iTunes Movie Rentals and Music Subscriptions?

Let me tell you what I won’t do. I will not purchase a digital movie, whether via Xbox 360, Amazon Unbox on TiVo, iTunes, or anything else. I’m hooked on the Netflix paradigm of unlimited rentals not to mention I have no guarantees that the movie I purchase today will work on the device I … Read more

Netflix Demos Silverlight Watch Now

Netflix put on a demonstration of Watch Now via Silverlight, Microsoft’s new (beta) web-based media rendering engine. Unlike the current WMV-based version of Watch Now, which requires Windows, Silverlight has been built to support multiple browsers and operating systems. Check out the video from Vegas. No word on when we’ll see this released, but Silverlight … Read more

Strange Things Are Afoot At The Netflix

Netflix has moved their earnings call from the 23rd to the 18th, and Davis suspects something is up. Given their new director of Internet TV, one possibility is that Netflix will acquire Roku to jumpstart a media extender business. Or perhaps there’s been an offer to buy Netflix. We suppose it’s also possible, though unlikely, … Read more

Netflix Launches Internet TV Group with ReplayTV Alum

Anthony Wood, founder of ReplayTV, has been tapped to lead Netflix’s new Internet TV group and is tasked to “deliver movies directly to subscribers’ televisions via the Internet.” The Netflix press release describes Wood’s career path: Until his appointment by Netflix, Mr. Wood, 41, was CEO of Roku, a digital media company that manufactures and … Read more

Gamefly Opening East Coast Distribution Center

Looks like Gamefly is phasing in an east coast distribution center next week. Given my prior mail rental experiences with these guys, I’ll probably continue to pass. Davis recently gave them a second chance, though he tells me: “Hard to believe that their service has gotten worse.” Doh! Starting next week, you may notice that … Read more

Punk’d by Borat

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How my buddy Tim was punk’d… and Netflix wasn’t surprised:

I got the movie Borat via Netflix and it I was a little bitter that it was a bootleg copy. Looked like a consumer purchased DVD with the title inked on the surface with a Sharpie. So I report it to Netflix, being the good citizen that I am and this is the response.

We appreciate this opportunity to assist you with “Borat.” “Borat”, is a comedic social satire. In keeping with the tone of the movie itself, the movie packaging was intentionally designed by the studio to look like a “bootlegged” or pirated movie. We hope you enjoyed “Borat” and appreciate your inquiry!

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Gamefly Implements FastReturn Strategy

For the last few months, I’ve found myself buying more video games then I normally do. Usually I might buy a game once every three months and then play it intermittenly until I get sick of it and move on. Recently though, I’ve found myself wanting to try out more games and have been spending more time playing my Xbox then normal. This was probably caused in part, by my having to live without my Xbox 360 for a month, while Microsoft repaired my console. Once I got it back, I was ready to play video games with a vengence and have spent way too much money over the past few months, buying new games for my console.

At first I figured the best way to try out a bunch of new games would be to reactivate my Gamefly account, but every time I went to their site, I just couldn’t hit the submit button to actually sign up. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to join, but rather that every time I went to the site, I froze up when I was faced with the decision over whether I wanted ten days free or a discounted first month. This sounds really stupid because the difference in price was only a few dollars, but having had a negative experience with Gamefly in the past, I liked the idea of trying to see if they’ve improved and being able to quit without a hassle, in case they haven’t. At the same time, before signing up, I was about 75% certain that I’d be a member for at least the first month, so the part of me that loves a good deal, didn’t want to give up the lower promotional rate. The positives and negatives of this trade off were so evenly balanced in my mind, that for the last three months, I’ve been spending way too much money buying video games when I could have been renting them from Gamefly instead.

I probably would have just kept buying games, but over the weekend I came across a story on Digg, that helped to motivate me to become a member again.

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Macrovision Signs Netflix and BitTorrent

Macrovision put out a press release indicating that their copy protection is making its way into a variety of online download services. Netflix, BitTorrent, Movielink and Instant Media will all employ Macrovision’s Analog Copy Protection (ACP) technology as part of their distribution of movies and videos on their websites. Macrovision’s ACP technology helps online video … Read more