I Want Roku

I'm systematically watching the market evaporate my love for all things Apple. First the Kindle and the Android for my love of the iPhone, and now Roku, the Netflix Player (ht to fg). This lets you "watch now" (think of it as like Krispy Kreme in a way) shows that are available for stream, which will eventually encompass their entire catalog I'm guessing. I have to believe that the real estate costs and the costs of distribution of DVDs via snail mail are not, in the longrun, cheaper than the costs of storing movies digitally. Here's the upside and downside of the device.

We've been playing with the Netflix Player for about two weeks, and--for the most part--we found a lot to like. Setup is simple, and--if you've got a solid broadband connection--picture quality is acceptable and streaming performance was almost entirely lag-free.

Those looking for the HD video quality and polished interface of Apple TV and Vudu will be disappointed. The Netflix Player is strictly barebones--you're not intended to do anything more than just dive in and watch the movies and TV shows you've already queued up via your online Netflix account. The biggest drawback--for now at least--is the dearth of quality content. Thanks to Hollywood's byzantine licensing system, less than 10 percent of Netflix's 100,000-plus library of titles is available for streaming to the Player. That means, for now, that only two of Netflix's top 100 DVDs are available for streaming: March of the Penguins and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

That said, the Netflix Player has a major trump card in terms of price: it retails for $100, and delivers unlimited streaming to any Netflix subscriber on the $8.95 plan or above. That's a major departure from Apple TV, Vudu, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Amazon Unbox, all of which offer only pay-per-view options, including download-to-own videos and rentals with tight viewing windows (e.g. rental titles must be completely viewed within 24 hours).

Regarding Hollywood's "byzantine licensing system," I've noticed companies' policies are only byzantine when it's efficient to be so. But if there is serious value to be had, then Hollywood or anyone else will wake up and change their laws. There were similar impossibilities on getting a new Superman to screen, but the success of both Batman Begins and the Spiderman series enabled everyone to find the right people to negotiate the process along towards getting what I hear was a pretty pathetic Superman film made. But that said, this is basically Stigler's idea of longrun efficiency - if you see something for a long time sitting there, it's probably efficient.

Anyway, I want this.