Larry-G
V.I.P ,
- Joined
- May 19, 2010
- Messages
- 32,540
- Reaction score
- 405
- Points
- 0
- Age
- 48
Netflix users, here is some bad news for you. The Director of Corporate Communications at Netflix, Cliff Edwards, has confirmed that offline viewing is “never going to happen.”
He asserts that providing offline viewing to users is only a “short term fix for a bigger problem.” The problem here being the lack of ubiquitous access to quality Wi-Fi hotspots everywhere.
Netflix stance on this matter is different when compared to other streaming services like BBC iPlayer and HBO Go. Both services provide users with an option to cache videos for offline viewing without an active data connection. In fact even YouTube recently added an option for offline playback of videos in countries like India and the Philippines where 3G networks are spotty.
Netflix has said the same thing in the past, and it believes that in the next five years Wi-Fi coverage will improve tremendously, which should automatically stop users to request for offline viewing of videos.
In five years time, Edwards believes, we won’t even be talking about the prospect of offline downloads. So while we’d say “never say never”, it sounds like it is, in fact, a case of never.
While Wi-Fi coverage and quality may drastically improve in the United States over the next five years, there is still no denying the fact that offline viewing is an incredibly useful feature to have. However, it looks like Netflix wants to avoid implementing it — probably because of licensing issues with its content providers.
[Via TechRadar]
He asserts that providing offline viewing to users is only a “short term fix for a bigger problem.” The problem here being the lack of ubiquitous access to quality Wi-Fi hotspots everywhere.
Netflix stance on this matter is different when compared to other streaming services like BBC iPlayer and HBO Go. Both services provide users with an option to cache videos for offline viewing without an active data connection. In fact even YouTube recently added an option for offline playback of videos in countries like India and the Philippines where 3G networks are spotty.
Netflix has said the same thing in the past, and it believes that in the next five years Wi-Fi coverage will improve tremendously, which should automatically stop users to request for offline viewing of videos.
In five years time, Edwards believes, we won’t even be talking about the prospect of offline downloads. So while we’d say “never say never”, it sounds like it is, in fact, a case of never.
While Wi-Fi coverage and quality may drastically improve in the United States over the next five years, there is still no denying the fact that offline viewing is an incredibly useful feature to have. However, it looks like Netflix wants to avoid implementing it — probably because of licensing issues with its content providers.
[Via TechRadar]
Code:
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2014/12/neflix-says-offline-viewing-never-going-happen.html
