That's how DirecTV handles the newest movies for their OnDemand service. They just show up on your DVR under a different tab. If you want to watch them, they are ready instantly and you are charged when you start the movie. If K took a similar approach for new releases, then this could be a huge winner.

Or another option, when you access your K system any time in the week before new movies release, if you are presented with a notification of what is coming out and an option to go ahead and purchase movies so they will be downloaded once available.

Alan just made me see how this might be a good product again.

I think we are getting ahead of ourselves here. This is a system to purchase movies over the internet and have them be accessible via your kscape system. This is not an instant on-demand service.

We (humanity) currently have 3 ways to legally buy movies (licenses anyway). #1.Drive to the store and buy it. #2.Order it and have it delivered. #3.Download it.

#1 is the fastest if you drive straight there and back but it requires you leaving your sofa and waiting in line. #2 will take day/s not hours, its the slowest option. #3 even at 3 hours is the most convenient option.

Having said that...the stuff Alan is talking about would be really cool.

No, #3 is the quickest and most convienent if using iTunes or vudu. It may not be stored on your hard drive, and may not be as high of quality, but you didn't mention those issues.

I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents here.

We sell a lot of Kaleidescape (IE we're a platinum level dealer) and I can tell you this as an absolute fact: Without exception our customers have been very positive about this news. We started discussing this topic with clients post CEDIA. The overwhelming response from clients all centers around buying many movies at once or purchasing "collections" of films via this new downloadable option. None of them seemed concerned with the download times as they were never lead to believe it was a "streaming" service. If the feature is sold in the proper manner, as a convenient and interactive way to purchase content, adding even more value to the Kaleidescape system.

These clients have money to spend, they tend to be collectors. Spending $2000 by tapping away at movie covers on their iPad won't even generate a moment of pause. Unlike other statements in this this thread I feel that these clients are not that concerned about the instant ability of viewing.

not necessarily, you are thinking as a renter and not a buyer. Yes titles that I have bought through mail took days, but I have never needed to get off my couch jump in the car to buy a movie at the store. I just buy them when it is convenient and I am not on the couch or in my house. My guess like me you need to leave your house/couch for other reasons. So what is to stop a buyer, for example, to stop off at a store and get a few films on the way to/from work or on their lunch time? I have bought countless films that way.

Now if you are talking about a 1 day rental (do they still exist?) then you need to make sure you have the time and you get the movie you feel like watching, but if you buy them, then all you need to know is do I want to spend the $ and do I want to see it. I bought the Hitchcock collection (15 films if I remember correctly) that is not just to sit down for a day.

I pointed out the same thing to Fin a few post earlier, 3h or more might seam like a long wait, but what is to stop someone from checking what films he wants to buy in the morning before leaving for work or at night before going to bed?

I look at my life and the lives of my clients and while a few fit your description most do not. These are impulse purchases. It's raining, there is nothing on the 300 channels so you look at what is available to rent. On occasion, it's a Saturday and you want Family night movies. Again, most don't know what they want to watch, and it becomes an impulse purchase.

Yes, I can watch my 3 DVD ( yes, I said DVD, not BD )collection of "Smiley's People" endlessly. My wife will not and for my girls it depends on their mood. They'd rather go to Internet streaming sites to watch eposidic TV shows they've missed. They care not a wit for quality.

If you are a subscriber to Ultra-Violet and you get BD quality discs downloaded transparently and you just chose and watch you may have an audience. Otherwise you are retricting yourself to a vew collectors and there are far fewer of these than there used to be--judging from my clients. Convenience and ease of use sell; quality does not. These are often Type A personality types so they "could" exhibit this behvior but I have found that while they could they chose not to devote brain power to these matters.

They want new or something they have not seen in years.

I agree, that for renters it is impulse, but this K, and not Netflix. The guy that will have a K and go to their online store to buy a film won't be a renter but a buyer since there is no rental option and he will have to purchase it in order to see it

That is why I am giving my perspective on the subject as a buyer and not a renter. Since it is hard for renters to grasp it (like why will someone pay 30$ for a movie when they can rent it for much less)


As for EST the simple reality is that be it K's proprietary high quality long loads or UV or Vudu or apple, none of them amount to much and are smaller than niche. All together for the first 3/4 of the year they made up ~.5B in an industry worth~6B

[Link: degonline.org]

Now for renters I agree, convenience and price are important and large quality DL would most likely not work because it tends to be a lot more about wasting a few hours and being able to say to friends "I saw it" then about enjoying the film (and why under rental it is more or less 50/50 between digital and physical but for sales it is not even close.

On documented fact that is being left out of this discussion, the more convienent something becomes,the more impulsive the purchases become. When you have to go to the grocery store that is several miles and has long lines for milk, you are more likely to plan ahead on your shopping. But when the convienent store opens at the end of your street, you stop planning your purchases as much. You also grab an individual sized bag of chips and an ice cream bar with the milk. Convienence made you pay more, plan less, and buy stuff you didn't need.

It doesn't get more convienent than buying a movie with a remote. But I don't see a lot of planning going into the purchase. I think Alan is right, it's a very spontaneous transaction. Especially considering the precedence that iTunes and Vudu have established.

I will say this for those of you who think K dead or dieing. Apple was once thought to be on its last legs and now it has the largest capitalization of any in the world. The odds are that K will be a neiche product but at its cost of entry it was always so. I am not sure it is gone especially if they offer transparent downloads in additon to those you can chose. While you watch one movie the other downloads. Quality on a large projection screen will matter and 55-70 displays are not large screen--not in terms of movie screens

I disagree, you are equating impulse with spending $ and buying more. I don't see it that way in this discussion. To continue your analogy when I go to Park X (the Greek neighbourhood of Montreal) I stock up on Greek stuff, I don't know if I will really need all of them or when I will use them but I don't know when I will be back either, same with China town and Little Italy. On the other hand when I go to the grocery store near my place there is no such need since if it is not a weekly special, I can always go back tomorrow or the next day if I found out I need it and it might just be fresher. Same here, right now I have over 50 unseen films and TV series (that means stuff I purchased because when I was at the store/on-line I decided "I know I will eventually want to see it so why not buy it now", but let's face it, if I could get the same quality instantaneously when I felt like watching it, what would be the benefit of having unwatched films?




I disagree on convenience, but I think I have a different definition (for me it is not as convenient as having the film at home because I can't get what I want with a remote and the disk was bought hours/days/weeks/months before hand when it made sense and so it is on-hand in the player before the projector is even on). But to me the no planning and spontaneity is why I disagree with your first part.