Hi Gretchen, I'm not arguing against the idea of moving Netflix on-demand from the computer to the TV. That was a fairly obvious limitation with Watch Now and this is a simple fix for $99 from a 3rd party hardware vendor.
I see the Netflix product as something akin to those TV tuners you can plug in to your PC. But instead of Broadcast TV to computer screen its Internet streaming to TV screen. A simple hardware device, with little or no interaction. They have plans to work with Bluray & tv makers to incorporate a Netflix Watch now option in to their products. I respectfully disagree with the thinking that the product it positioned to 'take on Apple TV type products' aka home media servers. They are complex products, OS's that aim to deliver a simplified Personal Computer experience. Apple TV is iTunes for your TV. iTunes is Video, podcasts, music, pictures etc etc. Multiple formats, Multiple sources - complexity thats hard to get right. I do not see Netflix's product as a media server. Movies arent stored on the device and it wont do anything other play/pause fast forward & rewind over your existing internet connection, its not better resolution or faster at downloading. Just simply bypassing the computer to get the limited choice of old films and tv shows Netflix has in their library on to that honking great big screen in the corner of the living room To that end, I'll argue Apple TV & Netflix Watch Now separate market segments; consumer electronics versus film distribution. Yes its a box that plays video but Netflix is adding a feature to its subscription based business model. Apple TV is trying to get iTunes in to the living room to expand the iTunes ecosystem. Netflix's main competitor is Blockbuster and they'd be ill advised to pick a fight with Apple right now. So why do I have a bee in my bonnet?? I'm taking issue with the idea that its something more than a dongle for converting Ethernet packets to NTSC video. That its innovative interaction design building up an iPod-esque eco-system for the Netflix media channel. I think its a great product, it's simple and doesn't try to do too much - historically a failing of media server beachheads in to the living room. I think it will do well and increase Netflix's customer base but in the end its not really an innovative market disrupter. All the best - pauric ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
