Netflix Instant Watch App

Xbox Gold users get this for free with their sub, and I get it for free with my Windows Media Center. Considering I pay both NetFlix and TiVo a subscription, I should not have to pay any extra for it - considering others who have this feature available on their box have not had to pay any extra.

I would like to see TiVo and NetFlix offer this as well, but if I knew they had no intention of offering a feature like this - I might, just might, consider paying something one time.

Not a bad question to ask, but I do not consider myself a leech for wanting what others have received without paying extra.

 

I would pay if it really added value over the website.

For example...I can create a wishlist (actor, keyword, etc) that will AUTO-ADD movies to my WatchInstantly Queue.

That would be sweet!

Also, some way of knowing what's coming, and what's expiring soon. (Do an RSS integration with streamingsoon or instantwatcher)

Ok, I would DEF pay for that on my Tivo!
G.

 

Would this be a one time fee?

 

We don't yet subscribe to Netflix (we've been bouncing the idea around for a while), but if we did, I would likely pay a small fee for such an app if it was easy/quick enough to use that whipping out the netbook wouldn't be preferable. $4.99 is impulse buy level. Obviously those who don't have a laptop would likely have more incentive.

 

Pollsters typically attempt not to have biased answers (such as "I love to leech"). I suspect your results will be biased slightly away from that answer. Having said that, I still voted for that option. I didn't pay for the iPhone app that I use for this purpose, and seeing how painful HME apps tend to be, I think I'd still get it done faster on my iPhone than on an HME app.

 

Hmm, that's a good point. Since it's already available on xbox, maybe it will come to the other platforms. It would be a shame to waste your valuable development effort on this if Tivo/Netflix will provide a similar function in the near future.

Over on the Roku forums, sombody asked if the Roku box would be getting similar functionality, and one of the Roku engineers said this:

"Roku does plan to integrate the same browse and add function to the Netflix experience on the Roku player. We do not have an ETA on exactly when this will happen yet."

http://forums.roku.com/viewtopic.php?t=22336

Thus I'd say there is a decent chance that Tivo will get it too.

 

I voted for "leeching" but I don't consider it doing that.

Also- for myself I would like alittle more explanation as to what this app would do- that my instant queue with Netflix doesn't already do. I go to Netflix on my computer now and add content to my instant queue and then watch it on my TV through my Tivo.

So am I to assume that this would mean something different? That I might be able to watch my other movies - that get mailed to me now- through this app?

If this just lets me browse through the selections and add them to my queue, it is too much trouble to do that through Tivo to Netflix. I also use Amazon on Demand - and it is painful to have to use the remote to put in all that information every time. Much simpler to use my wifi and my laptop.

At this time I am satisfied with the system I have with Netflix- so no- I wouldn't pay for something unless the perceived value is much much higher.

 

"Free, I love to leach" was goofy wording. "Free, because I think the Netflix app should be able to do that anyway and should have had the capability from the start".

 

Just my $0.02

I think the browsing capability should be a basic component and not an added (for cost) extra - whether a one-time fee or not. I'm ok with the initial product being a hybrid like we've got now (device can browse and stream from the queue but not manage the queue). Time to market is important and the streaming of video is in its infancy so it's ok to experiment with the service offering but adding the capability to manage the queue directly from the device should be a high priority item. Services must strive to improve their capabilities or consumers will go elsewhere.

I don't stream to my Tivo (it's a Series 2) but I do use a Roku box. It supports Amazon-on-demand too and has a pretty sophisticated browsing capability for that channel. Clearly the Roku management sees the provision of more channels as higher priority than improved usability for existing ones right now and I can't really fault this approach - it makes good business sense. But a balance must be found at some point. Not being able to manage my Netflix queue from the Roku box is a definite inconvenience that I hope they'll address soon. It's interesting that the Netflix streaming capability which is what they came to market with still doesn't support queue management while the Amazon channel, introduced quite some time after Netflix, supported it from initial offering. Perhaps the back-end infrastructure at Amazon was easier to interface with?

If they can do it for Amazon on the Roku, they should be able to do it for Netflix on the Roku. If they can do it on the Roku, they can do it for Tivo and djtweed's ideas to make use of existing well-understood Tivo capabilities such as wishlists to enhance the queue management are good ones. However, I still don't think I should have to pay extra for this level of functionality. I see it as intrinsic rather than an optional extra. Whether I use it or not is a personal choice - as SheilaP pointed out above, the Tivo Amazon browsing features is painfully slow. It would be interesting to hear her opinion of the Roku Amazon interface (don't know if there's a simulator or anything) but she's absolutely right that "typing" via remote is inconvenient vs. a keyboard. While actually browsing a prepared "list" either generated randomly or using some form of personalization/rating input is pretty easy, figuring out a fast way to type movie names, actor names, genres etc. is something they've all got to work on.

Remember what happened with the original HMO feature - it was an optional extra when first introduced but eventually Tivo had to incorporate it as part of the standard product/service offering. Even TivoDesktop is "free" - you only have to pay for the Plus version if you want the mpeg2 codec and, as I understand it, the cost is mostly to cover the mpeg license fee.

 

Without closed captioning support, Netflix Watch Instantly is pretty-much useless for the hearing impaired so an app such as this would be equally useless.

 

Are you talking about the ability to stream videos directly from netfix on your Tivo? I have that feature now with my netflix subscription. However there are a limited amount of videos you can watch. The quaility isnt that great. I have their 1 dvd at a time plan costs me $9.27 a month because of NJ tax. I am close to one of their places so my turn around time is 3 days. That gives me 10 to 12 videos a month.

 

"free, I love to leech". Those two aren't equivalent. I *pay* for my TiVo subscription. I *pay* for my Netflix subscription. I am not leaching.

I believe that this should be part of the TiVo service offering.

 

I think some people are confused about what the poll is asking.

It is not asking if you would pay money to Tivo/Netflix for this added capability.

It is asking if you would pay money to a 3rd party developer for a separate application which adds this capability (assuming that Tivo/Nextflix do not provide it).