NXE & Netflix: HD after all
As a quick update to yesterdays post, it turns out Netflix will in fact be providing HD quality streaming to Xbox 360 users only. According to Gizmodo and Engadget, an initial limited run of about 300 movies will test the waters.
What's most interesting about this decision is that PC & Mac users can't yet stream HD through the web. Newegg specs out 360's as having Fast Ethernet (10/100BASE-TX). And as far as I can tell, the Roku box is capable of 4-6 mpbs, pending firmware updates, which is roughly DVD-quality but not HD quality. So if your average computer user also has Fast Ethernet, all things being equal, it would seem the decision by Netflix to turn on HD streaming for Xbox users only (for now) is rooted in their business agreement with Microsoft. An exclusive angle makes sense, since we're talking about a company facing revenue challenges and, well, Microsoft.
This situation raises another question about our all streaming, modular-less digital future. If the era of modular content is in fact over, how long before the hardware war ends, if ever? If content providers all 'agree' on their format - that is, digital - will partnerships and exclusivity continue to put a stranglehold on consumers ability to receive the content in different ways? Since Netflix outputs their content in a standard format over a standard line, will the hardware manufacturers - Roku, Microsoft, Apple, Dell, third-party cable box makers - continue to just throttle the consumer? And will the PC forever be the most open box?
What's most interesting about this decision is that PC & Mac users can't yet stream HD through the web. Newegg specs out 360's as having Fast Ethernet (10/100BASE-TX). And as far as I can tell, the Roku box is capable of 4-6 mpbs, pending firmware updates, which is roughly DVD-quality but not HD quality. So if your average computer user also has Fast Ethernet, all things being equal, it would seem the decision by Netflix to turn on HD streaming for Xbox users only (for now) is rooted in their business agreement with Microsoft. An exclusive angle makes sense, since we're talking about a company facing revenue challenges and, well, Microsoft.
This situation raises another question about our all streaming, modular-less digital future. If the era of modular content is in fact over, how long before the hardware war ends, if ever? If content providers all 'agree' on their format - that is, digital - will partnerships and exclusivity continue to put a stranglehold on consumers ability to receive the content in different ways? Since Netflix outputs their content in a standard format over a standard line, will the hardware manufacturers - Roku, Microsoft, Apple, Dell, third-party cable box makers - continue to just throttle the consumer? And will the PC forever be the most open box?
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