Netflix, Xbox home movie deal no vision of tech simplicity

Microsoft and Netflix generated lots of buzz last week when they revealed plans to let Xbox Live subscribers watch more than 10,000 movies and TV shows on demand, through their game consoles, from the movie-rental company's online library of streaming content.

In reality, it won't be quite as simple as it sounds.

Netflix users won't be able to just pick any show from the library using Xbox Live's interface on the TV, the companies acknowledged when asked about the process. Instead, to watch a title via the console, users must have first added it to their "instant queue" on the Netflix Web site.

For avid Netflix users already accustomed to lining up their choices weeks or months in advance, that won't be a big deal. But for people inclined to pick movies and shows spontaneously in front of the television, the process means they'll instead need to shift to a PC to find and select what they want to watch, then go back.

Of course, requiring someone to put down the remote control and trod from the living room to the den every once in a while isn't exactly the greatest tragedy of digital life. However, it's also not the vision of futuristic simplicity that Microsoft and others in the technology industry like to tout.

So why not just let people pick any content they want from the couch? The explanation offered by Netflix demonstrates how the promised convergence of devices and digital content isn't turning out the way many people in the industry expected.

Although the television screen is optimal for viewing, Netflix believes it's still best to find and select content using a keyboard and a computer than it is using a remote control or game controller and TV, said Steve Swasey, a spokesman for the movie-rental company.

"You're using different media for the best experience that they avail," Swasey said. "At some point, somebody will deliver a TV, or a device that connects to the TV, that has a great browser experience, but until then, we leave the browser experience on the Internet."

Netflix introduced online streaming movies and TV shows on the PC in January as an extra feature for people who subscribe to its mail-order DVD rental service. In May, it started a TV-based streaming service using a $100 device from Roku Inc. That device also requires people to line up content using the Netflix site.

The approach is contrary to the idea that many types of functions would morph into an all-in-one machine in the living room. Such convergence was once commonly touted as the wave of the future. But the vision hasn't proven accurate, said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research.

"What we're really seeing is that it's about integration - it's about multiple devices working together," Gartenberg said. "It's about integrating these experiences on different screens and devices, as opposed to saying everything is going to be centered around a cell phone, or everything is going to be centered around a computer, or game console, or set-top box."

Gartenberg pointed out that it's also in the business interests of Netflix to keep people engaged with its site on a regular basis. Swasey said that wasn't a factor in the decision.

Microsoft and Netflix announced their plan last week at the E3 video-game convention in Los Angeles. The companies say the Netflix service will work on the Xbox 360 console in conjunction with the Xbox Live online service. It will premiere in autumn for Netflix subscribers who have Xbox Live Gold memberships, which Microsoft sells for $49.99 a year.

Demonstrating the Netflix service at the convention, Microsoft representatives showed how movies and shows placed into the instant queue on the Netflix site will appear automatically in a menu on Xbox Live in a few seconds.

Users won't need to watch the content in the same order as in the queue, said Marc Whitten, general manager for Xbox Live. They'll be able to browse the queue on the television screen to find what they want to watch.

For that, apparently, the television is good enough. No need to make that grueling trek to the PC in the other room.