It looks like we can finally start downloading and watching movies. This is what I really have been waiting for.
My main problem with music industry was that my medium of choice changed about 10 years ago. I had a PC in every room of the house including one connected to my stereo system. I seriously have not owned or operated a CD player since then (with the exception of burning a CD of MP3s to listen to on a road trip, but even that practice ended 2 years ago when I got XM radio in the car). I later moved away from movie theaters about 6 years ago and DVDs about 2 years ago. Honestly, the quality of the experience at the movie theater and then the quality of the content combined with how the television networks started making some really excellent content made me shift my personal spending habits. Every now and then I have seen an attractive movie preview and it sure would be nice to be able to walk over to my computer and watch it when I have some downtime. I don’t want nor should I have to plan to watch a movie days in advance. 30 minutes is sufficient. Now I can…almost.
Here are a few sites to check out:
· Movie Link – Some movies you can rent ($.99 to ~$5.00), others you may purchase ($8.99 to ~$30.00)
· Cinema Now - Some movies you can rent ($3.99 or $2.99), others you may purchase ($10.00 to $20.00)
· Vongo – Monthly subscription ($9.99), keep movies “as long as Vongo has the rights” to them, not as wide of a selection
Looks like Hollywood is trying a couple of different pricing models. That seems like an awfully steep for a rental price when compared to services like NetFlix, but I don’t mind the price points on movies you purchase. However, they say they are stored in some proprietary format to protect their licensing. This will really suck if it means I can’t watch a movie stored on my media PC in the living room on my laptop in bed. I don’t care about burning them to DVD, I just want freedom to do whatever I want with a $20.00 movie in my own house.
Another problem, not all of the content providers are making their movies available to these companies. Some are releasing for rent or purchase only, others are offering nothing. I have to imagine that it is only a matter of time before all content providers opt to release everything in both formats.
I am going to try a couple of them out over the next few months and will be sure to report back. Have any of you tried them out?
-Eric Marvets