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October 27, 2008

video

Watch this: Netflix begins rolling out online video to Mac users

Posted Oct. 27, ’08, 7:26 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Video

NetflixMuch as I hate stealing Derik’s thunder and lightning (very, very frightening), it’s a distinct pleasure to bring you the news that Netflix subscribers can, at long last, finally stream movies and TV shows from the company’s website to their Macs, with the help of Microsoft’s Silverlight.

Well, sort of. The company put out a press release this morning, saying that they’d begun rolling out their “second-generation” media player. Those of you still in a PowerPC way will be left out in the cold, as only Intel Macs are supported by the Silverlight-based player. And the software is being rolled out gradually to Netflix subscribers—it’s not showing up for me yet—though Netflix plans to have it available to all its customers by the end of the year.

And so the battle for dominance in the digital video market wears on, with no clear victor in sight. Netflix has already convinced millions of people to pay a monthly subscription for all their video-watching needs; seems but a short leap from getting those movies via snail mail to watching them on your computer. Later this month, Xbox 360 users will be able to start streaming Netflix movies directly to their TV. If Netflix can bridge the computer-to-TV gap for the rest of its subscribers, it’ll be a force to reckon with.


4 Comments

Jon said:

I'm still not interested and for the same reasons I'm not interested in TV shows/movies on iTunes.

I'm only interested in buying. I don't rent my entertainment.

And... digital files don't do anything for me. Give me physical media... with the best picture and audio quality that technology can generate.

You can get my physical media when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

October 27, 2008 8:30 AM
Dave-O said:

When the Intel transition was announced, people wondered how long it would be before Apple dropped PowerPC support. "Why buy a PowerPC now if Apple's going to stop supporting it in a couple years?" Turns out everyone else dropped support long before Apple did.

October 27, 2008 9:54 AM
wesg Author Profile Page said:

Oh the irony of using a Microsoft technology to finally get Netflix support on a Mac.

October 27, 2008 4:20 PM
Stop Smoking said:

At looong last!!!

Thanks for the heads up.

October 27, 2008 9:23 PM

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