73% of Subscribers Would Download Netflix Content, Says Survey (allflicks.net) 94
An anonymous reader writes: A report surfaced a couple weeks ago suggesting Netflix is soon going to let users download videos for offline playback. AllFlicks decided to poll 1,000 stakeholders to see what they think of the bold new idea. In their survey, they asked respondents to tell them how important offline viewing was to them. Nearly two thirds of Netflix subscribers said offline support was either "Important" or "Very Important" to them. About a quarter of all respondents chose the most enthusiastic option, "Very Important." Just plain "Important" was the most popular answer, at 39%, and "Not Important" netted a significant minority at 34%. They followed up by asking subscribers if they think they will download Netflix videos if offline viewing becomes possible. The respondents agreed overwhelmingly that they would download Netflix videos if it became possible. A whopping 73% said they would, while only 16% were confident that they would not. In an open-ended question, AllFlicks asked when would they use the feature. Respondents said they'd need offline support when traveling (in particular, air and car travel), camping, and working out in the gym. They did also mention public transit and train commutes. In addition to offline playback, Recode reports that Comcast will allow Netflix onto its X1 platform.
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Streaming = the movie is not stored on the device, requires an Internet connection to play.
Downloading = the movie is stored on the device, does not require an Internet connection to play.
Re: Riiiiight (Score:1)
And yet here I am with streams I captured years ago. Just because Netflix doesn't offer saving yet doesn't mean I didn't save it. It was stored on my computer, I just made it permanent.
Wait a sec (Score:4, Insightful)
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Streaming = the movie is not stored on the device, requires an Internet connection to play. Downloading = the movie is stored on the device, does not require an Internet connection to play.
Sorry , that one was for this one. ..
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We both know that "streaming and downloading" both mean the data goes through your modem, but what happens to the data afterward is the difference between the two words here.
What you did is basically the same as renting a DVD and ripping it. You paid for a rental but made a permanent copy. That's not what you paid for.
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You didn't pay Netflix for a permanent copy. That doesn't mean that you didn't pay someone else for one.
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True, but just because you paid Walmart doesn't mean you paid Netflix. Maybe you paid for a standard def. copy, but you aren't entitled to an HD copy. Your DVD that you require a DVD player for is different from the stream that provides the convenience of the app on your TV. The regular movie is different from the director's cut, etc., etc....
Of course, it's not like you didn't pay for it in some form. But I don't know if there will ever be a standard mechanism for allowing ownership (licensing) of one
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This seems [wikipedia.org] to be true of Spain, curiously.
It's not [bbc.co.uk] true of the UK [ifunia.com] though.
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Streaming = the movie is not stored on the device, requires an Internet connection to play. Downloading = the movie is stored on the device, does not require an Internet connection to play.
No internet connection you say?
Well, I'm glad YOU are confident that some bullshit cloud-enabled codec won't be "required" to play back licensed content like this.
I'm certainly not.
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As is usual in stupid arguments on the Internet about the meaning of words, I'm right and you're wrong. That's just how it is, always. You are probably thinking the same thing, as if you are the keeper of the language, instead of me! (Ok, do we all understand how stupid this flamewar is? Good. Now, let's have the flamewar.)
What you use to define "downloading" many of us call "saving" (or possibly "recording" if the data arrives by means other than IP, such as an OTA TV antenna, camera/microphone, etc). Dow
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Also the difference between "can" and "can legally".
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1) Adds noise to the pool of laws citizens should care about.
2) Makes citizens distrust the state.
3) Makes citizens used to "jump the law".
4) Makes the state look weak because it can't enforce it's own rules.
That's true for stuff with important to society implications: gambling, drug consumption, abortion, guns regulations, traffic laws.
Should be more so for stuff that society as whole doesn't give a shit about (like what I do on my network with my compu
Alleviate bandwidth concerns (Score:2)
Couldn't this help to reduce overall consumed bandwidth? I mean, set your local device / player to download the media overnight (or during the day, non-peak hours) and then watch during peak hours.
Sure, the same amount of bandwidth would be used, but it would make balancing the network usage a lot easier.
In theory, there could even be a setting along the lines of "low priority bandwidth consumption during x hours" or "media must be downloaded by y time". Even if 2-3 episodes in advance are cached, that coul
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Well, the first statement was correct if you want to re-watch a video over and over - by streaming it, you're using more bandwidth than downloading it once to watch it offline.
But... the second statement was correct if you want to watch it once...
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When AT&T oversells their local infrastructure, there are definitely "peak hours"...
Bonus when they decide upgrading and maintaining it is pointless, and simply stop signing up new customers in the area.
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I left AT&T U-Verse because of the caps but besides blocking IP6, this was definitely a problem where I am. Maximum throughput during the evenings was below the 3 Mbit/second of their slowest plan and usually below 1 Mbit/second. The actual error free link speed was like 27 Mbits/second.
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Netflix has proven that the main reason people pirate isn't about money, it is about convenience. We want media our way. I haven't pirated anything in forever since getting Netflix. Pirating is easy, but then I have it on one machine, and I don't want to copy everything to every non-networked machine. Netflix is simply easier to use for most people, the variety is quite good, and the price is reasonable. This downloading might be an extra $$ feature, but if it costs 2 bucks more a month (same cost to
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...the variety is quite good...
Perhaps for your interests it is good enough. Mine aren't superior to yours, but they must be different, because I search for a lot of things (many highly critically regarded films that I haven't seen) and find that they aren't on Netflix, so yep, I pirate them.
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I would think it would alleviate bandwidth for those of us who fall asleep halfway through the movie/episode, and watch the second half the next day.
Seriously, I can't be the only one.
(I would be interested to see the statistics of movies/episodes replayed within 24 hours. Not saying it's huge, but probably not negligible.)
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I fall asleep to the A Team when I have trouble falling asleep. Mr. T just puts me right out.
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I also think you are right that it will save bandwidth consumed. If the video device has sufficient storage, you would be able to save things that you might watch multiple times. For example, a TV series you and your partner
Re: Alleviate bandwidth concerns (Score:1)
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Shouldn't the files be valid for X days, where X is the number of days remaining on your already-paid-for monthly subscription?
Re:Alleviate bandwidth concerns (Score:4, Insightful)
Also helps if bandwidth is lower or spotty. Netflix dynamically adjust quality depending upon the download speed. So if you could pre-download all of it then you could get the highest quality picture even if you're on basic DSL. Or if you like, choose to manually download medium quality (if Netflix adds this option) and so reduce overall bandwidth.
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Reduce overall bandwidth by downloading during quiet times when there's less possibility of collisions [wikipedia.org]? Yes, that seems plausible.
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Couldn't this help to reduce overall consumed bandwidth?
My netflix usage is already well into the re-watching phase of subscriber-ship, but I still wouldnt want to store any of it.
Amazon (Score:2)
Also considering the fact that Amazon has allowed this for at least two years with Prime Video, I don't see how it is considered "bild", if anything it is Netflix bowing to competitive pressure and playing catchup.
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If Done Correctly... (Score:3)
But if has to be done correctly. It would have to allow playback on a device that is different from the device that d/l the content.
Re:If Done Correctly... (Score:5, Funny)
I watch Netflix sometimes when camping
Camping. I think you're doing it wrong.
But what do I know, my parents used to take us to a campground that had an arcade.
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It would have to allow playback on a device that is different from the device that d/l the content.
Not a chance that's going to happen. It will almost assuredly be a DRM'ed version of whatever tied to the device it was loaded on.
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It's not like Netflix is different than the other 100% of the cases. If they decide to tell those customers "fuck you" then those customers will say "ok, fuck you."
Either way, people will (and currently already do) play the video on whatever device that they want, DRM or not. DRM just means that they won't be paying Netflix for it, since Netflix has rejected the offer of money.
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Except that this is an additional offering beyond what they already provide (which is a live-stream-only service), and roughly ~30m people seem to be pretty good with that. I highly doubt many would be dropping Netflix just because the DRM requires them to use the same device for both downloading and playback, as that's still functionality above-and-beyond what they can do now.
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You're right; I don't think they'll lose many existing customers over this. I'm saying that this probably isn't enough for them to gain customers either.
I don't subscribe to Netflix yet. If they start selling files that I can play, then there's a really good chance that I will, because on paper their service looks like a great deal. That's basically what I have been waiting for (and by "waiting" I mean that I've found alternative means to scratch the itch, but these alternatives have a certain downsides, r
Hotels (Score:4, Insightful)
Hotels never have good enough bandwidth to watch Netflix. This could help!
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I've been to hotels where I think this was intentional. Sure, the hotel advertised "Free WiFi" and you could even have 5 devices attached to that WiFi at any one point in time. But they cleverly put on the log in page the ability to pay another $5/day to upgrade from "Free" 1Mbps (yes, 1Mbps) to a whopping 10+Mbps or faster.
It was a Holiday Inn, too.
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That's why I have an LTE capable mobile with unlimited speeds and data and I pay no more than EUR 29.00 per month for that fun. You Americans have fucked yourselves so hard in the ass with your anti-regulation attitude (maybe not you personally, but the majority still) that now you have to put up with so much shit I can't believe it. Yes, it's indeed telco regulation that allows me to have this subscription for so unbelievably cheap.
I also can't believe I see the words "DSL" (pretty much 100% sure the peopl
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The US used to be riding on the edge of newest technology, but in the last couple of decades you have started lagging behind so bad.
More than deregulation, it's just not actually expecting the telcos to follow regulations that already exist. For example, we gave them $250M to build out that DSL network so that the last mile would be covered, and they spent it on executive bonuses. Those executives should be in prison now, but that's not what happened.
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Not Really Bold or New (Score:2)
Netflix is late to the game with this. Amazon Prime Video has allowed this for almost a year. The Starz App allows it. The more the merrier.
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This. I currently have Amazon Prime and not Netflix largely for this reason. There are shows on Netflix I want to watch, but much of my media time is on my commute, where I don't have reliable bandwidth.
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They don't "randomly" delete content from their catalog. It's the licenses that expire, but Netlifx doesn't give us any easy-to-access ways of finding out when the titles will expire.
I would if this meant better audio/video quality (Score:3)
Netflix so-called HD videos have a very low bit rate compared to Blu-ray.
Only 4-5 Mbps for Netflix vs 15-40 Mbps for Blu-ray.
Even though Netflix uses more modern compression algorithms, with that much difference in bit rate, the Netflix video looks significantly worse than Blu-ray, especially on a 106" projection screen in my home theater.
The audio also leaves much to be desired.
The difference will only get worse with the Ultra HD Blu-ray standard, which has 82 to 128 Mbit/s bit rate.
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What more modern compre
Welcome to 20th century? (Score:3)
73% of Subscribers Would Download Netflix Content, Says Survey
And 100% of torrent users already do.
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DVD's? Hello? (Score:2)
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Never to forget that the sneaker net is also far more bandwidth efficient. It takes only minutes to transfer over a whole terrabyte of content. As thumb drive capacity increases so the exchange of content over sneaker net will increase.
3 Answers Randomly Attributed (Score:2)
My internet usage will drop significantly (Score:2)
My internet usage will drop significantly when the 80+ hours/w of Rescue Bots and iCarly my kids watch is stored locally on my device...
Amazon video does this why not Netflix (Score:2)
Extending this Can Help Bandwidth Complaints (Score:2)
I had long ago thought that Netflix should do something to allow off-hours downloading to allow people to watch these shows during their normal evening hours. This would help ease the complaints that ISP's often voiced (and took action against) around the network being overused during prime time viewing hours. If a person could queue up a few movies or shows which they wanted to watch the next day, the system could download them overnight. This would also help improve the experience for people with slower i
Propaganda. (Score:1)
So Canada should get it in about 2036. (Score:1)
I need this with the state of rural broadband in Canada being as poor as it is. With Netflix's track record of introducing services in the US first and a shittier version everywhere else whenever they get around to it, I'm not holding my breath.
What about DRM (Score:2)
Get rid of that as well, and you'll see the count of torrented movies drop significantly.