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Engadget HD Podcast 157 - 09.29.2009
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
zoran @ Mar 5th 2008 11:17AM
First of all, lets make this clear. In order for these digital downloads to compete with netflix and blockbuster online, they need to lover the price. What idiot would pay $4 for a movie they have for 24 hours. I pay $25 a month and get 2 movies at a time with blockbuster online and unlimited trade-ins. If I was downloading, I would get 5 movies a month. Come on people, do we look stupid. Give us a monthly plan with unlimited downloads or like 20 movies a month and let us keep them until we finish watching them. Life is full of surprises, and the last thing we think about when life interferes is finishing the movie because we have 24 hours to watch it. It's that simple. They did not do enough primary research to find out true customer's need but yet they are shocked it's not taking off. By the way, My download speed is 6mb. I can download movies all the time if the price was right. But I never did, ever.
Jim @ Mar 5th 2008 11:42AM
Yes, here is the pricing model I would suggest for movie downloads:
24 Hr rental - $2.50
7 day rental $5
1 year - $10
Unlimited $12.99
Come on, there is NO physical media to produce and it is basically pure profit minus the service fee.
HiFiFreak @ Mar 5th 2008 11:58AM
I am definitely on the physical media side of the fence. However, I have experimented with downloads on my Xbox 360. I have discovered the following pros and cons:
Pros
- It is very convenient to have it available quickly (relative to my download speed) and conveniently (from my couch).
- There is some content that is not available at my local Blockbuster (ex..Afro Samurai).
- The quality (when available in HD) is much better than standard DVD.
Cons
- Download times for full length HD movies is still to long (i have on average 2mps speeds).
- The 24 hr viewing period has already become an issue (I have two little girls and sometimes everything has to stop not always getting back to it until the next evening).
- The quality still does not compare to the current state of the art (Blu-ray or HD DVD).
Bottom line, IMO, is that as of now I like having both (although I look forward to the download service improving). I like to have choices.