Digital Media Lab

As some of you may know Netflix, the video rental service, has allowed members with PCs to stream certain content to computers allowing them to watch videos instantly. My experience with this service has been great, though I do wish they offered more in their instant viewing section. Last week I signed up for the beta test of the same instant viewing player on the Mac. All in all I am quite happy with the service. I pay $8.95 a month for the ability to rent one dvd at a time and to stream any of their instant titles to my hearts content.

I recently bought the Roku box which is essentially a box you can hook to your T.V. that enables Netflix instant viewing without any computer whatsoever. The Roku is a perfect device for someone who doesn’t want to bother with hooking their computer to their T.V. It cost $99 which is a competitive price and included built in wireless so you can stream movies without tripping over cables. The Roku also has component, composite, S Video, and HDMI ports. What more could you ask for? However with the new ability to stream video content on the mac, the Roku might be considered a luxury instead of a necessity.

Either way it appears that OS X fans pressured apple enough to force a deal between them and Netflix. Many speculated that the hold had less to do with the operating system platform and more to do with Apple’s hesitance to allow a competing movie seller into their territory. We must remember that Apple sells movies too. The Apple store sells Shows/Movies for a flat pay to watch price whereas Netflix is based on the subscription model. Even with the drop in price the Apple TV needs more functionality and possibly a different model of distributing content, preferably ad based so we don’t have to pay. Either way healthy competition is what will drive these innovations forward.

Ryan Ramtin

Cool Tools, Digital Media Advisors, Ryan Ramtin apple, Cheap, Cool Tools, Mac, movies, netflix, PC, Roku, Skype, Streaming, technology, TV, web 2.0

With more and more marketing being focused on the internet, many comforts at home are a click away.  Long gone are the days of driving to the local Blockbuster, just to find out the newest releases are all rented out.  Now is the time for easier movie viewing, and with it comes an application that is compatible with Windows Vista, MyNetflix.

MyNetflix is a plugin that can be installed into any Windows Vista Media Center on Windows XP.  This little gadget will allow users to view their Netflix queue, search the databse for movies, and even view the most popular movies with user recommendations.  However, it seems as though the biggest perk is the ability to watch movies straight from the Media Center.

As an avid movie-goer, I would definitely use this program on my personal laptop.  With the current lack of nearby Blockbuster’s around Loyola and my own reluctance to travel in one of Chicago’s infamous winters, I believe delivered movies is the way to go.  As long as one has a netflix account, they are able to access all of their features through the menu on the Vista Media Center.  The only major requirement that I can predict is that the user must have a stable and high-speed internet connection, along with a computer that has Vista installed.  Obviously, since the movie is streamed from Netflix, a person on a 56k modem would have a less enjoyable experience than one who has a solid high-speed internet connection.  Despite these flaws, I highly recommend the use of this plugin, which makes watching movies at home even easier.

Chris Smith, Cool Tools, Digital Media Advisors media center, movies, netflix, vista