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Netflix Vs. the Good Old Video Store
I have been subscribed to Netflix for a while now and in some ways it has replaced how my girlfriend and I get our movies and TV shows but we still find ourselves in the video store from time to time.
One of the really great things about Netflix is that the selection is absolutely huge and the entire movie list concept is really easy to deal with. However there are several times in which my girlfriend will watch a TV show we get off Netflix and then not want to wait for the rest of the series to be shipped. You see she has a habit of instead of watching a TV show on DVD for a bit at at time she will sit down and watch the entire season front to back over multiple nights if necessary. I find this a bit strange since you get to watch a TV show over Netflix much faster than if it were and episode a week spread over an entire year but if she knows that she can get her fix faster then I will be tasked with getting the rest of the season from my local video store. I have had success with shorter TV shows on DVD like Da Ali G Show and Jamie's Kitchen. They are both two disks a piece but for longer disc series like Deadwood, Carnivale and Queer as Folk I had to go to the video store to score the missing DVD fix in order to keep her TV high going.
I am guilty of the same offense some time but I like to use the DVD drive in my iBook to time-shift the program until I am ready to watch it on my own schedule. I don't really consider it piracy since I paid for the rental and I am not preventing a video sale or distributing it. Sure I will occasionally rip a rented DVD but I still buy movies and TV shows on DVD. In fact this past two weeks we purchased, Reno 911, 30 Days and Rollergirls on DVD. So the MPAA fat cats are still getting my money.
Netflix is great for getting around to seeing movies that you have always wanted to see but they can be hard to get newer releases. The video stores do have spontaneity on their side.
On Saturday Kymberly was in a foul mood since she spent the entire day at a funeral so on the way home from dinner out I took her to the video store to fine something to cheer her up. The selection in the classic movies section is no where near the level that it would need to be to satisfy her lusts for black and white classic movies and she can be quite vocal at times in the video store to express this. However the local Hollywood Video is finally getting rid of their VHS stock and this might give them a chance to expand their selection but knowing them they might fill it up with Adam Sandler and Will Smith crap. She ended up finding a Hitchcock film that she has not seen before and going to the video store and sifting through the selection with someone is much more spontaneous than moving around movies in your Netflix list. There is a bit of a ritual around walking down the isles with someone talking and debating what DVD to take home.
There is of course the future threat on an "iTunes Movie Store" or a some other movie download service but when HD-DVD and Blu-Ray move in on DVDs turf I don't want to have to pull 20 gigs or so over a net connection just to watch a movie. I am writing this article on 56k dial-up for Zod's sake.
I love the entire concept of Netflix and I prefer it to cable TV but I don't think I could totally give up the video store entirely. They complement each other quite well. Kymberly claims that she can give up the video store in favor of Netflix entirely but my runs to the store to keep her TV high going says otherwise. For best results you might from the video store on go on thursday.
Jake at July 17, 2006 
Nerd
Comments
I think, according to law, if you keep the copy you rip more than 24 hours (this would be past the return date or something), then it is illegal. But honestly, Hollywood doesn't make enough money by exploiting the public? Don't feel bad if you do. I'm an indie filmmaker myself and never feel bad about pirating the occasional crappy hollywood movie. If it's a film that is quite good and you like a lot, then there is not reason not to buy it. Thats how I fell anyway.
Posted by: Shawn L ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.8bitjoystick.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 17, 2006 2:51 PM
I don't think Timeshifting is piracy. I mean I still buy movies and TV shows on DVD or on iTunes so I fail to see people getting hurt in me timeshifting rental movie that I already paid for so I can watch it when I want to. I think the future of TV and movies in your home is going to be more based on watching what you want when you want on the devices you want. I think it is an exciting time to be a film maker to have all the new forms of media distribution emerging. There has been quite a bit of indie films that have been distributed on Netflix as their only means getting out there.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf at July 17, 2006 5:04 PM
NetFlix is an excellent source for indie films. In fact, that's the very reason I've considered it many time. I am yet to sign up however.
Now, when you say timeshifting? Do you mean recording it or whatever, watching it, then destroying it after you do so?
Posted by: Shawn L at July 19, 2006 4:00 PM
