Vudu Economics
Although NetFlix is changing the way we do movies, who wants to wait a business day or so for their flick? Why not download them so you can watch it right away? Well, that is the concept behind the Vudu. If you haven't heard of this already, Vudu has been described as "a video store in a box" that will definitely go head-to-head with Apple TV as far as its content is concerned.
As it is, the Vudu has made deals to offer movies from the big studio seven as early as this summer. That's hard to believe, considering I've never even heard of Vudu. Apparently, it has been making the technology and staking out the tech since 2004, and the company is run by some Silicon Valley Pirates.
The box itself is quite small in comparison to other DVR units. It has plenty of ports, including HDMI, Composite, and S-Video. All movies are delivered via MPEG-4 files, and then goes through online broadband cable. So far, no questions have been answered about the capacity of its Hard Drive. Man, that would be the first thing that I would want answered, because I want to know how many movies I can hold on it.
The remote control only has about five buttons, which sort of makes me wonder how it can operate. There is a scroller like the one on your mouse, so maybe you can surf through the latest films. The menu looks very user friendly, but I have no idea how you will pick what films you want to watch with just five buttons.
I also have no idea how the subscription service works. I mean, will they charge per movie, or is there some monthly fee? Either way, it sounds like it will be expensive for those that rent a few, and cheaper (in the longrun) for those who rent a lot. Also, is there a way for a customer to buy a movie that they liked? Personally, I think they should offer some sort of deal on that. I've lost track of how many movies I've rented, and liked them so much that I went out and bought them. I am assuming that if you buy the movie, they won't send you a DVD, but a digital file.
Clearly, this Vudu technology may be a harbinger of the death of video stores. I've been hearing for years that the Information Age was going to remove traditional books, CDs, and movies and put everything on digital files. This Vudu has the potential to be one significant step toward a completely digital era, so you might want to invest in it while you can.
