Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Hurry Up and Wait

I was excited by the news that TiVo is teaming up with Amazon for direct-to-TiVo downloads, and immediately signed up for it (it doesn't cost to activate the service). It's a nicer idea than downloading movies from iTunes (or other means) because there's no need to get an Apple TV or the like to be able to view them on a TV set.

I was thinking it would be a good alternative to Netflix for those times when I don't manage to get new releases the week they come out on DVD, and are then relegated to the dreaded Very Long Wait dead zone for another month or so. A nice idea--but judging from Amazon's selection of "new" releases, they seem to be Very-Long-Waiting as well before putting up titles for download rental. I searched for five of the "long wait" movies at the top of my Netflix queue, and none of them were available for rental. Some were available for a video download purchase, which runs about 15 bucks, but I really don't see the appeal in that. Fifteen dollars so I can have a movie permanently on my TiVo? That I probably won't be allowed to burn to DVD? (And if I wanted it on DVD, why not just buy the damn DVD in the first place?)

Nice try TiVo (and Amazon), but you aren't rocking my world yet.

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