EDIT: Just to be clear, I do think this site offers a lot of value as an aggregator. I just think inviting the comparison to Popcorn Time is a mistake because, to the limited extent that they are comparable, Popcorn Time is better.
EDIT: Just to be clear, I do think this site offers a lot of value as an aggregator. I just think inviting the comparison to Popcorn Time is a mistake because, to the limited extent that they are comparable, Popcorn Time is better.
This solves a major current usability issue with the legal streaming market - that different providers have different things on offer and you have to go and search around to find whether you want to be on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
What it doesn't solve is the major issue with the streaming market - watching TV shows as they are broadcast rather than 6 months later as a box set.
My main point in writing the critique is just that if you invite a comparison between your product and another you should make sure that they're actually comparable and that yours will come out on top. Otherwise you'll turn what could have been a warm reception into a cold one.
So although right now their sites just aggregates, in the future it could allow you to prepay/buy credits which would be used to pay off the content owner/distributor (i.e amazon) each time you click Play.
Point being - to me it make complete sense to compare it PT
If I remember correctly, network sites and services like Hulu blocked GoogleTV via user agent strings and other methods because they wanted their streaming content to only be used as a secondary method of watching while at your computer, not on your living room TV and placed on and even footing with cable or (heaven forbid) independent/user-generated content.
Seems that happened pretty early on in GTV's product history and essentially put a damper on the sort of adoption that would have warranted further improvement of the service.
FTFY
i.e. the torrents are only there to meet demand when the industry is too stubborn to do so.
This would never happen because you'd get sued into oblivion, but one can dream.
Of course it would be nice if one single service/platform was able to deliver any movie imaginable to some objective standard of quality. But it's not going to happen absent some sort of compulsory licensing scheme, which would run into huge legal/constitutional obstacles in many jurisdictions. Imagine you're the publisher of the film and SuperFilmPlatform.com can start start streaming it without your permission and without you having any say in what you get paid - you'd want to bomb their offices and/or exit the market. How would you ensure fair compensation in an environment that allowed compulsory licensing? Through government price controls? That's basically communism for artists/publishers, capitalism for the distributors. As you're no doubt aware, communism and free artistic expression have a poor record of compatibility.