Netflix VP of original programming Eric Besner revealed on Friday some of the online rental service's thinking on the movie download biz, saying Netflix is planning to introduce a proprietary set-top box with an Internet connection that can download movies overnight.That would certainly be more efficient for Netflix, saving Netflex from having to buy so many copies of a DVD or paying any postage. Kind of a no-brainer, really. Depending what this box costs--and whether it involves yet another remote control I have to keep track of--I'd be up with that.
Speaking at an Independent Film & Television Alliance production conference in Beverly Hills, Besner said the business model is still being worked out, but the download service likely would be offered in return for the subscription fee members pay for conventional DVD rentals. Service could launch as early as this year.
Users would add movies they want to watch to their rental queue online as they do now, and those movies would then be downloaded to the boxes overnight rather than shipped through the mail.
He said the set-top box is just one of the Internet plans Netflix is working on.
But I would imagine the home box concept is just a stop-gap measure until such time (soon) as the home entertainment center is 100% wired (or wireless...) and accesses most content from the Internet. Remember when you needed a separate box to get HBO--even if you had basic cable? The technology soon allowed it all to be integrated into one signal and one device.
Of course, if Hollywood keeps churning out more thoroughly unwatchable crap, I'll just stick to old TV shows from the 60s.
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