One Clear Dot

I always liked Netflix. There were a few glitches, yes. Sometimes it felt like there as a conspiracy as to who was actually getting the new movies first. Every now and then I felt like it took too long for the warehouse to log my movies back in for return. Other than that, it was a fantastic service. I only stopped using it to cut back on my budget after my divorce.

I’ve been hearing for some time that Netflix was working on a new system that would completely eliminate the mail portion of their DVD-renting process. Already, they have a limited service that allows subscribers to stream some movies right to their computers. And today they are unveiling their newest innovation, a small device you can buy for $99.99 (about the price of a DVD player). It’s a proprietary set-top box you plug into your high-speed Internet connection so you can receive movies directly from Netflix.

Similar Internet-to-TV technologies by Apple Inc. and Vudu Inc. cost $229 to $295.

Someone has said that the number of Netflix customers who will actually purchase the box is small, but I find this to be a compelling development and I think a $99 initial investment is minimal. I will certainly eventually add this to my home, especially if newer movies start to become available in a streaming format.

Posted on May 20th, 2008 by onecleardot
Filed under: Entertain Me, Gadgets - Toys - Technology