The point is that they need to start with something to prove the system. The major studios aren’t willing to play ball with them, so they’re in a Catch-22 as long as they pin their plans on major releases. Meanwhile there are other content producers that would be willing to play ball and help build a user base and prove the technology, which makes it an easier sell to the major studios later. There are a lot of old TV shows people enjoy that aren’t on the air at all any more, and having a library of those shows available would attract a lot of users who miss their old shows.

Like TiVo’s broadband downloads, so far it has been a few IFC shorts and some stuff about Navy Football. Not ‘must see TV’, but it is a start. You start small with the niche markets and work your way up the food chain.

It seems like Netflix is going all or nothing – either they get permission from major studios or they won’t bother. And I think that’s a failure waiting to happen, because other vendors will start small and build, and then they’ll have to be the new player against proven systems. Akimbo has been slowly building their content base after starting with largely obscure content.

Actually, now that Akimbo is shifting their business model from being tied to their own box, to also supporting downloads for MS Media Center PCs, maybe a TiVo-Akimbo link up would be a good thing.

Netflix doesn’t have to interest you, in fact, I’d argue that going after you is the wrong move on their part. They’re reaching for the stars when there is lower hanging fruit they could pluck now. Go after the niche markets – they’re usually early adopters and open to new technology. For example, anime fandom embraced LD a lot more than mainstream ever did, and jumped on DVD well before the mainstream market. A lot of anime fans are used to using BitTorrent and other download services to grab new shows before they’re released in the US. They *already* embracing broadband content, give them a legal, easy to use system with reasonable prices, and they’ll use it too. And then those users will start demanding the same thing from the mainstream studios, and help get you what you want. And Netflix would be able to go to the studios with numbers in hand, showing usage, returns, etc – instead of just predictions.

I can’t envision a losing proposition for a tv studio where they make it easier for eveyone to get the last seasons of a show so that those who missed the bandwagon in the beginning will feel comfortable jumping on now.

I certainly would be thrilled to download some old television content so I can get up to speed with the current seasons of popular shows.