Only 1 percent of adults regularly download, watch movies from Internet
- March 3rd, 2008
- Read 1149 times
- 3 Comments
No one’s downloading movies from the Internet. “No one,” here, means about 1 percent of adults with broadband connections. That hardly bodes will for Apple TV and the like.
A recent survey conducted by research outfit the Diffusion Group found that only 1 percent of adult with broadband frequently download movies (legally) from the Internet from places like iTunes and Vudu. A more respectable 9.5 percent of the same demo have downloaded at least one movie once. I’ve downloaded plenty of movies, just, uh, not using those services; other, less mainstream ones are significantly cheaper.
What could possibly explain why people appear to be so hesitant to make the plunge? For one, people like watching movies on the big screen, that is, their TV. (Unless we’re talking cellphones, where some 2 percent said watching a movie there would be an important ability to have.) When you’ve got to shell out X Amount to buy an Apple TV (or equivalent device) just to be able to watch a movie on your TV, people get turned off. And hardly anyone thinks stringing an HDMI cable the computer to the TV is practical.
Looks like this whole “movies on your computer screen” isn’t quite figured out yet.
A Tough Sell: Movies on Small Screens [New York Times]
Carl (Who am I?)
4 months ago
I don’t buy these numbers and i’ll give you an example why.
DirecTV On Demand and Netflix On Demand
DirecTV’s On Demand service does just that, it enables you to download movies and tv shows OVER THE INTERNET using the latest DirecTV satellite receivers. It is basically VUDU/Apple TV in your satellite receiver.
Netflix On Demand is also another way to watch movies online, and I am sure plenty of Netflix subscribers have taken advantage of the fact that it is free with your Netflix subscription (or atleast certain subscriptions).
Combine those with Apple TV owners, VUDU owners, etc. and I am sure the numbers have got to be higher than 1% of adult broadband users.
len nam (Who am I?)
4 months ago
Only Vudu seems to have made a serious effort and they have only been out about 4 months. Apple was the other contender, but Steve Jobs said it was only a “hobby” for them, and they don’t have high def even after a year and only have about 500 out of their promised 1000 rental films. The quality of the cable, Blockbusters. and Apple is not good. Vudu shows promise with 5000 films going to 10,000, 250 gigs of storage versus 40 for Apple, 1080p high def vs 720 for Apple, and far better and user friendly software. You can filter to pick a category like comedy or humor, filter to only get lists of 4+ or 5+ critic rated movies and avoid all of the junk and pick your movie in 30-60 seconds. It’s that kind of technology and great interface that will brin many more to download. Click and it starts is really great once you see it in action or have it. I think DVD’s will die and its only a matter of time. You can also rent a download for $1-4 or $6 for high def versus $20 or $30 for high def to buy a DVD. Netflix is the only option and they are losing money because of postage fees and will probably go out of business. One other thing about downloads with Vudu, which I have, is that you get to preview the first three minutes and see as many of the films as you like before you decide that’s the film you’re going to watch that evening. That’s really nice and you don’t get that with Netflix or Apple or the cable companies. Remember, Vudu has only been out 4 months. This is an industry that’s going to change a lot in a short period of time.
Caren Paster (Who am I?)
4 months ago
I’m sure most people don’t know about Vudu, even though they’ve gotten great reviews, because they are so new. I still have Netflix, but don’t use it any more because Vudu is so much more useful and fun to use. Once you use their downloads, you see how much farther ahead they are than anyone else around. Blockbuster will also probably go out of business because it costs so much to have stores. My downloads cost me $1-4 for movies or TV series and that’s a lot better than buying DVD’s at $20 a pop or having to go to the computer and the mails for netflix. Caren