You're viewing an article in iPO's historic archive vault. Here, we've preserved the comments and how the site looked along with the article. Use this link to view the article on our current site: Neflix Streaming Coming to the Mac

News

Neflix Streaming Coming to the Mac

Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 8:15 AM - by

Netflix looks to finally be bringing its Internet-based movie streaming service to the Mac. The DVD rental company is currently testing service with select customers and is basing its Mac version on Microsoft's Flash competitor Silverlight and should roll out to all Mac subscribers by the end of the year.

Mac users have been barred from using the Netflix streaming service before now because the copyright protection built into the movies and TV shows uses Microsoft's Windows-only DRM scheme. By switching to Microsoft's Silverlight multimedia playback technology, however, Netflix can offer cross-platform viewing without breaking its reliance on the Redmond company's DRM code.

Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt commented "Silverlight with Play Ready offers a powerful and secure toolkit for delivery of dynamic streaming, which offers faster start-up, and higher quality video, adapted in real time to users' connection speeds."

The service will require an Intel-based Mac, so G4 and G5 Mac owners will have to upgrade to a newer machine before they can take advantage of Netflix movie and TV show streaming.

8 comments from the community.

You can post your own below.

+ show options

Your current settings, click to change: Sort Oldest First, Show Guest Posts, Hide Community Stats

A guest said: (hide)

Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:58 am

AppleTV?

Quote this post ↓

vasic said:

member since 09 Aug 2005 with 279 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:07 pm

If that Silverlight means bringing Microsoft's DRM parasites into my Mac, then thanks, Netflix, but no thanks.

Quote this post ↓

xmattingly said:

member since 31 Jul 2007 with 266 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Oct 27, 2008 1:29 pm

Silverlight? You can count me out, then. I refuse to use that product in any capacity, solely on the basis that M$ alternately shakes their goods and then turns their back to us Mac users, depending on what they think suits their agenda best.

Internet Explorer? They dropped that like a hot potato when Safari came out (not really complaining about that one, but...). And of course, Ballmer recently trumpeted Windows Office as superior to Macs, since we of course get an "incomplete" version. It's a completely different story when they have a product that they want to generate market share with. M$ is NOT about consumer loyalty... they're all about playing hardball with competitors and customers alike, and pushing their agenda forward by any means necessary.

Quote this post ↓

A guest said: (hide)

Mon Oct 27, 2008 1:56 pm

xmattingly wrote:
Silverlight? ...M$ alternately shakes their goods and then turns their back to us Mac users, depending on what they think suits their agenda best.

...they're all about playing hardball with competitors and customers alike, and pushing their agenda forward by any means necessary.

I have news for you, EVERY company does this. This is why they're in business; they have a responsibility to the shareholders to advance their agenda.

As for Netflix, IT"S ABOUT TIME. And thank heaven there is FINALLY some competition for the craptastic Flash. Adobe snoozes. MS takes advantage. Mac users win. I used Silverlight (IntelMac only thank you) to watch streamed Olympic coverage. It worked VERY well and the interface was unobtrusive. It should work great for streaming Netflix. I'll be using it for sure.

Quote this post ↓

xmattingly said:

member since 31 Jul 2007 with 266 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:16 pm

Guest wrote:
I have news for you, EVERY company does this. This is why they're in business; they have a responsibility to the shareholders to advance their agenda.

As for Netflix, IT"S ABOUT TIME. And thank heaven there is FINALLY some competition for the craptastic Flash. Adobe snoozes. MS takes advantage. Mac users win.
How do I "win"? By having another product come around that I don't want or need? I have news for you, there isn't another tech company around that strongarm's their way around the market, regardless of who is on the receiving end, to the extent that M$ does.

How is M$' business approach responsible to shareholders? By having Ballmer get on stage and declare to the world, "Mac users pay the same price for an 'incomplete' product"? By waffling on Plays For Sure, and partnerships with MTV? By releasing a broken OS, then launching a $300 mil. campaign that attempts to ignore that issue? Or by releasing a media player that's "better" than Flash for... reasons none other than simply being a competitor?

Your reasoning for M$' M.O. is flawed, just as much as your claim that Flash is flawed (without explanation, of course). I can promise you this: a business that puts their shareholder's concerns ahead of their customers isn't long for this world. Customers are the reason why there is commerce. Without customers, there are no shareholders. Microsoft needs to get its head straight, and so do you.

Quote this post ↓

demjones said:

member since 25 Jun 2001 with 12 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:17 pm

I've never been able to download, much less install Silverlight on my Intel MacBook. The MS site tells me that it's checking to see if I'm capable of using Silverlight, then sits there literally for hours.

Is there an alternate path?

Quote this post ↓

xmattingly said:

member since 31 Jul 2007 with 266 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:20 pm

demjones wrote:
I've never been able to download, much less install Silverlight on my Intel MacBook.

Is there an alternate path?
Sure: http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

Quote this post ↓

iJack said:

member since 13 Jun 2001 with 313 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:29 am

Wow! Much heat, but little light. Silverlight, that is. Should I not have downloaded and installed it? Seems to work well enough, and the quality is good. I use Little Snitch 24/7, and I don't remember any connections with M$.

Quote this post ↓

Post Your Comments

  Remember Me

Not a member? Register now. You can post comments without logging in, but they'll show up as a "guest" post.


Please enter the word exactly as you see it in the image above. Registered users aren't prompted for this. Having trouble reading the image get a new one.