Netflix on TV

I'm not a big fan of watching movies on the computer. Watching the occasional song on YouTube is fine but when it comes to full-length movies, I've found that I just can't sit in front of the monitor(or look at the laptop screen) for the full movie. So when it comes to downloaded Tamil movies, I used to burn them as VCDs on R/W CDs and watch them on the DVD player(low-cost brands like Apex worked best for this). And nowadays I simply connect my laptop to the TV and launch the movies(which are downloaded to my desktop) directly using the wireless connection.

This discomfort with watching movies on the computer is the main reason I haven't used the Watch Instantly feature on Netflix. I did try it out when it was launched and both the quality and the streaming speed were good enough to watch the entire movie uninterrupted. But I never watched any more movies using the feature since watching it on the computer wasn't appealing enough.

Now Netflix is bridging this gap by making it easier to watch movies on TV. They have announced a partership with LG Electronics for a set-top box that streams movies directly to the TV. According to Netflix, the box can be be hooked up easily to the TV and will make it real easy for anyone with a high-speed Internet connection to watch movies on their TV. The list of movies to watch will still be have to be selected on the computer but once the list is created, it will appear on TV and selections can be made from it. Their Watch Instantly feature has been popular with the under-25 crowd who use their laptops extensively and they are hoping that this device with help make the feature attractive to other demographics too.

I've always admired Netflix as a company that keeps introducing innovations that make them ready to tackle upcoming threats. With downloads undoubtedly being the way movie rentals will work in the future, this move will help Netflix be ahead of the game once again. But this is not going to be without competition either. Many other companies are already in - or are getting ready to enter - the field. Apple already has its own device but it has been called one of their rare failures. The main reason for that is supposed to be the poor selection of movies on iTunes and the inability to rent movies(you can only buy them). But they are expected to announce a movie rental service at the upcoming MacWorld conference and that should make Apple TV a lot more popular. Amazon too has a video download service already. On the bright side, one competitor has already been eliminated as Wal-mart recently shut down their video download service.

Many people have forecast Netflix's downfall as other forms of movie rentals become more popular. But with this, and plans to expand to channels like video game consoles and hi-def DVD players, Netflix seems poised to handle the future well.