Streaming video services have innovated the way we watch TV shows and movies but their is one key feature they are missing, offline caching. Imagine if you could just download a movie/tv show to your Netflix app for viewing on the train, airplane etc. This would benefit everyone being unlimited data plans are a thing of the past unless you are grandfathered in. Check out the full article on offline caching after the jump.
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Shotta Dru on Google+
I have a simple feature request for Hulu, Netflix, and all of the other online video services out there: let us cache programming for offline viewing.
I know I can’t be the only one out there who’d love to be able to load up my phone or tablet with a few hours of movies and shows before getting on airplane, or just to be able to watch something while I’m out of the house without having to worry about chewing up my battery by pulling down all that data over 4G.
We’ve already seen streaming services combined with something like this before. Offline caching has been hugely successful for the likes of Spotify and Rhapsody, and in fact its introduction is probably a major reason why so many people have felt comfortable signing up for a monthly subscription.
There is no technological reason why something similar couldn’t be offered for video, it probably comes down to licensing, as I’m sure the online video services probably would love to offer this. I’m guessing the content providers (i.e. the networks and studios) would be a big stumbling block here. Presumably they want to force consumers who want offline viewing to pay for downloads (a strategy which I doubt is all that successful), but why not offer offline caching as a premium on top of a regular subscription fee and then limit the amount of content that can be cached at any one time and/or that can be cached per month? Online music services let you save up to a few thousand tracks on your mobile device for offline listening. For video I’d say up to 10 hours of programming at a time would be fair. I know I’d easily pay an extra $5 a month for it (if not more, to be honest). Split the extra revenue with the content creators and everybody wins.
The other reason to do this, and this isn’t a trivial one, is that with the wireless carriers introducing bandwidth caps, suddenly streaming lots of movies on your phone starts to carry some very real costs (and not just in terms of battery life). Having LTE on your phone or tablet is great, but if you burn through your bandwidth allotment watching movies on a weekend trip it starts to limit the value of that service for you. Offline caching would give online video providers a workaround of sorts by letting users load up on programming when they’re on WiFi for watching later.
Anyone else with me on this?
