January 29th, 2006
Will Amazon Lead the Industry In Video Downloads?
By David Johnston
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
It seems that rumors have started to spread that the online retail pioneer Amazon.com may soon be pioneering another front: online movie delivery. Ars Technica has learned that as soon as late April Amazon may start offering movies for download through some form or another. Though it’s all speculation at this point, there are a few interesting theories as to how the delivery system may work.
The first theory mentioned is that Amazon is planning to let users preview a movie by streaming it to their computer before they decide whether or not to purchase it. The streaming would be available for a “small fee”, but that price would then be credited toward payment for the movie if a customer decided to buy it. I don’t think this is too terribly exciting because I generally don’t feel like sitting down to watch an entire movie before I decide to purchase it and it’s easy to find movie trailers for free. I’m sure that for some people this may be a useful feature, but I think this would make much more sense for Amazon’s music sales. The current system of offering short clips of songs is nice, but they’re very low quality and too short. Frequently these cut-down clips that Amazon lets me listen to turn me off to the music more than make me want to hear more (yes, I’m a quality freak…all of my music is encoded in lossless format). Anyway, on to the next, and in my opinion more exciting, theory.
The second form of speculation about the service is the ability to download and view the full film immediately after it’s been purchased. I think this is a great idea. While I love Amazon, sometimes waiting for packages to arrive can be torture, especially when you’ve got brick and mortar stores right down the street. Being able to immediately watch the movie I just bought would be great. Since it already costs about $4 to $5 to rent a DVD from Blockbuster (I don’t rent enough to warrant a Netflix subscription and I don’t like planning out my movie rentals that much) it would only be about $15 more to just buy the thing and enjoy a lifetime of viewing instead of 2 days to a week. Needless to say, this instant-gratification model has gotten me very excited.
Ars Technica’s article also points out that Amazon is not the only company with these kinds of plans. They specifically reference both Comcast’s and Netflix’s plans for their similar services. However, it seems that somehow while the Comcast and Netflix deals have been comparatively public and so far met with limited success, Amazon’s more secretive dealings have already gotten the support of two major film studios as well as a larger number of smaller ones. So, it looks like Amazon has just upped the ante in the race to be the first company with online movie downloads. I can’t wait!
Source: Ars Technica
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
Will Amazon Lead the Industry In Video Downloads?
David Johnston of RealTechNews writes: It seems that rumors have started to spread that the online retail pioneer Amazon.com may soon be pioneering another front: online movie delivery. Ars Technica has learned that as soon as late April Amazon may sta…
January 29th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
degustibus says:
bandwidth bandwidth bandwidth
January 29th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
David Johnston says:
degustibus: That’s a good point. The bandwidth requirement for downloading and streaming movies would be tremendous and probably the #1 setback I can forsee for such services.
January 29th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
grinder says:
It makes sense to me, especially for those who have a burner on their computer. Simply burn it down for watching on the TV later?
January 29th, 2006 at 7:00 pm
David Johnston says:
I have to doubt that this kind of distribution model will come with no DRM-strings attached. Since a DVD recorder for personal use can’t burn CSS onto DVDs I don’t think they’d allow you to burn a full quality copy of the movie (if at all).
January 29th, 2006 at 7:25 pm
Karl Johnson says:
This is already happening in the UK - a British company called Lovefilm (equivilent to Netfilx in the US) - is already doing this. Downloads have WMC DRM encryption, and offer a limited window of veiwing, usually 7 days. You can currently only playback on your computer, but Lovefilm have also partnered with Intel on Viiv - which will allow transfer to you TV set.
January 30th, 2006 at 12:40 am
Alice says:
If Movielink is doing it already, why not Amazon?
January 30th, 2006 at 11:26 am
free online strip poker game says:
free online strip poker game …
Perhaps That is the etiquette free online strip poker game case river. …
November 6th, 2006 at 2:52 am
free craps online says:
free craps online …
Commonly variations second surrender free craps online garden! …
November 6th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
world series of poker says:
jamie gold world series of poker …
Please On slots rock world series of poker texas tight cage! …
November 7th, 2006 at 1:48 am
Musik und Filme Downloaden - Schnell, Sicher & Gratis says:
Musik - Spiele und Filme downloaden…
Dort sind die 3 bekanntesten Usenet Anbieter im deutschsprachigen Raum aufgelistet…
July 28th, 2007 at 7:34 am
Paris Hilton Sex Tape Video - Paris Hilton Exposed says:
One night in Paris Hilton sex tape released ere…
Recently leaked footage of the new Paris Hilton sex tape. …
February 1st, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Unlimited Zune Downloads says:
Unlimited Zune Downloads…
Great work on this site, its really cool. I’ll be back!!…
July 13th, 2008 at 1:17 am