Qflix - Now That is 2.0!

I have been reading all day long to find something worthy for our community. Well I found something at CNN.com, which may interest everyone! Hollywood studios have finally signed off on a new licensing/technology arrangement that will allow people more access to burning DVD’s and movies over the Internet. Sonic Solutions Inc. is showcasing Qflix in Las Vegas January 8-12. Qflix is a new system for adding a standard digital lock to DVD’s, which will enable users to burn DVD’s from computer or at kiosks in stores.

Sonic has been working for 3 years to perfect the new technology and to convince studios to amend the CSS license for “download to burn”. The potential for this new breakthrough is obvious, and in the near future we could have access to virtually any movie or TV show ever produced! The CSS (or content scrambling system) is the standard for DVD’s currently in use, and all DVD players are equipped with the “key” to the CSS lock. The new Qflix system should be compatible with any play mechanism, but Sonic is also working to market USB burners for those that are not compatible. Sonic Solutions is working with Verbatim Corp, Movielink, and Walgreens Drug Stores as initial participants in the product release.

Jim Taylor, general manager of Sonic’s Advanced Technology Group, says that “Downloading to computers, portable devices, and Internet-connected TV set-top boxes are all emerging pieces of the digital media ecosystem, but the entertainment value chain is incomplete without a cost-effective way to digitally deliver content that can be owned and viewed in the consumer’s entertainment venues of choice, including the living room. In the same article by Jennifer LeClaire of TechNewsWorld.com, the author points out that, “Qflix Pro will also enable new self-service and retailer-managed movie kiosks that will broaden the selection of available movies by augmenting physical product with a virtual inventory.” My little brain is just humming thinking of all the possibilities, how about yours?

Users will be under some constraints as to the terms of downloading content, and the studios and intermediaries will have to work out viable pricing considerations. We are all familiar with the technology and methods involved from our experiences in downloading music. Just think of the convenience and satisfaction of searching such a diverse data base, and then downloading very personal/individual preferences in this medium! This is what I think of when I envision how web 2.0 and above can impact us. I have wondered for years, why large companies never really considered that people desire a huge selection and diversity of products. Movie studios have essentially had an unlimited reservoir of resources that have been sitting untapped for decades. Any new applications should be what you want, rather than what you are sold! As the paying end of the global and internet community, you and I are the stimulus that will move new horizons along. On a deeper level, this neat tool we call the internet, can eventually lead to more individual input into, what has been, a system wholly controlled by archaic power structures. Wow, a political statement in a post about technology, go figure.

I look forward to burning an old episode of Hawaiian Eye. Perhaps we should all post lists of programs we have wanted but could not get?  

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