Hacking NetFlix

Shanafelt Sector Reviews Peerflix & Number Slate

While I'm not as worried about Netflix as Mike over at the Shanafelt Sector, he does a great job reviewing Peerflix and Number Slate. Mike takes an extremely in-depth look at two smaller Netlfix alternatives and he shares his experiences with us:

Both NumberSlate and PeerFlix are decentralized - in that there is no central warehouse for DVDs to be returned to and shipped from. The subscriber is responsible for sending the DVD along to the next person on the list. So, with both service, once I completed watching a movie, I had to log onto the website and get the address of the next person to send it to. In both cases, I was responsible for paying the shipping cost (shipping is "free" with Netflix).

Perhaps the greatest difference between PeerFlix and NumberSlate (and the whole DVD rental business as a whole) is that PeerFlix relies on its customers to provide the DVD library. As you can guess from the name, PeerFlix is similar to a peer-to-peer file sharing program in that users provide the content. To illustrate, say I have several DVD movies that I've purchased but very rarely watch. I can list these movies on PeerFlix to be requested by someone else within the system.

One difference with NumberSlate was the ability to "bid" on movies. If you placed a bid on a movie (anywhere from 1 cent to 5 dollars), your position in the queue for that movie would be increased. For example, if I requested Lord of the Rings and there were 10 other customers who also requested before me, I could increase my position within the queue by placing a bid for it. Of the 20 or so movies I requested, other customers had bid on only 4 of the more popular ones. Bid amounts tended to be between 5 and 25 cents.

If you're thinking about cheating on Netflix, er, trying out an alternative, I suggest you check out Mike's review first.

WSJ on Why We're Not Downloading Movies

The Wall Street Journal Online has a story (subscription required) that does a good job of explaining why movie downloads have a ways to go before they take off.

One of the first hurdles is getting the computer hooked up to the television:

What a sad state the modern technology world is in. We can send a digital signal over thousands of miles, through a hopeless tangle of fiber, copper, switches and routers. Yet we can't easily send that same signal 10 more yards, from a PC in the den to a TV in the living room.

There are many ways to do this, but it's going to take a while before my mom's computer is connected to her television.

Another issue is picture and sound quality. I'm spoiled by how great the picture is on a DVD, which takes up gigabytes of space on a disc. The current movie download services compress them even further, so the customer expectations of DVD-quality are not met:

Movielink is on the right track here, offering some movies at two compression levels, with the higher one giving crisper video quality but a longer download time and a bigger file. In these days of increasing broadband speeds and gargantuan disk drives, time and size are no longer major problems. Let's hope download services soon begin competing on the basis of which one has the least compressed movies.

He also discusses piracy prevention, or what I like to refer to as "adding annoying barriers to the ease of use for 99% of consumers in order to prevent a few hackers from pirating a movie to impress their friends." Apple's iTunes has sold more than 100 million songs because it gives the consumer a lot of freedom in how they can use their songs, yet makes the music labels happy. This has to happen with movies before this is a runaway success. I like Lee's comments on the current, 24 hour limit on each rental from MovieLink:

How about, for instance, having a full weekend to watch a movie? Or being able to start watching a movie on your desktop but finish it on your laptop? (Another service, Starz!Ticket, has a monthly fee for all the movies you want, for folks who don't mind these sorts of automatic recurring charges.)

We know Netflix is going to enable us to download movies next year. I just hope they think of us, their customers, when they create the service, and give us the freedom to watch a movie on our terms.

Thanks to Joe for sending this over.

New Releases for August 31, 2004

I'm a bit "passionate" about the list of movies this week (sorry). Go get 'em:

Annie: A Royal Adventure (1995) Joan Collins, Ashley Johnson
Beef 2 (2004) 50 Cent, Canibus
Chris Rock: Never Scared (2004) Chris Rock
Civil War Minutes: Gettysburg and Stories of Valor (2-Disc Series) (2004) Keith Carradine, Michael Kraus
Come Back, Little Sheba (1952) Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth
Desire Under the Elms (1958) Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins
Falstaff (1982) Renato Bruson, Leo Nucci
Forbidden Zone (1980) Herve Villechaize, Susan Tyrell
Fractured Flickers (3-Disc Series) (1963) Hans Conried, Bill Scott
I Can't Marry You (2004) Betty DeGeneres, Adam Aronson
I Lombardi (1984) Carlo Bini, Silvano Carroll
I Love Lucy: Season 2 (5-Disc Series) (1952) Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz
Idomeneo (1983) Philip Langridge, Jerry Hadley
Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004) Tom Selleck, James Remar
Ile Aiye (The House of Life) (2004) Director: David Byrne
Jesus: The Complete Story (2001) Amit Aton, Avery Brooks
National Geographic: In Search of Easter (2004)
NBC News Presents: The Last Days of Jesus (2004) Stone Phillips
One Eyed King (2001) Jim Breuer, Johnny Griffin
Riding High (1950) Bing Crosby, Coleen Gray
Robinson Crusoe (1954) Dan O'Herlihy, Felipe de Alba
Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends: Season 2 (4-Disc Series) (1960) Bill Scott, June Foray
Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Season 1 (2002) Russell Simmons, Mos Def
South Park: Passion of the Jew (1997) Matt Stone, Trey Parker
The 24th Day (2004) Scott Speedman, James Marsden
The Black Orchid (1959) Sophia Loren, Anthony Quinn
The Country Girl (1954) Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) Matthew Broderick, Moira Kelly
The Passion of the Christ (2004) James Caviezel, Monica Bellucci
The Rose Tattoo (1955) Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster
The White Dawn (1974) Warren Oates, Timothy Bottoms
Touched by an Angel: Season 1 (4-Disc Series) (1994) Roma Donwey, Delia Reese
Trekkies 2 (2004) Denise Crosby
Twisted (2004) Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson
Vendetta for the Saint (1969) Roger Moore, Ian Hendry

Fool.com Says Netflix Should Purvey Porn

Fool.com makes a list of suggestions for Netflix in the heated battle with Blockbuster. Besides adding video games (he expects Blockbuster to do it since they already do it in-store), or using the the mailers to send out demo disks for software or movies, he suggests they add adult movies to the mix:

You can snicker all you want, but the Internet has been a major purveyor of erotica. This is a sensitive issue -- no pun intended. If Netflix were to open the floodgates by offering up hardcore, would it lose more subscribers on moral grounds than it would gain from those rushing in? However, this is an important issue because Blockbuster's clean slate in its stores practically shackles it to following prim and proper suit online if Netflix were to add randy discs to its library.

Rick Munarriz goes on to suggest they could create a new brand to distribute adult movies and use the Netflix technology and distribution centers to leverage their investment.

This is why I like Fool.com. Never dull, boring, or afraid to suggest something very different.

WSJ on Netflix and Movie Downloads

It's not a new story, but the WSJ Online goes into more depth on the movie download industry.

"We certainly believe we will be the leader," says Chief Executive Reed Hastings. "I think [downloading] can grow to be a $10 billion pillar of the industry."

The current movie download business is much smaller than I thought:

The business is in its infancy, and already several well-funded competitors are digging in. The Yankee Group, a consulting company, expects movie-download sales to be only $3.1 million this year. Though revenue should pick up to $26.3 million next year as customers download 5.8 million movies, it says, it isn't until 2006 and beyond that the market is expected to gain heft. In 2008, for instance, sales should amount to $169.4 million, and downloads should top 37 million, the Yankee Group projects.

The clear leaders in movie downloads, at this stage in the game, are the cable companies:

That is why cable companies, with their tie to the television, have been more successful with pay-per-view movies, or video on demand. Cable companies should generate $1.3 billion in revenue from video on demand in 2005, Mr. Bernoff says.

The biggest challenge for everyone is to find a balance in how the movies are protected. Apple's iTunes product was restrictive enough for the record labels, but still let people have some freedom in what they could do with their music collection. What level of freedom each company decides to give consumers is a big challenge right now:

Some observers hope the release of new digital-rights management, or copyright protection, software from Microsoft, called Janus, might help ease studio concerns about piracy. The software is to come out in the next month or so and is expected to permit PCs to burn DVD discs, which could then be played on a TV. But so far no studios have announced support for the product, says Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, a firm that tracks the business initiatives and strategies of the software giant.

The companies that are serious about movie downloads will have to focus on making it easy for the consumer to download, archive, and view a movie on the device of their choice.

Thanks to Joe for sending this in.

Has Hacking Netflix Sold Out?

I've been asked about the Blockbuster ad that mysteriously appeared on Hacking Netflix. No, I haven't sold out to the blue and gold folks. I figured since I was sending people to both places anyway I might make a few bucks in the process (the greedy guy that I am).

So, to make a long story short, I would ask that if you or your friends decide to sign up for Netflix or that other service, do it through the links on Hacking Netflix. Every little bit helps to pay the hamsters (they're union, ya know) that keep this site running 24x7.

It is kinda funny that the affiliate people over at Blockbuster would approve a site named Hacking Netflix (it took two tries -- I got rejected the first time). Even though they both write checks I'll still be honest with you and post what I see about Netflix and Blockbuster.

Thanks for your support!

New Releases for August 24, 2004

Lots of new releases this week. Seems like a lot of the old TV shows I used to watch are available on DVD now:

10.5 (2004) Kim Delaney, Beau Bridges
Benny Hill: Complete and Unadulterated: The Naughty Early Years: Set 1 (3-Disc Series) (1969) Benny Hill
Bloom (2003) Stephen Rea, Angeline Ball
Boy Meets World: Season 1 (3-Disc Series) (1993) Ben Savage, William Russ
Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004) John Ritter, Wayne Brady
Crown Heights (2002) Mario Van Peebles, Howie Mandel
Dallas: Seasons 1 & 2 (10-Disc Series) (1978) Larry Hagman, Victoria Principal
Dogville (2004) Nicole Kidman, Harriet Andersson
Ella Enchanted (2004) Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy
Flipper (1963) Chuck Conners, Luke Halpin
Flipper's New Adventure (1964) Luke Halpin, Pamela Franklin
Futurama: Vol. 4 (4-Disc Series) (1999) Billy West, Katey Sagal
Good Times (1967) Sonny Bono, Cher
Hamoun (1990) Bita Farahl, Ezzatolah Entezami
Harsh Realm: The Complete Series (3-Disc Series) (1999) Scott Bairstow, Max Martini
I Vitelloni (1956) Franco Interlenghi, Franco Fabrizi
Judas (2004) Jonathon Schaech, Jonathan Scarfe
Lassie Come Home (1943) Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp
Laws of Attraction (2004) Pierce Brosnan, Julianne Moore
Lord Jim (1965) James Mason, Peter O'Toole
Mansfield Park (2-Disc Series) (1983) Sylvestra Le Touzel, Nicholas Farrell
Night Gallery: Season 1 (3-Disc Series) (1970) Rod Serling
Persuasion (1971) Anne Firbank, Bryan Marshall
Pride and Prejudice (1980) Elizabeth Garvie, David Rintoul
Purple Rain: Special Edition (1984) Prince, Apollonia Kotero
Roller Boogie (1979) Linda Blair, Jim Bray
Sense and Sensibility (1981) Irene Richard, Tracy Childs
Shaolin Soccer (2001) Stephen Chow, Vicki Zhao
Smile (1975) Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon
Son of Lassie (1945) Peter Lawford, Donald Crisp
The Apple (1980) Catherine Mary Stewart, George Gilmour
The Apprentice: Season 1 (5-Disc Series) (2004) Donald Trump, Bill Rancic
The Courage of Lassie (1946) Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Morgan
The Girl Next Door (2004) Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert
The Munsters: Season 1 (6-Disc Series) (1964) Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo
The Night Stalker / The Night Strangler (1973) Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland
Under the Cherry Moon (1986) Herome Benton, Steven Berkoff

Variety Compares Netflix to TiVo

Variety.com suggests (paid subscription required) that Netflix might suffer the same fate as TiVo, getting hit hard by a lower-priced competitor.

To pessimists, Netflix may look eerily like a certain other technology company that transformed the way affluent young professionals consumed media, but then withered in the face of competition: TiVo. Despite becoming a household name, TiVo's fortunes declined as cable companies gained ground with generic versions of its digital recording capabilities and DirecTV, its biggest partner, indicated it will soon do the same.

Netflix has a different view in the article:

Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings says a more apt comparison than TiVo is America Online, which pioneered the dial-up Internet access market and then, thanks to having a better product, fended off an invasion of its territory by Microsoft in the mid-'90s.

It's hard to predict how Netflix will do over the next few years, but they are fighters and I expect it to be an interesting battle.

Thanks to Joe for sending this in.

BlogMaverick on the Future of DVD & Movies

Mark Cuban, blogger (BlogMaverick.com), entrepreneuer (HDNet, Broadcast.com), creator of a television show (The Benefactor), and is also the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. I've been following Mark's blog for a while, and I'm surprised that a billionaire CEO will blog. He seems to write his own posts, he's honest, and says he's doing it to cut out the press and speak directly to the public.

In his latest post, "HDTV, DVD, Hard Drives and the future," he talks about his experiences with DVD and watching movies on his computer. He's a geek, and has encoded DVD's (he claims to have paid for them) onto USB Flash Drives and portable hard drives. He's experimenting, trying to see what's next for the movie biz.

He talks about a hard disk-based Netflix:

There is also the Netflix rental approach that could work as well. Pay 100 bucks for the first 200gbs external drive. Pay us 20 bucks a month, and we send you a new drive with the new goodies, and you send us back the one you just watched — Easy and breezy. Well, that is if consumers like working that way.

He's working on new ways to deliver video content to consumers:

We are looking at kiosks. Walk up to an airport kiosk, or a kiosk at a retail location. Pick the movies or shows or music they have available, pay for it via credit card, and wait a couple minutes while the content is copies from a server right there on the premises. 

Interesting post from someone who's helping determine how we'll be watching movies in 2 or 3 years (and he has a proven track record). I'm keeping an eye on this guy.

Netflix Announces Indy Film Partnership

Netflix has partnered with Film Movement to make their exclusive, award-winning independent films available to Netflix subscribers (press release). The deal covers twelve movies, including "Hop," "Ginger & Cinnamon," "Manito," and "El Bola."

Film Movement is a subscription-based service that sends 12 DVD's to members each year, with one twist -- you get to keep the disc. The cost is $199 per year or $19.95 per month, similar to Netflix. Film Movement is an interesting company, founded by the producers of "Sling Blade" and "You Can Count on Me." The company has inspired more than 1,000 Film Movement clubs and over 900 libraries hold monthly screenings of their movies.

Film Movement ships the movies to members at the same time they are in theaters, eliminating the delay between opening and the DVD release (it's getting closer and closer for mainstream movies). Members can also attend the screenings of Film Movement titles for free.

This is the reason I joined Netflix in the first place. I got sick of the limited selection at my local video store and wanted access to a wide variety of movies, including hard-to-find independent films. It's great to see they haven't forgotten their roots.