We now have all you can eat music services like rhapsody and zune pass. There is even a lot of free ones (lastfm) that are legal with most common songs. When will we see video services go this route?

The problem with getting vod from someone like comcast is that you have to sub to extra things like hbo, showtime, etc. Netflix is doing a great job so far but the selection is so limited I only go there if I'm really bored. Why can't they do a vod service where you can rent maybe 3 movies a week like netflix does now. This would keep people from drinking up the whole service in a month yet give them the selection they want and no wait on discs. Even a all you can eat service could hold plenty of subs because there is always new things coming out and older things to discover.

I think we are way past buying individual movies. Even if we did buy individual movies each place has their own proprietary system. I mostly just rent because I know that I could never buy everything I wanted anyway. Do we have to wait for the pirates to get this model across like they did with music?

We now have all you can eat music services like rhapsody and zune pass. There is even a lot of free ones (lastfm) that are legal with most common songs. When will we see video services go this route?

The problem with getting vod from someone like comcast is that you have to sub to extra things like hbo, showtime, etc. Netflix is doing a great job so far but the selection is so limited I only go there if I'm really bored. Why can't they do a vod service where you can rent maybe 3 movies a week like netflix does now. This would keep people from drinking up the whole service in a month yet give them the selection they want and no wait on discs. Even a all you can eat service could hold plenty of subs because there is always new things coming out and older things to discover.

I think we are way past buying individual movies. Even if we did buy individual movies each place has their own proprietary system. I mostly just rent because I know that I could never buy everything I wanted anyway. Do we have to wait for the pirates to get this model across like they did with music?

The company in the best position to make this happen is Netflix. With Redbox absolutely decimating the studios ARPU, I would expect that there is discussion somewhere about a consumer friendly streaming service that provides more revenue (at less cost) then the studios are seeing from the ever growing Redbox machine.

For some additional perspective on how much the physical media market has contracted for the studios...

One studio, for example, usually projects it will generate 85¢ for every $1 that a movie earns at the box office, but since last year, that return has slipped roughly 18% to 70¢.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6687937.html

As stated netflix is the closest to what you want.... I think within a few years they will offer the service you want (with a higher price)

Netflix already has the system in place but its all about the legal issues. For hd they may need a hard drive box so you can have some buffer room. If this really happened dvd rental stores would be destroyed over night and cable tv would take a huge hit especially on the extra packages like hbo. I just find it hard to believe that we will be seeing new releases pop up on netflix every tuesday morning in a few years although I will be happy if it does.

I've always respected netflix for finding a way to bring movies to customers legally and at a good value.

Netflix titles will always be old. They'll be an online premium cable channel. There will always be a pay per view demand for new movie rentals. For Netflix, to offer a an all you can eat buffet style offering including new titles, they'd have to increase their subscription to beyond what most people are willing to pay. The only way for Netflix to make it work is to limit access the number of new titles streamed per month.

Netflix titles will always be old. They'll be an online premium cable channel. There will always be a pay per view demand for new movie rentals. For Netflix, to offer a an all you can eat buffet style offering including new titles, they'd have to increase their subscription to beyond what most people are willing to pay. The only way for Netflix to make it work is to limit access the number of new titles streamed per month.
Waiting is not a bad thing, it just depends what your patience level is for shows you want to see now.
I have no problem waiting 6 months for Lost to hit BD. Fringe on the other hand I might to see sooner.

I don't usually mind waiting the 6-8 months for a movie to come out on DVD, and it seems to show up on Netflix then too, or soon afterward. I do wish that some TV shows would come out on DVD sooner, though. Other shows are pretty good about that and the latest season is often available by the time the new season begins (i.e. season 1 gets released just before season 2 starts).

DGK

For hd they may need a hard drive box so you can have some buffer room.

I read somewhere that Microsoft was developing a streaming system (Zune Video, I think) that would offer 1080p but require an 8-10mbps internet connection for full resolution. Supposedly, they've developed a way to very rapidly scale up or down the resolution to accommodate disc-like fast fowarding and rewinding of streaming content. I'm looking forward to seeing if it lives up to the hype.