Quote:
Originally Posted by Damian
Neat.
So you only have to re-download gigabytes worth of information every time a hard drive dies. It's great that it's available to re-download, it's not at all time-efficient or convenient.
What would you rather do, wait for a 25GB HD movie to download, or go to the shelf and grab the movie?
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Well, first of all HD downloads are not 25GB. We are talking 4gb - 7gb per movie. That would take around 10-15 minutes to re-download in full on the new DOCSIS3.0 networks being rolled out this year. Most HD downloads are 720p/DD5.1, which while not as sharp as Blu-ray is still plenty nice looking for a rental IMO. If compressed right artifacts are minimal even though resolution is not as fine. And, "every time a hard drive dies" is a rare occurance, not something you do every day.
While the grab the movie off the shelf may seem more convenient, in my opinion clicking the remote a few times is more convenient than having to go to the store to buy/rent a movie, take a disc out of a box, put the disc in the player, wait for it to load, take it out after you are done, and then if you rented it drive to blockbuster to return it. With downloads a few remote clicks and you are minutes away from HD goodness. Also, the "wife" factor with having less clutter (no shelves full of boxes) will likely make downloads a nice J6P option in time.
Now it might not necessarily be an internet download service like Xbox Live Marketplace or any one service that takes the whole market. VOD on cable companies is also another form of downloads that will likely rise in popularity as the idea of driving to the movie store to rent a movie becomes an ancient idea. Heck, Netflix was able to cut into Blockbuster significantly and even that is much more of a hassle than downloads. And, this year Netflix in a joint venture with LG will be releasing a download CE box... LG has even stated they may incorporate the Netflix download service into future Blu-ray players.