[tmm]

I wish Kaleidescape[1] was more affordable. It's a download rather than streaming service, with a comprehensive movie library (12,000+ titles) and you buy movies individually rather than a monthly subscription. But then you can watch the movies as many times as you want and they don't disappear from your library if Kaleidescape stops carrying them. I don't know if they include the extra content typically available on discs or not.

You have to buy their player ($4,000) and their media server ($5,000 for 8TB up to $27,000 for 96TB). Then buy movies (about $9 - $30 depending on how new they are).

If you have the money, you can buy a pre-loaded system for $98,000 which includes their entire 4k library (only about 2000 movies), two 96TB storage arrays and a 4k player.

If the player was around $2,000 and I could use my own storage, I'd have bought one already and ditched all the streaming platforms.

Edit: looking through their library, some titles do include extra content (special features, deleted scenes, music videos, etc).

[1] https://www.kaleidescape.com

[ndileas]

That's really cool that it exists / is possible. Maybe someone will create a similar service that undercuts them - but I would imagine the licensing agreements somewhat require them to do drm with the player / media server. 9k entry cost is going to keep essentially everyone out of the market - and much of that sounds like total bs costs, in no way related to the cost of the components.

[throwaway743950]

Don't you get the majority of that with buying movies from Apple? You can get 4K and Dolby Atmos. If there's DRM anyway, it seems like the difference isn't worth it.

[qingcharles]

Does it have some sort of digital cert on the system that has an expiry date, though?

[DrNosferatu]

Wow! Imagine the margin that makes for the seller...