Netflix hopes for Mac delivery
I consider this good news as I use a MacBook for the majority of my personal computing and I use Netflix. Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, said they’re planning on bringing “Watch-Instantly” to the Mac platform. Previously it has only been available to PC users through Internet Explorer.
Netflix has been using Microsoft Windows Media digital-rights-managed codecs to protect the content, but Apple uses their own FairPlay DRM which they have not licensed. It’s ridiculous that Apple uses tactics Microsoft has been sued for and nobody bothers (probably because the Mac lifestyle gives Apple a free pass on quite a bit just because it’s “hip”), but I’m not sure why Netflix can’t simply use Open Source Software DRM for cross-platform, cross-browser support.
Regardless, Hastings believes the future of online distribution will grow substantially. He views the Watch-Instantly feature as just the first foray into online distribution.
As a side point, Hastings mentioned that Warner’s support of Blu-ray exclusively should help grow the BD rental business.
