So, one of the biggest drawbacks of the current model is, of course, the “turnaround” time, and if you decide on a whim you want to watch something, you of course have to wait however many days for netflix to send it to you.
So let’s say that in addition to the physical DVDs and the stream instantly, netflix also had their whole library in electronic format (for those of us who don’t mind watching our stuff on a computer screen). You could temporarily “download” a movie, which would be the same as having it mailed to you: you keep it as long as you like, can view it as many times as you want within that period, and when you’re done you, “return” it and no longer have access to it. You’re still limited to x number at a time, and can choose to have those as electronic downloads or physical discs. Also, Netflix has a limited number of licenses for the downloads, so you might have to wait to download something if lots of other people are wanting to watch it.
Would this model work, or is the turnaround time somehow important for Netflix?
I’m not sure these content providers would view downloading any different than streaming. Obviously iTunes and Amazon have gone the download route, but also have a limited selection.
Oh, and the limited license thing, taken to an extreme, can seem very silly. I tried the New York Public Library’s electronic site, and had to wait 3 weeks for an old Raymond Chandler book that I had to read in some proprietary reader.
No, you are missing something big here. Netflix can already stream thousands of movies and TV shows to a suitably equipped TV on demand and lots of people do, myself included. There are a few ways to do this but my monitor and TV are one and the same. It is a great 32" Samsung that you can switch back and forth between cable channels and a PC monitor. Neither my two year old Dell or TV are exotic at all and cost about $1000 total. The other factor is that I have a very fast Verizon FIOS connection which isn’t rare these days either. You can get bigger and better TV’s as well if you want as long as you have the video card to support it.
When I want to watch TV, I can choose between cable or Netflix on my TV/Monitor. When I choose to watch Netflix, I can either watch it as a computer window or as a full-screen TV image. There is no difference on my system between a Netflix stream and a regular TV channel except that you can start and stop it at will or switch back to using it as a window if you want.
The model you described has failed miserably many times and it isn’t necessary at all with what Netflix is doing. I am sure that they would love to have all of their movie on-demand but that takes time to do the contract negotiations and have the infrastructure to support it.
The basic point is that Netflix can support watching movies and TV episodes on very large screens already if you have the rather modest hardware to support it. I am sure there are a lot of people that don’t know that but have it already. Modern LCD televisions almost always have computer inputs and can serve as a monitor for anything your PC can throw at it as long as you have a decent video card.