Alan Smithee

Can't believe this has existed for more than 12 years now- I used to think it would be impossible to deliver a decent-quality presentation of a movie over the internet. I still favor physical media for a number of reasons, but my first HDTV was also one of the very first "Smart TVs", a Vizio (which sadly turned out to be junk, but that's another story) and I was impressed that I could access Vudu from it. Before then, you had to buy a huge box from Vudu just to use their service.

I was part of a "test program" through Vizio (basically they "invited" some people to buy their TV early and answer surveys about it; I had hoped I could give them more direct feedback but it turned out mostly to be a scam) and was given some free credit to try out the streaming services. The first one they gave us was for Amazon, and I picked "Waiting" because the theatrical version of that hasn't been available on disc. The promised 5.1 audio didn't work due to a hardware problem which was fixed after a few months, and the picture wasn't so great, but it was the first movie I watched via streaming.

They had us do the same for Vudu a week or so later but I had already activated it by then, the first movie I watched on that was the sequel "Still Waiting". The picture quality was a lot better than Amazon, not quite as good as a disc (I had lower-speed internet then and could only watch their standard "HD" stream, not the highest-quality "HDX") but still impressive for what it was.

I still don't get exactly how all this works, but the first several movies I watched through streaming I always thought of the server in who-knows-where being activated and firing up the movie on my command. I don't know what it does when 100 or so people are all watching the same movie but are all at different parts of it.

andicus

Netflix is the first streaming service I had. According to my watch history, the first actual movie I watched was something called "The Lucky Ones."

I don't remember it, and can't even figure out which movie it was, based on looking at titles on IMDB. I watched it on Sep 20th, 2013.

Kurt D

How is this not an Oldboy thread?


Netflix was probably my first streaming service. Not a clue what the first movie was.

TheBigDave

My first Netflix streaming movie was Tears of the Black Tiger back in Nov 2008.

I might have streamed something before that on Xbox 360 or PS3

My first Vudu movie was a free rental of My Soul to Take [HDX] in Feb 2011.

TheBang

I remember having to do some research on IPTV delivery for my job in 2007-2008. I researched a bunch of companies, and definitely remember coming across some of the early streamers. Probably Netflix, which had launched streaming in January 2007, and I definitely remember Vudu being one of them.

I also remember when Amazon Unbox (later to become Instant Video and then Prime Video) launched as one of the first TiVo apps in early 2007.

The first service that I actually made significant use of though was Joost in 2008. My friend worked there, which is how I heard about it, and happened to try it out. They saved server bandwidth by using peer-to-peer distribution, so while you were watching videos, caching them, you were also uploading parts of them at the same time to other people who were viewing those videos. Their library was a bit limited, since they were a free service, but I remember putting it on in the background during work and watching old G.I. Joe and Transformers cartoons, old Michael Jackson music videos, and watching the Dana Carvey Show for the first time.

Alan Smithee

I watched Joost on my PC when that was out, the quality was amazing for its time. I read that Hulu basically killed it by taking all the good content away, but Joost likely would’ve turned out much better.

I saw some early Netflix streaming at my friend’s place, I think on a PC hooked to the TV. They had a lot of old and obscure stuff then. I wasn’t in a hurry to activate it on my TV because the quality wasn’t regarded as very good. I eventually got my parents’ login and a lot of it was video-CD quality, but I liked the older movies they had then.

The first movie I watched on Vudu after the 5.1 sound issue was finally fixed was Hostel, again because the theatrical version wasn’t on disc but I think it was really still the unrated version I saw. Was amazed that something over the internet could light up Dolby Digital 5.1 on my receiver’s display.

E Unit

I have no idea. Is this an Oldboy sponsored thread?

Mike86

Yeah, I really have no idea either. I remember some of the first titles I bought digitally on iTunes and Prime Video and streamed. Not sure if I would really count those for this thread’s question though.

As far as an actual film or show streamed from Netflix or wherever I have no idea.

Nick Danger

A friend showed me some live porn around 1998 or 2000. Does that count?

It was so low-rez that I wasn't interested.

TomOpus

slybone

I got one of the first generation Roku’s when they came out in I think 2007 or 2008, back when Netflix was practically the only thing to stream, in fact the 1st Roku model was NFP-1 (Netflix Player #1). I remember that it was $99 plus $15 shipping, and had WI-FI and an HDMI port although we used it on an old TV. This early model did not support subtitles. I don’t remember the first movie we streamed but I remember the first TV show was Law and Order: SVU. I still have the player, although it hasn’t worked for years due to lack of support.

majorjoe23

Anyone watch Party Girl when it premiered on the internet in 1995?

I think I streamed a bootleg of Little Nicky in 2000.

Defiant

I apparently don't have a Netflix account anymore, so I can't check there, but searching my old emails, I got a bunch of emails asking about the picture quality of various episodes of CSI, Yes, Minister, Murder, She Wrote, Good Neighbors, etc. So apparently I streamed TV shows early on (though it's clear that they only emailed for a sampling of what I watched)

I bought It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World on Amazon around the same time - I'm not going to bother checking if I bought anything earlier for Amazon Prime (the interface isn't the best for finding that out), but it sounds right for an early video purchase.

dvd-4-life

Iron Sky (Netflix)

Alan Smithee

The oldest digital movie I “own” is The Spy Next Door in lousy standard-def on Vudu, they gave users a free movie choice from a few titles around Christmas 2010 and that was the only one I hadn’t seen. I check it every now and then to see if it’s still accessible, and so far it has been. Amazon had a lot of freebies early on and I got all the ones I knew of, the oldest I have on there are the first episodes of Parenthood and Pretty Little Liars- which starts out with some onscreen text that was blocked by the time bar on my Vizio with no way to make it go away sooner, didn’t know what it said til I got a Roku later.

Mondo Kane

Astro-Zombies on Netflix.

*Sigh* The days when Netflix had TONS of 60s & 70s cinema.

cultshock

I know it was on Netflix but I have no clue what movie it was. Might as well ask me what the first video I ever saw on YouTube was.

Vipper II

According to Netflix, it was The Beverly Hillbillies (movie). The hell was I thinking?

OldBoy

I certainly do not sponsor this thread because I have no clue in the world what I first streamed. I think it was a movie on my phone through Plex or something. But have no f-in clue.