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Recently, Amazon Prime Video announced that it would be allowing its users to download shows for offline viewing, similarly to how Spotify allows subscribers to listen to their music playlists offline. This obviously raised questions for Netflix, which has been against offline viewing in the past.
It turns out that despite Amazon's latest offering, Netflix won't be implementing offline viewing any time soon. Speaking with Gizmodo UK, Netflix Chief Product Officer, Neil Hunt, said: “I still don't think that it's a very compelling proposition.”
“I think it's something that lots of people ask for. We'll see if it's something lots of people will use. Undoubtedly it adds considerable complexity to your life with Amazon Prime – you have to remember that you want to download this thing. It's not going to be instant, you have to have the right storage on your device, you have to manage it, and I'm just not sure people are actually that compelled to do that, and that it's worth providing that level of complexity.”
While I wouldn't exactly consider downloading a movie or a TV series for offline viewing as a ‘complex' thing, I do understand why Netflix wouldn't want to allow offline viewing, though there are things that the company can put in to place to combat piracy. Spotify pulled it off pretty well on the music streaming side of things. Maybe if people make a lot of use of Amazon's offline viewing option, Netflix will follow but I wouldn't expect that any time soon.
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KitGuru Says: Netflix has been against adding an offline viewing option for years but now that Amazon offers it, the company may find itself in an odd position. Would you like to see Netflix add an offline viewing option?
The question is, is MAFIAA blackmailing/forcing their hand, as usually?
Haha, our costumers are stupid and dont know what it involves to watch anything offline, so we will save themselves from themselves by not offering them the option to do this very complex action……. I mean really….
Im pretty sure people know what it means to watch video offline and that they of cause have to download it before they go offline and also have to have the space for it… Please dont make people more stupid then they already are humanity have enough to deal witas they are.
I would use it a lot. I do a lot if night shifts and even with my 8gb of data I share from my phone I run out before time if I watch Netflix or lovefilm (amazon prime) on my breaks. So now I instead download documentaries from YouTube and watch them offline so as to not drain all my data within two weeks of my bill period.