Netflix surpasses Bitorrent in internet saturation!

[wirednuts]

well, that pretty much kills the piracy debate if you ask me. netflix now holds more traffic on the internet then torrents. (in the US)

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/05/netflix-traffic/

which means people obviously dont care about video quality (not surprising, same thing happened with mp3's), and its also another prime example that intrusive drm tactics only hurt sales. make paid-for services easier then torrenting, and people would love to fork out cash for the convenience.

 

[nageov3t]

it always makes me scratch my head when I see torrents ranked in like the top 5 most popular for stuff that's available for free via streaming.

I guess platform matters, though. kind of a PITA that only hulu+ works on cellphones and tablets (and netflix doesn't work at all on linux)

 

[ch33zw1z]

(and netflix doesn't work at all on linux)

This pisses me off to no end, even more so because they allow OSX the ability to run Netflix but not Linux.

And to stay on topic. FU to all the ISP lubbers who's networks are still choking on perfectly legal data from 5-10PM every night.

 

[nageov3t]

This pisses me off to no end, even more so because they allow OSX the ability to run Netflix but not Linux.

/nod

I've got 2 machines that I would switch completely to Linux if not for the lack of Netflix instant support.

 

[airdata]

Nice. I love my Netflix streaming 🙂

 

[wirednuts]

no linux support for netflix is rather strange, considering most (all?) of the ip-tv boxes that have netflix apps in them are linux based.

im just glad there is solid proof now that data caps are NOT going to work. comcast and the like are already promoting streaming services, but if they keep the data caps in place they will not be able to honor what they advertise. and now for them to say that piracy is a concern, well i dont see how they can use that argument at all anymore.

 

[nageov3t]

no linux support for netflix is rather strange, considering most (all?) of the ip-tv boxes that have netflix apps in them are linux based.

my understanding is that it's a Silverlight support issue... I wonder if the netflix streaming devices use a different codec or something.

 

[her209]

Bandwidth caps should fix this "problem".

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Clearly, netflix is doing something illegal if they're using too much internet. My guess is they get all the movies they sell by torrents!

 

[Broheim]

my understanding is that it's a Silverlight support issue... I wonder if the netflix streaming devices use a different codec or something.

moonlight (POSIX silverlight implementation) works just fine, moonlight developers have even told netflix that they'll implement PlayReady DRM in moonlight, but still nothing.
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/opensource/the-netflix-linux-conjecture-how-netflix-snubs-the-linux-community/1745

 

[shurato]

I canceled my Cable TV for Netflix and Hulu. It's only a matter of time before this trend angers the cable gods and they start implementing metered Internet service.

 

[Macamus Prime]

,.. and they start implementing metered Internet service.

Oh God, let them!

I don't even touch 1GB a month. I don't torrent or watch movies via internet. I just surf.

 

[wirednuts]

my understanding is that it's a Silverlight support issue... I wonder if the netflix streaming devices use a different codec or something.

you know, thats right. netflix used to use flash, which had about 1000 different implementations on various computers, which caused nothing but problems for the normal people trying to watch.

so netflix switched to silverlight, which at the time was cpu-only driven. this almost eliminated any problems they used to have.

but, knowing that silverlight is a microsoft baby, it makes sense as to why they wont allow it on linux. but i still think they should allow it, i dont think people will rush to buy linux pc's once silverlight supports it...

 

[wirednuts]

I canceled my Cable TV for Netflix and Hulu. It's only a matter of time before this trend angers the cable gods and they start implementing metered Internet service.

the only reason cable companies care is because they have to pay millions in licensing fees to provide cable channels. you can blame the networks for fixing prices. eventually though, the internet will eliminate cable tv. we will still have the networks, everyone will still get paid, its just the means we use to get that content will be different. in the meantime, they have to work out the legalities and finances to switch it all over, so the customers will (and are) have to pay for that.

Oh God, let them!

I don't even touch 1GB a month. I don't torrent or watch movies via internet. I just surf.

youre part of the problem! youre the excuse they use against the rest of us!😉

 

[ch33zw1z]

Oh God, let them!

I don't even touch 1GB a month. I don't torrent or watch movies via internet. I just surf.

Bah, just because you don't utilize the connection you pay for doesn't that nobody else doesn't use it either. Believe it or not, some of us use our connections heavily. I'm not against metered service, but knowing how Telco's operate...metered service will be rape upon the customer. Now what happens when people can no longer afford the internet? Oh, that's right, back to cable TV...where the other rape is happening.

 

[Brainonska511]

Oh God, let them!

I don't even touch 1GB a month. I don't torrent or watch movies via internet. I just surf.

LOL. They'll probably charge you a connection fee that is already as much as your current bill + a per GB charge. No way they would switch to a pay-per-GB model unless it means they can squeeze more money out of people than they already do.

 

[ElFenix]

And at peak times, Netflix hits 30 percent of all traffic, a bounce of 44 percent over results from the fall.

well that explains why my internets goes to shit every evening. ping is low but bandwidth becomes terrible. at&t oversubscribed $14.95/month DSL service.

 

[airdata]

I canceled my Cable TV for Netflix and Hulu. It's only a matter of time before this trend angers the cable gods and they start implementing metered Internet service.

Yep. I thought about doing it but there's some stuff that I can't get through torrents or hulu or netflix.

 

[crownjules]

Goes to show the film industry that if they catch up with the technological times, they can actually make a profit. But unfortunately, the ISPs that are also often delivering the very same content don't like their business being sucked away and are strangling it.

my understanding is that it's a Silverlight support issue... I wonder if the netflix streaming devices use a different codec or something.

Are you that surprised that an MS product won't work nicely with a non-MS operating system?

well that explains why my internets goes to shit every evening. ping is low but bandwidth becomes terrible. at&t oversubscribed $14.95/month DSL service.

Oversubscribed and now rather than spending money to upgrade their infrastructure, they're just telling you to use it less or pay more. They don't want you streaming the show from another service because you can buy it on their's.

 

[her209]

Oh God, let them!

I don't even touch 1GB a month. I don't torrent or watch movies via internet. I just surf.

Bahahaha.... how cute. You think they're going to make it cheaper for light users? Hell no. They're know you're going to pay what you're already paying per month so why should they lower your monthly bill? They'll just charge the heavy users more.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Are you that surprised that an MS product won't work nicely with a non-MS operating system?

OSX runs it just fine, why play favorites?

 

[ElFenix]

Oversubscribed and now rather than spending money to upgrade their infrastructure, they're just telling you to use it less or pay more.

i actually pay for a higher tier of service than they even offer anymore. when i first moved out there 3Mbps was the highest tier offered, at some point they started offering 6 so i switched to that, improving both my download and my upload. now only 3Mbps is offered again. in the evenings i can still max out my upload but my download will barely hit the lowest tier (less than half my upload). terrible.

sometime i should strike up a convo with the guy a the local DSLAM and ask if there's any plan to get uverse. i just randomly checked an address in the next neighborhood over and att says they have uverse service.

 

[shurato]

Yep. I thought about doing it but there's some stuff that I can't get through torrents or hulu or netflix.

I was apprehensive at first. I still miss my ESPN and sports on cable and a few other channels. I cut off HBO and Showtime too. You just learn to adjust and find other things to watch or do. Watching less TV can't be BAD for me after all 🙂

I can't stand Comcast so it's my personal boycott since I can't get FIOS as well as saving a lot of money every month.

 

[waggy]

I canceled my Cable TV for Netflix and Hulu. It's only a matter of time before this trend angers the cable gods and they start implementing metered Internet service.

yeap i did that 9 months ago. Only thing i miss is food network.

 

[Karl Agathon]

Love netflix streaming! I would also love to "cut the cord" it sounds great in theory, but in practice, even with Hulu, it wouldnt work for me. As I guess im kind of a TV junkie. I just started using a Roku XDS. Now if that were to add a dedicated ESPN HD channel and a few other additions, I would give serious thought to cutting the cord.