I fell ill for almost a week. Probably it was because of the weather and how work has caught up with me. I had to stay at home and in bed. To pass my time, I tried to browse the net, but how intermittent the internet was, I quickly lost patience and found myself without anything to do.
My friend loaned me his ‘Popcorn Hour’ NMT (Network Media Tank) with built-in 1TB and external 1.5TB HDDs filled with 600 movie titles – from classics like the Godfather trilogy and Dirty Harry series, up to the more recent Transformers – all in true High Definition (HD). There were also complete seasons of my favorite TV series like CSI-Vegas, Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters, Heroes, 24, House, and Damages, also in HD. He connected the Popcorn to my TV, and alas, that miserable week to be, became one of my most enjoyable weeks ever.
This technology is quite new and initially still pricey, my friend explained. The player itself costs around 15k and the internal 1TB HDD another 5k. The external 1.5TB HDD meanwhile is around 8k. He said the HD content was given free by his vendor.
He then quickly did the math in front of me…
28k (the cost of the equipment) divided by 600 (the number of movie titles he had). The result was 46.67. This was the cost per movie title. “Much cheaper than buying those BluRay ripped pirated DVDs, right?” “You have a better viewing experience, and you end up with a player and 2.5TB storage space as well. Sulit…,” he said. He’s right you know.
To make things better, he also showed me how this little device can connect directly to the internet, and stream HD content from other owners anywhere in the world.
If you ask me, this is the beginning of the end of optical media video piracy. One won’t need optical media anymore. The quality is better than those contained in optical media, content is becoming more accessible, and ultimately, the cost is significantly lower.
Right now, my friend has 5.5 terrabytes of storage containing over 1,200 HD titles.
So, popcorn anyone?
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