Filed under: Hardware, Multimedia, Apple TV
Netflix targets the Apple TV
When I was a lad in Pennsylvania, renting a movie meant driving to Scranton Video (this is pre-Blockbuster, boys and girls) and crossing your fingers in hopes that something you actually want to watch will be among the four dozen VHS tapes they had in stock. Of course, the previous customer didn't rewind the tape before returning it.A few years later, Blockbuster provided a much larger collection of unwound movies I didn't want to see. Eventually, Netflix took the inconvenient travel out of the equation (except for us small-town folk with PO Boxes) by sending movies through the mail. And there was much rejoicing.
Today, services like On Demand and Apple TV have eliminated the taxing walk to your mailbox by delivering movies directly to your television. Customers can rent, download and watch a hit movie faster than you can say "sedentary lifestyle." And Netflix wants a piece of the (in)action.
Neflix and Roku have produced the Netflix Player, a $99US set top box that allows Netflix customers to stream any of the 10,000 available movies and TV shows. It connects via HDMI, composite, or component, and allows users to browse the library and make selections with the remote.
At one hundred bucks, it's less expensive than an Apple TV, but it also does a lot less -- no iTunes or iPhoto synchronization, current trailers, etc. It's not a real threat to the Apple TV, but evidence that the set top box is here to say.
[Via AppleInsider]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
shaun said 7:10AM on 5-21-2008
they call it scranton - WHAT? - the electric city!
They call it that because of the electricity!
I'm sorry I couldn't resist
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Greg Coogan said 7:24AM on 5-21-2008
Not a threat to Apple TV? If you are a Netflix customer, this is tons better because you have already paid for all the content! I for one have never wanted an Apple TV, as it doesn't seem to do anything that I need, because I already have a DVR, and it doesn't even do that. I am sick of the endless add on costs, and the one thing I won't do is pay for content already available from my Dish network subscription twice. Why would I watch the Office on itunes?
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mark said 1:40PM on 5-21-2008
No HD content.
No current movies -- only old ones.
Not a threat.
Angel said 7:36AM on 5-21-2008
Not sure why so many people are calling it an Apple TV killer. You're right, there are quite a few things that it doesn't do that the Apple TV does, mainly HD and more current movies. Once it adds those things....then we can talk about it being an Apple TV killer.
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G said 7:40AM on 5-21-2008
From what I've been reading so far, the download-able selections from Netflix include mostly old or obscure movies and TV shows (nothing wrong with that, per se). iTunes has more of the new stuff. The Netflix device also seems to have no local storage, so your video quality will be limited by your live Internet connection, up to a maximum 2.2Mbps. That's still some pretty tight compression. Only 2.0 stereo audio for now, as well. It might be a good sidekick to Apple TV, but it ain't gunnin' fer it just yet.
That said, competition breeds innovation. Bring it on.
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gear said 7:43AM on 5-21-2008
Dave,
You pronounced it no threat to the Apple tv without comparing the cost of movie rentals. I think before you make that pronouncment you need to do a price comparison.
The next thing you need to compare is the quality of the files as they arrive. Currently the quality may be similar. My understanding is that when Netflix gets the HD download organized; this same box will be able to handle that; will the Apple tv?
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eric f. said 10:12AM on 5-21-2008
no. they don't even have major titles available for streaming in SD.
Only 10% of my Netflix Queue is available for streaming, and they are the most obscure titles... stuff I might not even pay attention to on cable.
Neil said 7:47AM on 5-21-2008
Surely for it to be "targeting" a product then that product has to be successful in the first place?
What is the point of Netflix going after a product which has been as much of a failure as Apple TV has?
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len said 9:28AM on 5-21-2008
Not a real threat to Apple TV? What the hell are you smoking?
Their on-demand offering is currently no more than a incentive to get people to sign up for their mail-based service. They've been testing the water. They've already got deals with every major studio, so what makes you think they'd have any trouble licensing first-run movies, especially now that they have secure box for the studios' precious, precious bits?
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eric f. said 10:16AM on 5-21-2008
I don't understand how the major studios would even consider letting Netflix stream major releases at no extra cost when they are selling them through other sources.
You think people will buy this $100 box hoping that Netflix will eventually offer a movie on it that you've even heard of? The movies are not there yet. the only way they will move this box is if it's free.
Chris Coleman said 9:39AM on 5-21-2008
I remember when they opened that Blockbuster up on Route 6 near Top Dog. Nothing but copies of Ghost and Batman as far as the eye could see.
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mobileT83 said 9:46AM on 5-21-2008
I don't know anyone that uses the Apple TV, and I know some crazy apple fanboys in the research community. In contrast almost everyone I know has some sort of Netflix subscription, or has had one. So the way I see it, this will make my life easier...no more mailing and waiting...the only problem, for netflix, I see is that people won't need to get the pumped up subscription for more than one movie at a time...because they can just keep getting them through there magic box. Sorry Apple TV, you are only loved by those that need all apple....and not necessarily those that think about what works.
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David Scheck said 9:49AM on 5-21-2008
Dave,
I had a good laugh since I am also from Scranton, PA. In fact, I wrote the original store software to manage members, inventory and sales for "Hollywood at Home" video rental store way back on my TRS-80 in the early 80s while in high school. Those were the days, without hard disks and the floppies would become unreliable after about 7 days of continuous usage. I spent many hours there rebuilding data sets after the media went bad. The only perk was free movie rentals of anything I wanted.
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Jay said 10:09AM on 5-21-2008
When I saw the title of this post I thought that Netflix was making a move to get Netflix Instant Watch functionality built in to the Apple TV and I got excited. I've read that Netflix wants to get their service put into as many set-top boxes, game consoles and other devices as they possibly can (makes sense). I think Netflix and Apple TV could be very good friends rather than competitors. Adding Netflix compatibility to ATV would up it's value and likely get a few more units sold into the hands of people waiting for ATV to become something that's actually useful before buying, which it currently isn't.
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mikull said 10:13AM on 5-21-2008
Cable and satellite premium channel subscriptions and on-demand services are the leaders in this market. No, Netflix is targeting all home entertainment, and I think this is the beginning of a changing market.
Apple TV is really cool, but you simply can't beat the subscription service offered by Netflix. With HD and more enhanced models from LG coming down the line, I don't see how Apple could hold a candle to this with it's current pricing structure.
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LD said 10:14AM on 5-21-2008
This is most definitely a threat. The library is much larger, first of all.
Second, it's cheaper! Not just the up-front hardware, but total cost of ownership. I have something like the $10 plan, 1 DVD at a time, but unlimited online viewing. Since I am a Mac guy I cant' watch squat. BUT, with this box I can watch from a huge selection at any time. That's pretty compelling.
In fact, I will most likely get one of these...in addition to my dusty AppleTV. I never use the AppleTV because I can't subscribe to movies and movie rentals are too expensive. The Redbox across the street has the same movie for $1 as opposed to $5.
This model is poised to be a huge threat to AppleTV unless Apple adjusts their rental model. Let's face it, the AppleTV relies on video and if getting the video is too difficult or expensive it will fail. Forget all the other stuff it can do like music or photos, it's made and positioned for video. Netflix now can handle the video end of things.
Look out, Apple!
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eric f. said 10:18AM on 5-21-2008
I'll repeat again... the current Netflix streaming library is a joke.
LD said 10:30AM on 5-21-2008
I disagree. Also, compare it to Apple and it's not really a whole lot different I would bet. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of both so we can compare properly?
I just looked on the Netflix watch now page and saw several good new(er) releases.
What I can definitely say is this will get more use than my AppleTV in my house.
Bob S. said 11:07AM on 5-21-2008
Hey Eric: How many songs did the iTunes Music Store have the week it opened... and how many of them did you want? For that matter, how many songs had you ripped to MP3 when Jobs held up that 5GB iPod in '02?
The sad fact is that the market really doesn't care about what Eric wants to watch and whether it's available on week 1. Given that Roku and NetFlix share a number of executives, I suspect this box will be first among equals as the other NetFlix-compatible products roll out. (It's obviously no coincidence that Roku's is the first to appear.) For anyone with a qualifying NetFlix subscription, it makes far more sense than an AppleTV, which frankly makes little sense at all.
LD said 11:20AM on 5-21-2008
Let me add that I pay $9/month for Netflix. That's 1 DVD and unlimited instant. I travel a lot so I bumped down to this plan. For $9 I can rent just 3 movies from Apple...on my MacBook Pro...then manually transferring to the AppleTV...unless I rent on my AppleTV, in which case it's two for $8 or two for $10. (What happened to the simple pricing Apple used to have?)
So for the same price, Apple gives me two movies. Just two. Netflix seems like a much better option now, doesn't it? Even with what you think is a limited catalog.
And, for me at least, Redbox and the single physical DVD at a time with Netflix fills the void.