Netflix Announces Boot Camp-Free Streaming for Mac
by John Paczkowski
Posted on October 27, 2008 at 5:51 AM PT
Ironic, isn’t it? Netflix is finally adding Mac support to its “Watch Instantly” video-streaming service–and we have Microsoft to thank for it. This morning, the online DVD rental pioneer began rolling out a second-generation streaming media player that includes support for Intel-based Macs, and the Firefox Web browser as well. Making it all possible: Silverlight, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Flash substitute. With its Play Ready digital rights management, Silverlight allows Netflix (NFLX) to copy-protect streamed content on Mac, something the company had been unable to do because of the lack of a studio-sanctioned Mac DRM scheme beyond Apple’s own, which the Mac maker–of, course–refuses to license.
Netflix’s second-generation player will initially be offered to a small group of subscribers before being made widely available to all those with Intel-based Macs by the end of the year. That means 12,000+ titles available for streaming without having to bother with Boot Camp or other virtualization programs.
Comments
Putting Silverlight on my Mac just seems too much trouble. I can run Windows in my Mac and watch these movies just fine. I’ve been doing it for months.
Why would I want this Silverlight, another proprietary format by Microsoft to drag people into swallowing yet another DRM-laced technology designed to force people to pay Microsoft more money?
Silverlight made a big splash when they forced people to install it to watch streaming video of the Olympics. But has it been a success?
Nope, after the experiment with Silverlight. NBC went back to Flash to stream NFL games. Smart move.
Posted by Eric Welch at October 27th, 2008 at 12:41 pmMicrosoft’s strategy in the face of people not “standing in line” to download Silverlight, will be to do as many of these deals as possible. You can’t blame them for trying.
Who you CAN blame is Apple and Adobe for not responding forcefully.
Five years from now after another wave of PCs pre-installed with Silverlight, most average users will just be clicking on things and not worried about what is going on in the background.
Then will come the gnashing of teeth and fretting over diminishing use of Flash and other non-MS technologies on web pages.
Apple and Adobe will be giving their stuff away by then (DRM and all), hoping to regain momentum, but it will be too late.
With our ever decreasing attention spans the history we don’t know and are destined to repeat is measured in months, not years.
Posted by Mac Beach at October 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pm