How many stored Movies

[redwein]

Re: How many stored Movies

Hardware and software issues will not be the big hurdle for VUDU, according to redwein, but apparently getting new releases to rent is.

My point was that that would be the thing that could seriously diminish their long term prospects if they don't get it worked out. I have confidence they will. The progress that they have made since they started shipping the boxes is a good sign and I'm willing to give them a chance to pull it off.

[Cjohn17]

Re: How many stored Movies

From the linked review provided by NA9D:

"There are too many movie restrictions to make the Vudu worthwhile for anyone other casual movie watchers. Paying $19.99 for a proprietary-format movie that can only be played on the Vudu is entirely too much. With DVDs you can take them to friends? houses, play them on your laptop during flights and all of that. Vudu could lessen the blow by implementing a feature allowing users to export movies to their computer." - Paul Stamatiou

On the subject of P2P networking, "This is a great strategy from Vudu?s standpoint, especially if they end up having many customers - this p2p technology implementation will make it easy to scale and take some load off of the Vudu servers. As such, short of being unplugged, the Vudu can?t really be turned off. However, as my roommate put it, if they're using our bandwidth for their purposes they need to pay us. There is a reduced bandwidth mode that might deal with this issue." - Paul Stamatiou

On movie rental availability, "While Vudu has deals with many movie studios including independent ones, each movie seems to have its own restrictions. Not all movies may be previewed, rented and owned. It?s always a mix of the three. Some movies can only be purchased, and others can?t be previewed, et cetera. Some movies just aren?t offered on the Vudu. I was searching for Antitrust and couldn?t find it." - Paul Stamatiou

Hey, didn't I say all of that? Sure, generally he is positive about VUDU. So am I. But there are issues that were apparent to Stamatiou that need to be addressed.

http://paulstamatiou.com/2007/09/30/review-vudu/

[redwein]

Re: How many stored Movies

Hey, didn't I say all of that? Sure, generally he is positive about VUDU. So am I. But there are issues that were apparent to Stamatiou that need to be addressed.

Everyone on this forum has said most of this as well. There is nobody that doesn't want every movie available as soon as it is available from Netflix, or who doesn't want all of the choices for rental, etc. Not one person has debated against those things.

[junk]

Re: Defragging the VUDU Box

I did not state as a matter of fact. General disc maintenance is a fact of life for most users. But Linux is not my area of expertise. But there is also a school of thought, according to several sites that some Linux variants do need disc maintenance. Again, we are assuming VUDU is a Linux operating system. None of the moderators know.

I am a long time OS X user and we think of Linux users as UNIX's poor hillbillies. ; )

Disk checking is something that should be done with anything, but that's disk maintenance and not filesystem maintenance. They're very different issues. As stated by someone earlier (my apologies for not lookng up the post), a hard disk is a mechanical device and is subject to mechanical failures. Platters can become scratched, read heads can fail, spindles can go bad and cause total data loss. That's not an issue of file fragmentation though. A drive check after X number of boots or a power failure is a good thing and, one would assume, something that has already been thought of.

If the Vudu OS is Linux based, I wouldn't be surprised if very little of the OS was actually stored on the disk. It's not hard to stuff an entire Linux distro into a small amount of RAM (check out TinyLinux and OpenWRT).

If we want to start OS wars, well we probably need a new thread. But as someone who's used Windows, MacOS, OSX and Linux in depth... OSX is just "Unix" for people who don't understand Unix and like being forced to use a mouse.

Over 10 years using Linux and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Cjohn17]

Re: How many stored Movies

My point was that that would be the thing that could seriously diminish their long term prospects if they don't get it worked out. I have confidence they will. The progress that they have made since they started shipping the boxes is a good sign and I'm willing to give them a chance to pull it off.

I don't understand why the dramatic lag time, and no one has explained it adequately to me. I suspect it's because the movie studios don't want to tick off the rental outlets or violate agreements. If that is the case then this issue will never go away and I'm wasting my time with this product. All I get from the moderators is "patience". You can bet those folks who spent $399 on this box will not be "patient" very long.

[redwein]

Re: How many stored Movies

I don't understand why the dramatic lag time, and no one has explained it adequately to me. I suspect it's because the movie studios don't want to tick off the rental outlets or violate agreements. If that is the case then this issue will never go away and I'm wasting my time with this product. All I get from the moderators is "patience". You can bet those folks who spent $399 on this box will not be "patient" very long.

Like I said, we have rented 26 movies so far and are quite happy. We are absolutely expecting that the restrictions improve over time. If you haven't had the box for 30 days and you don't think they will pull it off, return it. If it's past 30 days then it really is now your responsibility since you were the one who knew how upset you were. I completely understand their explanation about what is happening with the studios. That's why I am willing to be patient. That doesn't mean that I will remain happy forever, but I will give them a fair amount of time to work through the issue. As long as I see steady improvement, I will be happy.

[junk]

Re: How many stored Movies

I don't understand why the dramatic lag time, and no one has explained it adequately to me. I suspect it's because the movie studios don't want to tick off the rental outlets or violate agreements. If that is the case then this issue will never go away and I'm wasting my time with this product. All I get from the moderators is "patience". You can bet those folks who spent $399 on this box will not be "patient" very long.

Well, based on what I've read, it is the studios. It's not the the studios will never allow initial releases, it's that they won't do it yet. Major production houses (like major record labels) are not quick to embrace new technology. They require proof that there's a good revenue stream in it for them and that their property will be protected. Vudu is young and there is no gaurantee that the data can't be unencrypted by some enterprising young hacker. Actually, there's really a gaurantee that it can... I bet the studios are waiting to see how hard it will be and if it will be financially feasible for the general public. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, have patience. If the studios like the revenue medium then they'll be more likely to release to Vudu on normal release dates.

[Cjohn17]

Re: Defragging the VUDU Box

"OSX is just "Unix" for people who don't understand Unix and like being forced to use a mouse."

I used Silicon Graphics UNIX systems for well over a decade running Discreet Logic Flint & Flame software. I have used a Wacom pen, not a mouse, for even longer. I dumped SGI when they went Windows. I've been using Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut Pro, After Effects on OS X for many years now. The platform of choice for many a special effects house, television production, design studio, print house, and marketing firms.

Linux runs our company mail system and not very well, boy. So save your snarky remarks for someone who cares and has less of a resume than I do.

[Cjohn17]

Re: How many stored Movies

Well, based on what I've read, it is the studios. It's not the the studios will never allow initial releases, it's that they won't do it yet. Major production houses (like major record labels) are not quick to embrace new technology. They require proof that there's a good revenue stream in it for them and that their property will be protected. Vudu is young and there is no gaurantee that the data can't be unencrypted by some enterprising young hacker. Actually, there's really a gaurantee that it can... I bet the studios are waiting to see how hard it will be and if it will be financially feasible for the general public. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, have patience. If the studios like the revenue medium then they'll be more likely to release to Vudu on normal release dates.

Sorry, if there was such an obstacle with regard to movie studio buy in then VUDU shouldn't have gone it alone. This rental lag time will be a killer for VUDU. Your argument also doesn't explain why many older movies are not available to rent. Why would anybody wait 3-4 weeks for a popular movie to show up on VUDU rental when the local rental merchant has it today?

You guys can run the chicken or the egg routines with me as many times as you want. You can beg for patience all day long. You people have to stop thinking like a bleeding edge adopters and more like a regular, impatient, I want it now, consumers.

[junk]

Re: Defragging the VUDU Box

Linux runs our company mail system and not very well, boy. So save your snarky remarks for someone who cares and has less of a resume than I do.

*** for tat, right? (You do recall your Linux comment right?)

Linux runs the entire company I work for. I won't name drop, but you might have heard of it. It's quite large. Big search engine... web mail provider... web based docs... provides analytics to most large websites... huge web video site... web photo albums... world's largest provider or contextual ads... cool map software (web based and an installable software client)... they all seem to run rather well too. I will admit that our social networking site isn't all that great, but it's still running a lot of Windows servers.

Snarky is how I got my job, old man (see also: "boy" comment). An incredible understanding of what makes the intarweb run keeps it.

ps-I didn't win my Amazon Customer Vote, so it's bed time now. We can squabble over "whose bandwidth is bigger" more tomorrow. Night.

[redwein]

Re: How many stored Movies

Sorry, if there was such an obstacle with regard to movie studio buy in then VUDU shouldn't have gone it alone. This rental lag time will be a killer for VUDU. Your argument also doesn't explain why many older movies are not available to rent. Why would anybody wait 3-4 weeks for a popular movie to show up on VUDU rental when the local rental merchant has it today?

You guys can run the chicken or the egg routines with me as many times as you want. You can beg for patience all day long. You people have to stop thinking like a bleeding edge adopters and more like a regular, impatient, I want it now, consumers.

I disagree. I think Vudu's time to market was fine. The technology is solid. The movie selection is a great start. It should get better from there. I would wait 3-4 weeks to rent a movie because I wouldn't rent using the other channels at all. I want VOD, period. I don't want disks, period. Does everyone think like me? Of course not. But they certainly aren't all as impatient as you appear to be. I still don't understand why you are keeping or kept the box. This obviously bothers you a great deal and you seem to need to make it bother everyone else too.

[Cjohn17]

Re: How many stored Movies

Junk; Yes, you run the back of things while I decorate the front end and make your tedious number crunching look pretty. We design guys get all the girls while Linux monkeys join bowling leagues.

Just teasing, buddy.

Seriously, we're dumping Linux and Windows and moving to OS X servers. I work for a large national retailer and we have better things to do than jockey code.

I am curious what VUDU is running under the hood though.

[Cjohn17]

Re: How many stored Movies

I disagree. I think Vudu's time to market was fine. The technology is solid. The movie selection is a great start. It should get better from there. I would wait 3-4 weeks to rent a movie because I wouldn't rent using the other channels at all. I want VOD, period. I don't want disks, period. Does everyone think like me? Of course not. But they certainly aren't all as impatient as you appear to be. I still don't understand why you are keeping or kept the box. This obviously bothers you a great deal and you seem to need to make it bother everyone else too.

I don't have too. It's already showing up in some of the new customer posts. Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal has made the same observations. You moderators do VUDU a great disservice if you all think VUDU is your personal toy you can make excuses for.

I warn you, ignore this rental issue and it will be the death of VUDU. It cannot survive with this dramatic a lag time. If you think consumers won't go rent a popular new movie at Blockbuster or a local supermarket first rather wait 3 weeks for it to show up on VUDU, then you all are sadly mistaken.

Besides, I'm talking past the moderators. I'm hoping the management of VUDU listens to my points.

[redwein]

Re: How many stored Movies

Well of course some people will be unhappier than others. You really can't claim from the number of data points you have that the current state represents any sort of problem with respect to Vudu's long term prospects. Remember the DirecTV discussion we were having? You claimed that they had exceptional services and exceptional products simply because you believe they do. I pointed out a host of complaints that real customers have, yet you still believe in them. Taking a few comments off of a board and trying to justify your position is like taking a few comments of the Prius chat board and concluding that the Prius is a failure. That's just ridiculous.

Even the reviews that talk about the need for a larger selection talk about it as something that needs to be fixed to make the product ultimately be successful. That implies that the improvement can occur over time. I didn't read it as an indication that they thought, in any way, that Vudu should have held off releasing what they have at this point.

That is my big issue with your position on this. You really seem to keep insisting that somehow Vudu "wronged" you and all of the other customers by releasing the product in its current state with only the hope that it can improve. Not even the reviewer tries to make that point and only a few people on this forum do.

[RonV]

Re: How many stored Movies

DirecTV has dissolved their relationship with TiVo for a variety reasons. I suspect because TiVo's business model was incompatible with DirecTV's and they were late on equipment upgrades. My confidence has always been with DirecTV and their long history of customer satisfaction which I can attest to.

Actually if you read the TiVo boards and the DBS satellite broads you would have known that DirecTV has committed to another two years of partnership with TiVo. DirecTV is looking to add features to its DVR that it will license from TiVo.