Netflix targets the Apple TV

The fact that when I saw Scranton I immediately thought of The Office saddens me in a way.....

Kinda related...but I heard that Netflix streaming may be coming to the PS3....then who needs any of this crappola?

Sure it competes with AppleTV - good! More competition is needed in this space, none of these products is there yet.

I loved my TV, but this is WAY better.

1. I pay NOTHING MORE than I've been paying Netflix all along ($10 a month).

2. I get instant access to 10,000 movies, and I am pretty sure iTunes doesn't have anywhere near 10,000 movies.

3. While not in HD, most are around DVD-quality, and a large number are at least widescreen.

4. It doesn't require me to shuffle hard drive space to fit a new movie.

5. It doesn't charge on a per-movie basis. For the cost of about three movie rentals from iTunes, I get UNLIMITED movies from Netflix/Roku.

6. No YouTube, but who cares? It looks like crap on my TV anyway. No Flickr, but I don't have a Flickr account and I don't care about my friends' photos. No music, but that's why I have an iPod.

7. TV Shows ARE available on Roku/Netflix. Season DVDs are readily available for instant watching. I've watched more TV on my Netflix instant viewing account than I've watched on cable since I restarted Netflix.

8. It's only $100 for this add-on to your Netflix account.

9. Unlike the TV, you can't cook an egg on it.

I agree that this is indeed a threat to the Apple TV. The price, for the box and service, is cheaper. A lot of people already have Netflix which makes it really easy to justify. Also, the only reason I haven't got an Apple TV is because I'm not ready to make the plunge to HD. It's a big deal that this box includes HD AND composite/s-video outputs. That makes it hugely more marketable to people that have no interest in moving to HD.

This is totally a threat to AppleTV. Nexflix has undercut them and shoved ATV back up to the premium shelf just as they were trying to build momentum towards greater uptake with movie rentals.

I think ATV rentals are still reasonably compelling, especially with the HD offering, but Netflix has made an excellent move at keeping Apple away from the fatter side of the mass market.

Okay, the iPhone and iPod were doomed to fail because they had an obvious lack of features compared to their competitors. We all know they didn't fail.

But if a competitor to an Apple product emerges that has less features it suddenly is under-featured.

I think it's a very smart and simple product and would buy it in a heartbeat if I lived in the US. Netflix doesn't do business here in Canada so I'm out of luck and have to use BitTorrent.

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!

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.

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.