Only slightly offtopic — interesting piece here on Netflix partnering with LG to create a set-top box to stream the “Watch Instantly” videos on Netflix onto a TV. It seems like a great idea except for two things:
- It is possible right now to connect a laptop with a DVD-player to your TV to do the same thing.
- Unless NetFlix is planning to significantly add more videos to the “Watch Instantly” section I don’t see the value-add.
I have spent a lot of time skimming through the Watch Instantly area and watching videos that way. At this point, I think I have seen all I care to see. The selection is not very good — all you have to do is take a look at how few movies are rated 4 or above — not many. Many are obscure b-grade movies (at least in the sci-fi section) or recent network TV shows. My guess is the lack of selection has something to do with how these films are licensed. Or maybe I am just not the target audience.
The articles says there will be 6000 videos to chose from. I am not sure how many Netflix has in the Watch Instantly bucket now, but Netflix does have 90,000 in its catalog.
You’ll still have to use your computer to select the movies, so it is not even a completely TV-enabled system.
Maybe there is a market for this — I am not seeing it. But then I still have rabbit ears on my non-HD TV set.
