“Apple offered a hostage to fortune when it chose, as the teaser for the launch of its movie download service [yesterday], the tagline ‘It’s ShowTime!’ Headline writers only needed to find one significant ‘No Show’ for the pun writers to have a field day. Unfortunately for Apple, the ‘No Show’ turned out to be quite hard to miss: Hollywood itself,” Andrew Orlowski writes for The Register.
“Five of the six major corporations – Universal, Viacom, Sony, NBC Universal and Fox – have chosen not to grace the service with their content. Compare this to the launch of iTunes Music Store three years ago,” Orlowski writes.
MacDailyNews Take: Why compare to music and go back three years? Let’s compare movies to the similar content of TV shows that debuted less than a year ago to get a clear picture: Apple launched TV shows via their iTunes Store with just one (1) network, Disney’s ABC, and only five (5) TV shows. Take a look at how many other networks, cable outlets, and TV shows there are now, less than a year later: 40 networks and 220 shows. Mr. Jobs won’t have to go out to get other studios, the studios will come to him soon enough.
Orlowski continues, “Apple announced today that it will allow US broadband users to buy, at a price much higher than a Blockbuster rental or a straight DVD purchase, an inferior VGA-resolution movie copy – one that only plays on Apple’s proprietary hardware. Consumers will be able to enjoy this ‘on demand’ service with fulfillment times of only half an hour – that’s the time it takes to download one of these low-res movies. A gift to amnesiacs, perhaps, if no one else.”
MacDailyNews Take: The quality is better than Orlowski seems to want his readers to believe. As for the download time, you can start watching the movie as it downloads in less than 1 minute. What part of the 4-foot letters on the 20-foot screen along with Steve Jobs stating that fact did Orlowski miss? Did Orlowski watch the presentation or at least read the press releases before banging out this insipid article?
Orlowski continues, “Nor did Jobs offer much in the way of home ‘convergence’ magic that could conceivably give a broadband-connected PC any advantage over a set top box. Apple did give a preview of “iTV” – a $299 set top box, but it does exactly what Wintel’s set top box already does – and make the viewing of PC content possible on that great HD-ready TV of yours in the living room – and that hasn’t exactly caught the world on fire. It’s a catch-up, rather than a leap forward.”
MacDailyNews Take: How much configuration does that “Wintel set top box” require? Is Microsoft planning on making a Windows PC that can reliably “sleep” and “wake” as Apple long ago mastered with the Mac? How fast is the wireless on that “Wintel set top box?” Andrew doesn’t get it, that much is obvious.
Orlowski continues, “Robert X Cringely, has been predicting Apple will own the movie downloads business for years now, and only 18 months ago confidently predicted that “the movie studios will play along, too”. We now know they won’t – or only their terms.”
MacDailyNews Take: Fact break: We don’t know how other movie studios will react, but – as has been proven with TV networks and cable outlets – the studios should come to Jobs soon enough.
Orlowski continues, “The opportunities remain as they were. The frustrations, you could say nightmares, of the ‘converged’ living room – why do we need two hundred and fifty remote control buttons, spread over four or five remote controls? – look like they should be easy to fix and look like a job for an Apple, fixing them won’t be easy.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, Andrew got Microsoft’s talking points, too. And Apple’s remote has just six buttons, Andrew. No nightmares. Those six buttons let you watch TV shows, videos, movies, video podcasts, listen to music, and view photos with ease. Apple’s already gone a long way towards fixing Orlowski’s frustrations with the converged living room with yesterday’s announcements whether he wants to admit it or not.
Steve Jobs gives sneak peek of Apple’s “iTV” wireless set-top box:
Related articles:
The Telegraph: Steve Jobs’ genius making people desire gadgets for which they have absolutely no use – September 13, 2006
The Guardian: Steve Jobs needs ‘a charisma download, Apple risks being left behind’ – September 13, 2006
The Observer’s iPod FUD: Apple iPod is ‘wilting away before our eyes’ – September 10, 2006
Mark Cuban: Things that are special about Apple’s announcements – September 13, 2006
Apple’s ‘iTV’ strategy – September 13, 2006
How will Apple’s ‘iTV’ work? – September 13, 2006
Apple eyes living room market with device codenamed ‘iTV’ – September 12, 2006
Analyst: Apple ‘s iTunes+iPod+iTV model ‘the gold standard for the digital home of the future’ – September 12, 2006
Analyst: Apple ‘s iTunes+iPod+iTV ‘will be hard for other players to match’ – September 12, 2006
Apple gives sneak peek of ‘iTV’ set-top box to debut Q1 2007 (with images) – September 12, 2006
Apple’s QuickTime stream of Steve Jobs special event now live – September 12, 2006
NFL and Apple team up to offer 2006 NFL game highlights via iTunes Store – September 12, 2006
these ‘anticlimax’ reviews of apple events are really annoying, all they want is an iphone, nothing else, if they did release a phone, they be like , oh, its a phone, only made from apple. SHURRUP already
all these people are just taking the piss. Time will demonstrate they are the lame ones…
This week only–buy-one-get-one-free on UK “journalists!” Hurry and get yours!! At these prices, they won’t last long!!!
Ask about our trade-in program for used Thurrotts, Enderles and Dvoraks!!!!
“one that only plays on Apple’s proprietary hardware”
they play in iTunes, on any computer!!
Nob
I think we do need to acknowledge, though, that the presentation was a bit underwhelming. Of course, its hard for any Apple media event to live up to the hype.
I’m not a big fan of the movie service yet (low res, expensive, no subscription option), but this guy is a little nuts. Yeah, it’s best to compare the movie offering with TV, not music. (And let’s not forget, the music library was comparatively small as well) Also, he’s wrong about it only playing on “Apple’s proprietary hardware”. It’ll play on anything that can run iTunes. And finally, he’s wrong about iTV. iTV’s sole purpose is to accept content from a computer and play it on a TV. It is not supposed to be a web browser or email client or anything else. So, comparing it to Windows Media Edition PCs seems wrong to me, especially when you consider how cheap they are compared to a PC.
So: not a fan of the movie service (yet), but also not a fan of this criticism.
Maybe underestimating is a good thing… but it does seem like a FUD article. Still I must agree, most of the movie content leave me cold…
Apple movie store will experience a surge in novelty and curiosity. but slowly but surely it will slow down unless Apple introduce movie rental.
Only a few geeks with disposable income will buy movies.
only a few movies are worth buying. (Pirates of caribbean in my case).
and those with kids will be interested in acquiring kid movies because they will repeatedly view it.
other than that, EVERY ONE wants MOVIE RENTAL.
I have to say that I’m not that excited by the idea of a iTunes Movie store. The “iTV” combined with Movie downloads would be great if they gave movies on a subscription basis (which would kill Netflix for example), but why exactly would I want to pay $15 to download a Movie that only plays on this box or computer, where I can buy a DVD for the same or less that has more content, better quality and can be taken to a friends house?
I think the TV show sales are a great idea, I happily pay $2 for a show if my TiVo missed it, especially with the new improved resolution. $2 is impulse buy, $15 isn’t for me.
The more i read MDN the more i realize it is managed by two old hags who needs to get laid so bad to rid their mind from years of no sex frustration.
Here’s another comparison…
The dog in your neighbor’s backyard craving for attention barks are anything the passes by. MDN, the mad barking dog with a human brain.
Did all these journalists (sic) watch the same presentation the rest of us did? This is almost as funny as watching a Christian fundie explain away dinosaur bones.
@pog
my point exactly.
MOVIE RENTAL.
otherwise, Netflix is fine by me.
Am I missing something?
I am a true blue Apple man. Having said that, I’m meant to pay 12.99 – 14.99 for an “almost” DVD quality experience?! Why wouldn’t I just buy the DVD at Wal Mart (or countless other sellers) for close to that price and have full DVD quality and digital sound, extras, etc? I can then watch it on my computer, my iPod, my car dvd player… I don’t get it. At all.
I don’t blame Steve for this. He’s shown he “gets it”. I blame the studios 100%. It’s like they don’t want to succeed. What I do blame Steve for is for straying away from giving the consumer what they really want. Don’t try to tell me I don’t want a TV tuner or DVR capability (I know, I know, they sell shows and nothing with the iTV is “finalized”). I don’t really care if it doesn’t fit your business model. Get a new business model. One that doesn’t seek to serve a niche, but one that will ignite consumers of all stripes into a buying frenzy.
Apple, I’m for you. However, your movie announcement was a letdown.
I’m a brit, but I’m glad I left there with all their unions and socialists a long time ago. God bless America.
Why do these so called experts always assume that some sort of media PC is what people want in their living rooms? I have personally done that route only to find out that trying to work in MS Word on a big screen TV isn’t as great as they would lead you to believe. So, I don’t think this myth of everyone having this amazing computer system hooked up to your television is what people will actually use. So, instead of just having one computer hooked up to my television I will now need another system to actually do any work on. While 2 computers might be what corporate america wants in my house I would prefer just to buy one system. Now, enter Apple, with their iTV (or whatever its final name will be). I can own one computer system but stream my data all over the house. Which one really sounds like a better set up; Streaming items from one computer or having to buy multiple systems for your home? Why do “technology experts” seem to understand things the least?
As much as I admire Apple, I can see an issue comparing the TV show service success to potential success in the movies business.
TV shows become popular on often free to air formats, or part of a subscription. Certainly in the UK, people then decide that they will buy a DVD of the best stuff, or now the can buy from iTunes. The content is already in the public domain before the content makes it onto DVD. I think for a TV show company, its a no brainer to make the content commercially availble on DVD.
Movies on the other hand – Yuo see it in the cinema, paying $$ to watch it. It then becomes available on DVD months later, you pay $$ to own it. It can often be years before content is published on free to air, or cheap television channels.
I think TV programmes are seen as less valuable by the market, selling through itunes is a bonus for TV companies. Movie houses already make money through DVD sales, so what is Apple going to provide, other than near instant gratification? The movie houses have months to rip to DVD and build up physical stock to provide good release availablity so you can’t even argue about media production etc, unless they release films the day after they are pulled from the cinema screens.
I can see a plus for art house films because marketting budgets can be slashed and production costs minimised, lessening the risk of release.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the little box, and I will probably buy, but for different reasons. unless something changes, I still see myslelf buying DVD’s for movis.
Seems to sum up the majority of media reaction to over-hyped iPod updates and over-priced movies soon available to your TV screen via iTV for a mere $299.
Wow, the Brits really are in a bad mood today. I think it’s just about having something new to talk about (that’s typically anti-Apple), but do people not wait and see anymore? Geez, the combustion engine was doomed to fail, too.
Reese: yes, I think you’re missing something.
The Incredibles @ Apple: 12.99
Amazon, Target, Best Buy, Wal-mart, 19.99 + gas +hassle of driving, parking, queing, etc.
dvd: 720 x 480, fixed in place forever.
aapl: 640 x 480, increased by decision to simply do so. It will come.
Can’t prove it, but I will go out on a limb and say that the sound is 5.1 on both, hence optical out on the iTV.
iTV is HD. As in HDMI.
The studios will come around; Apple brought record companies onboard, right?
iTV may be able to support HDTV, but until HD content is available, it’s about as useful to the general public as gigabit ethernet.
Bond co. stooge,
If I could burn the movie to disk, once downloaded, my argument would be reversed. Apple allows a song to be burned to CD a limited number of times. If movies could be burned to a DVD, this would be better.
I really don’t want to have to invest in online storage, making sure its always backed up etc. etc. otherwise I lose my content investment.
Maybe Leopard will change this sitation with time machine, to allow the movie to be archived to DVD storage or something?
R – don’t get me wrong, this is a step in the right direction. This has serious potential – if only the content owners would wake up to the posibilities of slightly less restrictive rights. There is illegal software out there that can copy DVD’s after all – I can’t understand whay they are being so precious over this.
<u>”The Incredibles @ Apple: 12.99
Amazon, Target, Best Buy, Wal-mart, 19.99 + gas +hassle of driving, parking, queing, etc.”</u>
Yes, but the DVD is also of better quality and has a lot more extras.
<u>
dvd: 720 x 480, fixed in place forever.
aapl: 640 x 480, increased by decision to simply do so. It will come.”
</u>
How does the future increase of the resolution quality impact on someone’s decision to buy a movie now? Apple will not let you upgrade to a higher quality version in the future. That’s like buying the current iPod in anticipation of the 7G iPod.
Looks like someone at the Register sat his wide arse down on a hot one and got burned… or perhaps a Dell laptop?
Te register prides itself on being slightly controversial.
Hey, does anyone know what the DRM restrictions are going to be on the movies in the itunes store? I know people were jumping all over Amazon for not giving you the ability to write the movie to a playable video dvd, but it doesn’t sound like Apple’s giving you that option either.
What happened? Did Iran turn you down for not being conservative enough?
$300 for another gadget in which to pay $12-$15 per movie residing on a hard disk which could get wiped by accident. Oh, buy back-up disk? Add another $200 or so…
And can I back up my “almost DVD quality” purchase to DVD?….
Do me a favor, MDN. Please mention in the headline that you’re quoting Orlowski. This guy is a jerk with an anti-Apple agenda and should be considered in the same category as Thurrot, Enderle, and Dvorak. I’d like to know that I can ignore the article without having to read any of his drivel.
Let’s just say that everything negative about the iTV/iTunes project is true. So what? Don’t support it. It’ll die of its own weight, and you’ll all be gods of prognostication!
But just keep this in mind. Amazon’s already doin’ it. Monkeysoft certainly will do it as soon as it can steal the code. And you can be sure that Wal-Mart and fellows will jump on the wagon at the earliest possible moment.
And the commonnality here? All–I repeat, ALL–American companies. The hatred the British have for themselves has just about saturated the Commonwealth, so it has to spill over elsewhere. Why not US? The majority of the rest of the English-speaking world is part of the Empire, so let’s dump on the Yanks. After all, they (US) hate themselves almost as much as the we (UK) do!
I hate this clown that works for the Register. He is completely stupid. He can go to hell.
Everybody overanalyzes these things. The original ITMS store shouldn’t have been successful — lower quality music than CDs, you don’t get the cover art, DRM, etc. Guess what, people liked the convenience, the price was reasonable, and the catalog, as a result of success, got bigger. Consumers (i.e., paid customers) made it a success.
TV shows on ITMS looked as dismal to those supposedly “in the know.” Just one network’s content. Low quality. Now it’s a pain to even find out what they have, as they have so much freakin’ content. I bought Lost, the Office, Battlestar, etc. when I wanted an ep or was traveling. My kids are dying for Suite Lifes, Hannah, etc. Paying consumers once again made it a success (note The Office even credits ITMS for its rating jump!).
Movies will be the same story. Little content, overpriced, low quality, etc. Sounds familiar. Guess, what, I bought “Pirates,” and the kids loved watching it on a lame-o 17″ eMac. They don’t care about all the expert’s predictions, pro and con. And I can take it on the road, back it up, etc., without ripping it from a DVD using Handbrake…
For me, I hate physical CDs and won’t get them anymore. I’ll get that way with movies very soon. My DVD boxes are a mess in the cabinet by the TV. Sure, Apple could try HD like Amazon, but those download times are ridiculous. I will not wait that long or use up that much storage. HD quality is just not that important to me.
For me, it’s a tradeoff, and convenience, no box/disc, and decent price ($9.99) is winning out. I bet consumer will once again vote ITS (sans the M, now) with their dollars.
Guess what — I’m a tech analyst myself, and most of these guys couldn’t predict their dinner based on what their spouse said he/she bought at the grocery store.
This is typical orlowski. He’s either
1. an idiot
2. trolling for hits
3. just an Apple hater and bold face liar
Unlike Thurrot, I think he’s number 3.
As far as the annoucements, I thought they were great. The increase in battery life in the iPod is huge if you watch even just video podcasts. The iTV is the convergence I’ve been waiting (still waiting) for. I didn’t want to buy a mac mini just for the TV for the occaisional slide show or home movie show. In fact, I think the iTV will cannibalize some mac mini sales. I think the nanos and shuffles will be more popular than the 1st generatations. The increase in resolution of video on the store brings them up to an acceptable level. I would like a subsciption service for movies and TV shows. I buy virtually no movies on DVD as it is (and I don’t understand why people do), so I can’t make any useful comment about the movies for sale option.
Orlowski is a well-known Apple-hater. He hates iPods, he hates DRM, he hates anything to do with Apple. I don’t click any more links to the Register. If you send him an email, he’ll be incredibly rude to you. So, don’t waste your breath. He’s the type of guy who’d like to stick a lit cigarette in your eye, just cause you’re a Mac user.
1- For catalog films shot back in the day with a standard aspect ratio, 640 x480 should be fine. If you don’t like it, record them for free off of AMC or TCM. It’s very comparable to standard definition digital TV.
2- If you are sitting across the room looking at a 32″ or 40″ HDTV the video doesn’t look any worse than the non HD content you are already paying for. On a portable device they are stunning.
3- Even with 264 encoding, bandwidth to the home is still an issue. Pushing thousands of large files quickly over the internet at any given hour of the day or night taxes even the Akami technology Apple and others use to speed delivery over the Net. Apple has a great internet server setup and the Keynote was brought to it’s knees yesterday. That was not a hardware or software issue, that was simple net capacity. Only so many packets can stream through a network at a given time. What do you think would happen if Apple tried to push the same number of 8GB HD movies compared to the 1GB 640×480 titles they are now using. AT&T, Verizon, and others need to get their houses in order.
4- Universal is controlled by GE, a very closely linked partner of Microsoft. Ever heard of MSNBC, jointly owned by GE’s NBC/Universal & Microsoft? Do you think that might have influenced their decision to go with Apple at this time?
5- Sony controls Columbia/Tri-Star and is a direct competitor of Apple in the computer and consumer media market. See the last question under 4.
6- Viacom controls Paramount Pictures and is a close partner of Microsoft. The Urge Music Service is a joint venture of Viacom’s MTV Networks and Microsoft. See the last question under number 4.
7- Fox is controlled by NewsCorp and is a well known Microsoft partner shop. The same question under number 4 applies.
The studios will join when they have to, but will not join a minute before. This is partly due their greedy desire to price content as high as possible, but also to protect their relationship with Redmond. Bill Gates & Co have been spreading a lot of money trying to crack the Digital Media market from production to distribution. Money speaks very loud and MS has an awful lot to burn.
With the addition of Movies iTunes is now set to become one, if not, the most lucrative internet portals.
Cheers,
Tim.
“Amazon, Target, Best Buy, Wal-mart, 19.99 + gas +hassle of driving, parking, queing, etc.”
Yes, driving to Amazon.com is a total pain in the ass. They’re really hard to find! That’s why I usually order through the Internet. Far more convenient than driving around trying to find an Amazon store.
As for the other ones, their stores are far more convenient. Personally, I can bike over to Target, Best Buy, and WalMart and back in about 20 minutes. Parking isn’t a hassle when you have a bike…
:^)
hdmi to the TV
optical out to the receiver (for those without A/V Receivers.)
Play iTunes on your home stereo with an interface. It’s almost like it’s coming from your TV, not your computer. which is a plus for those that don’t have their computer in their living room.
Check out a movie trailer, browse a few shows… a few reviews…
Cancel cable… (80$/month!!!) the internet is the new cable TV… without Ads (except product placement).
remember: same reaction to the first ipod. it was ridiculed.
There IS HD content available, have you looked at Apple’s movie trailer site?
And, if you have an ElGato EyeTV 500, you can record HD over-the-air and on unencrypted channels, and I’d wager that it’ll be simple to include them in your media library that gets picked up by your iTV. In fact, iTV uses a second-gen Front Row software, and first-gen Front Row software can read my EyeTV files.
When Apple sends HD movies, it’ll kill HD DVD and BR. Why buy expensive HD DVD and BR players that might be obsolete when one of the two wins the format war, when you can get a HD download from Apple, for less? Sure you have to buy a $300 box, but it’s like a virtual media server not just a HD player.
The reason why I might buy a movie from iTunes is because $13 for new releases is less than what I can get them for at WalMart, where they’ll be $19, and you have to add gas and the hassle of dealing with WM.
Even if you buy the bargain bin DVDs at WM for $7.50, that’s a small saving over the $10 at iTunes, but then again, you have to add gas, time wasted driving, and dealing with dumpster diving for that DVD, and lousy selection. Like music now, iTunes will eventually have a much larger catalog than what’s on WM’s shelves.
And, how long does a movie from Amazon.com take to come to your door? And, how much is shipping? Did you add that too? And, not everyone can bike to their local Wallyworld.
HD-dvd and blue ray? Look at the “success” of super audio cd and dvd-audio.
Crazy to spend that much money to download copy of movie.
Rent it. Why own it?
And if I wanted to own it getting the DVD from the store is the better way to go.
And this “gas +hassle of driving, parking, queing, etc.” nonsense. Dumb argument.
Who goes to the store just to buy one DVD? One usually goes shopping for lots of things and…hey, look…special deal on that DVD I always wanted. Guess I will buy it.
And Amazon is great for buying and renting DVDs. Free Home delivery. too.
“And this “gas +hassle of driving, parking, queing, etc.” nonsense. Dumb argument.”
Indeed.
Omigod, people are forced to get off their fat asses and go to the store…and socialize…with people!
HD is a lie. What’s real HD? Is it just about getting rid of scan lines?
Most of the supposed HD I’ve seen has been plastered with compression so bad it looks blurry and worse than plain old NTSC SD.
Seems like nobody understands aspect ratio either. Most seem to think that since they got a 16:9 screen, they’re going to stretch the image to fit it, and they don’t want no damned black boxes taking up valuable screen real estate that could be filled with a stretchedout image.
Movies through iTunes is just a convenience sale, it’s for folks who want to see the show and they don’t want to drive anywhere or do anything else to see it, just download it and watch it. It’s the convenience! There will always be cheaper alternatives that may even offer improved quality, but this one is from Apple and it works, which is more than you can say about Amazon Unbox.
Does the Amazon Unbox service, among all others, allow you to start watching the movie a minute after the download begins? If that’s uniquely Apple, I’d hope the marketing centers around this idea. “Your show begins in 1 minute.”
Just because a signal is broadcast on an HD channel and transmitted via an HD protocol does not mean it is an HD sourced signal. Many shows are up-converted at the Station. Some stations mix and match while others up-convert non HD content.
If you see real 720 or 1080 content you will know it.
All the things he bitches about are more relevant to MS Medai center than Apple, yet he manages to imply they are faults in Apple’s offerings instead.
What’s missing:
Movie rental options
Nano (Mino? Nani?) needs movie playing capabilities for all the youngsters with good eyes.
Camera add on for iPod, come on Apple <throws chair>
CroP-
You’ve got a point about the iTMS, but you’re missing one important thing – added value.
Although the music was below CD quality and didn’t include album art, it did provide a HUGE benefit not found elsewhere – the ability to buy individual tracks, not just the whole album. If the new [insert artist here] CD came out, you could go to Tower Records and buy the whole album for $18.99 and be stuck with three songs you like and 10 that are mediocre, or simply visit the iTMS, preview the songs, and buy the 3 that you liked — a total of only $2.99.
With TV shows, you can grab the episode of [insert TV show] that you missed for only a couple of bucks without having to wait for reruns or buy the entire season on DVD (which cost upwards of $30).
I don’t see the advantage of buying movies through the iTMS. Although there is the convenience of immediate availability, I’m not sure that’s enough added value to justify the cost.
I’ll tell you what WOULD work, however. A rental model (ala NetFlix, but downloads) that offers immediate availability for about $20 per month.
Who has to go shopping to socialize with other people. Aren’t there any other places or venues to socialize? Some of you people lead very different lives.
I will bet that you can burn these DRM’d movie files to DVD.
Data DVD’s that is. You can back them up on Data DVD’s or Data CD’s for that matter. You just can’t play them anywhere. You will have to copy them to an authorized PC/Mac first.
you can start watching the movie as it downloads
Really… my TiVo from 2001 can do just that very thing.
Wow, just wow.
MDN stated: “As for the download time, you can start watching the movie as it downloads in less than 1 minute. What part of the 4-foot letters on the 20-foot screen along with Steve Jobs stating that fact did Orlowski miss?”
He didn’t miss any:
Watching downloads within one minute is a FACT because Steve Jobs says so? Maybe in these very early days of the service (or when Steve is doing a demo), but when it gets flooded you’re going to be buffering…..watching…..buffering….watching. As this article points out, the bandwidth just isn’t there. Right now, you need at least a 5Mbps connection to get any acceptable download speed for a “near” DVD quality movie. True HD? – long time before that’s going to happen. We need serious bandwidth expansion for that to become even near exceptable.
I watched the streaming Showtime event late last night. The audio went out of sync with the video and this was NOT a 640 x 480 stream. Watching movies *as they download* is not going to be a pleasant experience with high-traffic.
“Daddy, why does the movie keep stopping and we have to wait for it to start again. I’m bored”.
Downloading the entire movie first is one thing (and expect to wait longer than 30-35 minutes with high traffic on that as well), but being able to watch it within one minute is RDF to it’s fullest.
^^^ Also –
As an example, take YouTube. YouTube pushes about 200TB, yes TB of data per day! All that data is shit flash video quality (some look better than others so it depends on the source they encode it from). Even when I visit that site I quite often get buffering – and that is only flash video that requires lower bandwidth to push. They use Limelight Networks for some of their traffic and Limelight is a HUGE CDN (content delivery network). There are some live video casts like DL.TV (who also use Limelight) that I have attempted to stream, but it is always choppy and I end up just downloading the show the next day after they encode it into the various formats.
<u>Give it a try:</u> Go to http://www.dl.tv.com on any Tuesday or Thursday at 4:00pm PDT/7:00pm EDT and click on the live link. You’ll get a nice choppy 320 x 240 (I believe that is the res – it’s definitely not 640 x 480), with audio drop-outs and lost connections etc. It’s hit or miss.
That link should be: http://www.dl.tv drop the com – Doh!
sdfsdf