Movie downloading kiosks may be coming soon
06-07-06, 07:38 PM
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Movie downloading kiosks may be coming soon
Movie downloading kiosks may be coming soon
Posted Jun 4th 2006 3:15PM by Evan Blass
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Video
In what could turn into a preemptive strike against the further decline of DVD sales in the face of competition from digital downloads as well as Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, major retailers may soon be installing kiosks in their stores that give customers access to on-demand, feature-length films on DVD or their portable devices. According to Reuters, the major movie studios are reportedly in talks with retail heavyweights like Wal-mart to theoretically offer their complete archives for downloading to in-store terminals with high-speed connections, where they would either be burned onto DVD or transferred to unspecified devices, a la that proposed DVD Station service we saw awhile back (which seemingly never materialized). While the prospect of having immediate access to almost every movie ever made is admittedly appealing, we're not really sure that we want to drive all the way over to Best Buy just to stand around waiting uncomfortably with our fellow patrons as we all clutch our iPods, nervously tap our feet, and wish we'd all just stayed at home and settled for whatever was on Moviebeam. http://portablevideo.engadget.com/20...soon/#comments
Posted Jun 4th 2006 3:15PM by Evan Blass
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Video
In what could turn into a preemptive strike against the further decline of DVD sales in the face of competition from digital downloads as well as Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, major retailers may soon be installing kiosks in their stores that give customers access to on-demand, feature-length films on DVD or their portable devices. According to Reuters, the major movie studios are reportedly in talks with retail heavyweights like Wal-mart to theoretically offer their complete archives for downloading to in-store terminals with high-speed connections, where they would either be burned onto DVD or transferred to unspecified devices, a la that proposed DVD Station service we saw awhile back (which seemingly never materialized). While the prospect of having immediate access to almost every movie ever made is admittedly appealing, we're not really sure that we want to drive all the way over to Best Buy just to stand around waiting uncomfortably with our fellow patrons as we all clutch our iPods, nervously tap our feet, and wish we'd all just stayed at home and settled for whatever was on Moviebeam. http://portablevideo.engadget.com/20...soon/#comments
Well check this out...nice stuff.
06-07-06, 11:02 PM
#3
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As with anything like this, the price would be the determining factor for me. If they can't make it cheaper than a standard disc, what is the point?
One thing that would concern me is that the discs would all be single-layer. Even without extras, some movies need (or at least benefit) from having more space than one layer can hold. I would expect these to be single-layer discs since DL discs are still expensive. They may be compressed even more than they are on DVD, since using less data would save on bandwidth and burning time.
I also doubt this will suddenly make a lot more movies available. Those movies that aren't being held up by legal problems or rights issues still need to be transferred. I don't think that spending the money on the transfers would be justified by a new distribution scheme that looks to be far more limited than standard DVD.
One thing that would concern me is that the discs would all be single-layer. Even without extras, some movies need (or at least benefit) from having more space than one layer can hold. I would expect these to be single-layer discs since DL discs are still expensive. They may be compressed even more than they are on DVD, since using less data would save on bandwidth and burning time.
I also doubt this will suddenly make a lot more movies available. Those movies that aren't being held up by legal problems or rights issues still need to be transferred. I don't think that spending the money on the transfers would be justified by a new distribution scheme that looks to be far more limited than standard DVD.
06-07-06, 11:14 PM
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I agree with all of Drexl's points. Plus, throw in the lack of packaging and special features, and I don't think I'd ever use this. Would the movies be 16:9 enhanced? With the price of DVDs these days, this makes no sense. Plus, with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, this seems even more obsolete.
06-07-06, 11:37 PM
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although I agree with all these points I can see a benifit for this product.
1) It will open up the more non-urban markets to titles besides the big blockbusters and there are plenty of kids and poor people who don't have credit cards for netflix/zip.ca. I know when I was 15 I would have loved to "burn n buy" a copy of Watermelon Man or something and not have to spend my time scouring used video bins.
2) If they use poor quality media (made in china etc) they could market and sell these as "temp" version of the movie. Ones that the studios and consumers know will stop working after a few months - and market them at that price.
3) There are a number of things which just haven't gotten DVD releases for some reason. I don't know why Max Headroom hasn't been released but if it's because there isn't enough of a market for them then ordering them ala cart could work perfectly for more obscure titles - and the single layer/duel layer thing wouldn't matter since there weren't any special features made and plenty of this stuff could easily fit on a SL.
I'm not sure some dvd players not playing burned media would matter that much since I suspect that that the people who don't know if their machine takes burned media is the kind of people who wouldn't have any interest in the service anyways.
Do I hope it replaces netflix/zip, videostores, dvd sales? No. Do I think it can fit a niche if marketed right - certainly.
1) It will open up the more non-urban markets to titles besides the big blockbusters and there are plenty of kids and poor people who don't have credit cards for netflix/zip.ca. I know when I was 15 I would have loved to "burn n buy" a copy of Watermelon Man or something and not have to spend my time scouring used video bins.
2) If they use poor quality media (made in china etc) they could market and sell these as "temp" version of the movie. Ones that the studios and consumers know will stop working after a few months - and market them at that price.
3) There are a number of things which just haven't gotten DVD releases for some reason. I don't know why Max Headroom hasn't been released but if it's because there isn't enough of a market for them then ordering them ala cart could work perfectly for more obscure titles - and the single layer/duel layer thing wouldn't matter since there weren't any special features made and plenty of this stuff could easily fit on a SL.
I'm not sure some dvd players not playing burned media would matter that much since I suspect that that the people who don't know if their machine takes burned media is the kind of people who wouldn't have any interest in the service anyways.
Do I hope it replaces netflix/zip, videostores, dvd sales? No. Do I think it can fit a niche if marketed right - certainly.
06-07-06, 11:47 PM
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Originally Posted by wz42
I'm not sure some dvd players not playing burned media would matter that much since I suspect that that the people who don't know if their machine takes burned media is the kind of people who wouldn't have any interest in the service anyways.
06-08-06, 08:58 AM
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A couple of questions come to mind. Even with high speed connections, how long would it take to download a movie? How long would most people be willing to wait?
