Where is all the content?

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chevrolux

4962 posts

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#113245 10-Jan-2013 16:41

So I was a bit bored last week and decided I would give streaming some movies a bit of a go.
Have a Sony smart TV so signed up for Quickflix and used the built in app to stream movies. Worked wonderfully. Quality was very good and there was no pauses for it to buffer on my 10Mbps ADSL connection. I thought sweet! This might be better than the illegal route. However when I go look for recent releases, as in movies that have come out on DVD, they just aren't there.

So I wonder, was I expecting too much? I sort of envisioned Quickflix to be a replacement for the video store but the selection just isn't there.

I have a Netflix account too but for starters it was a pain to set up as in, needed to set up my local DNS to use Unblock-US for the netflix domain, plus get a US paypal account and then finally set up the Netflix membership. The selection is mostly there but the quality is no where near what Quickflix is. Maybe there are better options? But at the end of the day I just went back to piratebay because I can download a 720p movie of my choosing. I really wanted to give the legal route a go but it is really limited.

What do you use? Was I really just expecting too much?

sonyxperiageek

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#742904 10-Jan-2013 16:44

You'd have to be a bit more careful downloading a "movie" off piratebay now.... legislation.... I usually just like to "stream" with a few apps on my Android..

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BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#742910 10-Jan-2013 16:54

Netflix should take your NZ credit card fine, and Unblock-US is a breeze and can use the same credit card. Not really a hassle is it?

chevrolux

4962 posts

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#742935 10-Jan-2013 17:25

I tried putting my NZ card in to Netflix but it just wouldn't accept. Do it via Paypal US and it works fine. And yes Unblock-US is easy to use but it is all extra effort we shouldn't really have to go to.

I just wanted to pick up my TV remote and stream a movie. But the latest stuff just isn't there. Is this because of licensing? or is Quickflix just not quite up with the play?

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#742942 10-Jan-2013 17:36

mmm, my NZ Card works fine, but I do get your point. The problem of course is not quickflix but the relative monopoly / duopoly position that TVNZ and Sky have in NZ. They control all the content and the rights. QuickFlix will get better but don't have enough support from a regulatory front to break up the current cosy arrangements which are limiting competition. There are plenty of other threads discussing this.

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

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#742944 10-Jan-2013 17:39

BuzzLightyear: mmm, my NZ Card works fine, but I do get your point. The problem of course is not quickflix but the relative monopoly / duopoly position that TVNZ and Sky have in NZ. They control all the content and the rights. QuickFlix will get better but don't have enough support from a regulatory front to break up the current cosy arrangements which are limiting competition. There are plenty of other threads discussing this.

I should add that the entertainment industry across the globe needs to evolve as well and change the way they license and distribute.

chevrolux

4962 posts

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#742952 10-Jan-2013 17:52

Ah yea. They don't make it easy to give them money huh lol.

I guess I should have done a search first lol...

n4

959 posts

Ultimate Geek

#742955 10-Jan-2013 18:02

I would also note, having just done a similar trial with a Sony BD player, that Quickflix via Sony does not support the pay per view streaming you can do from Quickflix via the web. But the even on the web the PPV selection is pretty rubbish.

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crackrdbycracku

1168 posts

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#743181 11-Jan-2013 10:24

I agree with the OP, that QuickFlix should be better.

My personal bugbear is the lack of TV series.

I find it really sad the the barriers to a way to watch the stuff we want and pay for it are not willingness to pay, they are not technical but the legally enforced monopoly incumbents have over rights and the business models these rights allow to flourish.

Oh, well. The music industry got it right eventually ... oops.

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

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#745556 16-Jan-2013 10:56

QF does have recent DVd releases, but not available on Sony TVs sadly. Only via Samsung TVs, Tablets and and Web Browser at the moment I think. they aren't part of the subscription either, you pay $6.99 per movie rental for 48 hours (you don't need a subscription to do this, you can just rent movies if you want)

the PPV selection is reaosnable though, moat new DVD releases seem to appear on there, sometimes before they are released on DVD and often several weeks before they come thorugh on Sky PPV. Main drawback is the lack of HD

ajobbins

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#745588 16-Jan-2013 11:25

crackrdbycracku: Oh, well. The music industry got it right eventually ... oops.

Sort of... I still think they have a fair way to go yet.

Distributing content electronically costs less than say, a CD. Yet we are paying the same prices, or in some cases more than we would to buy the CD.

An Album on iTunes costs about $20, which is about the same as a chart CD at The Warehouse, yet the CD costs a lot more to produce, has to be shipped and held in stock. There are a bunch more people making a buck along the way (The retailer, the local distributor, the freight companies etc). Why do they cost the same?

Most of the individual songs i've purchased recently are about AU$2.19 each, which is much more than the '99c a song' that the US seems to pay.

It also doesn't solve the problem that the artists still make very little from each sale - and most of the profit goes to the record company.

But they are streets ahead of TV and Movies - but still a way to go.

Twitter: ajobbins

crackrdbycracku

1168 posts

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#745604 16-Jan-2013 11:41

ajobbins:
crackrdbycracku: Oh, well. The music industry got it right eventually ... oops.

Sort of... I still think they have a fair way to go yet.

An Album on iTunes costs about $20, which is about the same as a chart CD. Why do they cost the same?

Because Apple is basically selling the the music industry back to record companies. An iPod without music is a paper weight and music doesn't require an iPod but due to the music industry not adapting Apple now makes the money. The 'extra money' goes to Apple, not the artists.

I think the same thing will happen to the movie/TV industry. Piracy is a transitional state as it presents a market opportunity for somebody which will be filled by someone.

My money is on something like QuickFlix or iTunes. They will sell us the stuff we want, we will pay, traditional studios become the tools of the distributors. Strange really as a TV without video content is just a slab of plastic and glass.

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ajobbins

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#745632 16-Jan-2013 12:07

iTunes already has some TV content, at least here in AU. Problem is they want upwards of $3 an episode, which is quite frankly robbery.

If I watch a show on broadcast or pay TV, nobody makes that kind of money by me watch one show. My share of subscription/advertising revenue for each show is cents, not dollars. And again, there are less people to pay along the way.

Charge me 50c and episode and I will happily pay it, and the producers are getting an order of magnitude more money out of me than if I instead watch in on a traditional medium. It's a win-win.

Twitter: ajobbins

insane

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#745639 16-Jan-2013 12:17

Apparently mega.co.nz might have it from the 19th :p

reven

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#745651 16-Jan-2013 12:25

ajobbins: An Album on iTunes costs about $20, which is about the same as a chart CD at The Warehouse, yet the CD costs a lot more to produce, has to be shipped and held in stock. There are a bunch more people making a buck along the way (The retailer, the local distributor, the freight companies etc). Why do they cost the same?

one theory, could be completely wrong.

- shipping and packaging on a large scale, isnt that expensive, buy in bulk, each costs very little to make/ship.
- when the warehouse sells a cd, you are more likely to walk around the rest of the warehouse and perhaps buy other items, where they will make more money, so margins on CDs at the warehouse are less and the warehouse is happy with that.

but more than likely
- because people are willing to pay that much on itunes.

driller2000

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#745929 16-Jan-2013 20:31

have got a 1 month trial via mercury - tried it once - content is abysmal - i won't be using it again (memo to self - cancel quickflix before the trial ends and it starts auto renewing)

content is king and right now quickflix is looking like the village idiot :/