Fast-developing online technologies are rapidly reshaping the lives of today's consumers. From reading daily newspapers to shopping for groceries and fancy clothes from a store located across the nation, the use of the Internet has made many things incredibly simple by just a few mouse clicks.
With online business growing by billions of dollars every year, the Internet has also provided manufacturers an easy and effective way to approach consumers. Movielink.com, a recent addition to this online scramble for customers, began its movie rental service directly from their Web site.
The technology allows users to download movies onto their own computers and gives users a short time period to watch them upon payment. Simply put, it offers the same movie rental experience without having to drive to a video store to rent DVDs or VHSs.
Although a small selection of movies as well as the somewhat low viewing quality may prove this online rental experience less desirable, this new online service is still a major upgrade to movie viewing.
Based in Santa Monica, California, Movielink, LLC is an on-demand movie rental service provider formed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM), Paramount Pictures, Sony Entertainment Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Bros.
It began its online service last September and currently offers a selection of about 200 new and old movies, all listed in different genres: action, classics, comedy, drama, family, fantasy, romance, thriller and western. Recently released movies available now at the Web site include Panic Room, A Beautiful Mind, Rollerball, and Ocean's 11. Rental price range from $1.99 to $4.99.
According to Movielink.com, a downloaded movie remains on the user's hard drive and is viewable at any convenient time for 30 days.
However, the movie file deletes itself from the computer 24 hours after the user begins to watch it. The movie file can therefore be accessed and viewed as many times during this 24-hour time period, after which it is automatically deleted. Downloading a required program called Movielink facilitates the installation process.
Additionally, this service requires computers with programs such as Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP operating system, Explorer version 5.0 and RealPlayer version 8.0 or Windows Media Player version 7.1.
However, most importantly, an Internet connection speed of at least 128 kilobytes per second (128kbs) is needed.
The size of a full movie file with about two hours of viewing time is about 600 megabytes. Using a DSL or a cable connection, the download takes 30 to 60 minutes to download it, depending on the volume of traffic at a given time.
For example, one student noted that downloading Resident Evil via RESNET took about 100 minutes at midnight on Saturday. With a dial-up modem, waiting time will be much longer, at least 20 hours.
But still, an hour waiting for the movie to be downloaded on a computer is quite long. Plus, DVDs offer better viewing quality than the downloaded movie files, which could really impair the user's overall movie experience.
With ongoing debates regarding the illegal use of CD burning technologies, it makes one wonder why Movielink offers this online service available to the public. After all, downloaded movie files can easily be copied and recorded onto CDs, only to promote violation of their copyrights.
Downloading movies conveniently at home using only a mouse and a keyboard can work for many people.
Although online movie rental service seems to be a promising idea with bright future, the technology is far from perfect.
Improving movie files' poor viewing quality as well as speeding up the Internet by expanding higher bandwidth connections to the home seem to be the next problems the movie industry will have to face.
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