Re: Apple May Be On The Verge Of Kneecapping The Cable Indu...
by jasonlbaptiste on Monday December 21, 2009 @11:53PM
(#1009451)
Playstation 3 is very close, but it's not open enough. It's not nearly as easy as using a computer to navigate content or add apps. The UI for the PS3 is definitely closest though. Windows, Mac, or Basic Ubuntu just don't work for the living room.
Wow, that's really interesting that Netflix is that important for distribution. Well, moreso that it's that much ahead of the others. I really wish they would have the PlayReady DRM work on linux, not because of desktop linux being so popular, but the plethora of devices that could be built on Linux using Netflix.
You were asking about Netflix below. You might be interested to her I was talking to a film distributor last week, who mentioned that from their perspective video-on-demand and premium channel sales (as served by cable) are almost dead, and while they get fantastic analytics from iTunes movie downloads, they accelerated quickly and then plateaued. Netflix is becoming the revenue generator that distributors pursue prior to the end-user DVD sale for indies.
Obviously, the model is somewhat different for big-ticket films where broadcast will pay a premium for the premiere rights, and/or specialty films (eg cable channels MTV or VH1 are still good for music documentaries). But in his opinion Netflix is becoming the most important secondary market distributor.