Now, I’m no pundit, nor is this anything new, but the death of physical media is upon us. I’ve been saying for years that unless there was a palpable leap in technology, no one would care about the next step after DVD. And if you look at sales for Blu-Ray (HDVD, R.I.P.), I think this theory is pretty well supported. The future of entertainment is in downloads, and NetFlix, already a home video giant, has just stepped up their game by adding a dedicated TV Set-Top player, built and distributed by Roku.
So what does this mean? NetFlix has been steadily adding “Watch Now” titles, as part of your regular NetFlix subscription, which means you can download them from the internet onto your computer, and “keep” them for as long as you want. With Roku’s Netflix Player (and similar players are coming from LG, and others, in the next year or so), you can cut the computer out of the equation, and watch, download, and set up your queue, directly on your television.
The bad news is that right now, NetFlix’s selection is a little paltry, as is the video quality. However, the service is a work in progress, so expect, as these set top boxes become available commercially, for the quality and availability to increase dramatically.
Cnet has a great round-up and review of the box, so check it out there. And of course, we’ll let you know when the box becomes available at stores. Oh, and here's the best part: when it is available, it'll only cost $100. Not bad, NetFlix. Not bad.
Update: Ask and ye shall receive. Roku literally just put up their order page, so it's available starting right now.
[$100, Roku]