I want to watch a movie and we don't have any Netflix DVDs that we haven't watched yet, we spend 20-30 minutes just trying to find something decent to watch!
Sure they have a *few* good movies, but once you watch those, there isn't anything left! 99% off all their content from the past 5 years are either from no-name studios or are TV shows. AND they have almost NO good content for my little kids to watch. (no good cartoons or animated movies)
Right now my wife and I decided to watch the old TV show Columbo because there just isn't anything else better.
For the record, if you use Parallels to watch the movies it is choppy. BUT if you boot natively to Boot Camp it runs VERY smooth and looks great! If you don't have Boot Camp installed, you can always use VMware's Fusion. If you enable dual processor support then it is much smoother compared to Parallels.
Okay enough ranting.... Now, having said all that, I still have my Netflix subscription because there just isn't anywhere to rent DVDs here up in the mountains so I get unlimited instant viewing for free. I'm sure I've already wasted 8+ hours trying to find something good to watch and I'm sure I'll probably spend another 20+ hours looking again! (I'm convinced they must have at least ONE more movie that is worth viewing)
PS. For those of you who don't have accounts, here is a list of their instant viewing movies:
http://netflixwatchnow.blogspot.com/
Really? Because I use it under Bootcamp and it's DVD quality and plays perfectly.
I hope this works out for Netflix, because I prefer having access to an unlimited amount (and the actual DVDs if I want special features) over Apple's one-at-a-time model.
It's about time, I've been using a mac for the past 10 years and I always felt that the world did not give a cent whether mac users can access their new services or not. Now a good true iptv solution for the mac would be nice.
Video is crap with virtualization....
The problem is Parallels and VMware, not OSX. Same thing occurs with VMware on a Windows host.
Windows will use hardware decoding in the graphics card when available, and it will create an "overlay" region for the display window. The "overlay" bypasses much of the graphics processing so that the video can more or less be written directly into the frame buffer.
Neither hardware decoding nor overlays are supported by the virtual graphics card, so lots more CPU is needed (this is why VMware's SMP support helps).
(If you move the video player window when the system is booted natively - you'll often see that the video window lags behind the window frame when you move the window. That's the effect of the player trying to move the overlay to keep it in the frame.)
The problem is Parallels and VMware, not OSX. Same thing occurs with VMware on a Windows host.
Windows will use hardware decoding in the graphics card when available, and it will create an "overlay" region for the display window. The "overlay" bypasses much of the graphics processing so that the video can more or less be written directly into the frame buffer.
Neither hardware decoding nor overlays are supported by the virtual graphics card, so lots more CPU is needed (this is why VMware's SMP support helps).
(If you move the video player window when the system is booted natively - you'll often see that the video window lags behind the window frame when you move the window. That's the effect of the player trying to move the overlay to keep it in the frame.)
You seem to be taking my comments a bit too personally.
The point is that if Apple can implement a DRM solution that satisfies the studios, then Netflix also can implement a solution that satisfies the studios. Netflix may not be a "software powerhouse," but it has significant financial resources and can purchase the necessary solution.
Any Mac user who has subscribed to Netflix, as I have for nearly two years now, knows that Netflix has long been promising this service for Macs as though they were actually doing something about it. We now learn they're just getting started.
Why
Because it is all about getting every dollar from every distribution system they can or have you not been paying attention to the DRM issues, writers strike etc.?
Anyway...here is an interesting link from an article in the NYT.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/...e-different-markets/index.html?ref=technology
Because it is all about getting every dollar from every distribution system they can or have you not been paying attention to the DRM issues, writers strike etc.?
Anyway...here is an interesting link from an article in the NYT.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/...e-different-markets/index.html?ref=technology
Oh get over yourself, it's web based media codec like Flash. I guess you won't be watching any HD movies encoded in VC-1 either then, or use Hotmail, or use any of the millions of companies whose services run entirely off of Microsoft products, or web pages that run off of IIS. I bet you have a MySpace account right? How about Ebay? How about playing on an XBOX, or any games developed for/on Windows platforms.I switched to OS X so I would never be dependent on Microsoft ever again, for anything.
There's no way I'm ever installing Microsoft's Silverlight (or Microsoft anything) onto my Macs.
There isn't a "necessary solution" to purchase. Nobody makes one, and I'd actually quite seriously say netflix doesn't have the money to justify creating their own.
Later this year there will be, but there's not now - and those solutions are coming from Adobe and Microsoft. Apple really need to sort licencing Fairplay out.
Phazer
Silverlight
Exactly. Silverlight is MS's response to Adobe Flash. It's still in beta. Promising, but no where near taking a chunk of the Flash market. Though having DRM built-in to the player. That's interesting.. but that's MS.
Exactly. Silverlight is MS's response to Adobe Flash. It's still in beta. Promising, but no where near taking a chunk of the Flash market. Though having DRM built-in to the player. That's interesting.. but that's MS.
Just a note on the above.. I think the other advantage to Apples Rental Service is going to be 5.1 sound, hi-def options, and near new releases - which from what I've seen from NetFlicks... they may be cheap... but the content is not that great. However.... I do like the competition... I want more time out of Apple's service and a monthly deal of sorts would be great!
It's funny watching Applebots squirm when another company takes on Apple head on. When the Netflix set-top box launches, AppleTV is in massive trouble. Netflix's on-demand library will grow (unless Apple has an exclusive agreement with certain studios, but don't think they do) and will be robust when the set-top box launches. Compare the unlimited streaming, with Apple's over priced rentals and asinine 24 hour watch window, Apple will have to do something massive to try and keep the AppleTV afloat.
yawn
meh, i'm less than enthusiastic. as it is now, netflix's selection is terrible for their streaming movie selection. i've watched it on my work pc laptop and the quality also is terrible. i'd assume the selection will get better, but apple already has a one up for quality at least by offering DVD and HD quality. my one hope is that netflix as a competitor will drive apple's movie rental price down, or at least expand it to beyond 24 hours.
until then . . . *yawn*
meh, i'm less than enthusiastic. as it is now, netflix's selection is terrible for their streaming movie selection. i've watched it on my work pc laptop and the quality also is terrible. i'd assume the selection will get better, but apple already has a one up for quality at least by offering DVD and HD quality. my one hope is that netflix as a competitor will drive apple's movie rental price down, or at least expand it to beyond 24 hours.
until then . . . *yawn*
5.1 will most definitely be part of Netfix's set-top box option. HD, not sure of at this point. Also, Apple's rental charge doesn't include any extras. When I want extras I can't get that from Apple "rental" store. When I want that for a movie I stream from Netflix, I can get a physical copy of it, in HD if available for no extra charge. You can't really beat what Netflix is, and will, give customers.
Well, speaking as a TiVo user who watched TiVo spend several years "hoping" to have a Mac version of TivoToGo out - I'm not getting my hopes up.
I'm still waiting for a decent download solution - so far the list of titles for all of the various services is way too limited to compete with the variety Netflix offers via DVD.
Personally, I view options as something good.
Even if it isn't perfect - heck, even if it is just average - at the start, there is the opportunity for it to get better down the road.
I'd rather have the option to at least get an idea of what could be possible rather then have nothing, waiting (perhaps in vain) for the "perfect" thing to come out.
Especially since my idea of "perfect" may very well not be the same as someone else's.
Even if it isn't perfect - heck, even if it is just average - at the start, there is the opportunity for it to get better down the road.
I'd rather have the option to at least get an idea of what could be possible rather then have nothing, waiting (perhaps in vain) for the "perfect" thing to come out.
Especially since my idea of "perfect" may very well not be the same as someone else's.