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Do you VUDU?
Dec 6 2007

A couple of weeks ago I was having coffee with a friend of mine that used to work in the digital media division(s) at Microsoft and we started discussing the topic of set top boxes and PVRs. During the conversation he suggested that I try out something called the VUDU box which is a set top box that connects over the Internet to a proprietary movie-on-demand service that has over 5,000 titles available that you can either rent and/or buy depending on the title and have them displayed on your TV. Movie prices are about the same as what you would pay at your local BlockBuster store but with VUDU you don’t have to deal with the trip to the store and the return.

The box uses a proprietary video codec implementation and some nifty BitTorrent-like download technology that allows you to select a movie and start watching it almost instantaneously. The box is expensive ($399) for something that only does movies (unlike a TiVo, for example, that can handle Amazon Unbox movie downloads in addition to being a PVR) but my friend let me in on a program that makes me one of VUDU’s “Evangelists” and get the box for $99 plus get $99 in free movie downloads. I should also note that there are no ongoing membership fees once you buy the box, unlike Netflix or BlockBuster’s equivalent DVD-by-mail program.

One of my responsibilities as an Evangelist is to tell everyone about VUDU (hence this blog post!) and to host a “VUDU Party” where I show off the gear to others that might be interested. I’m actually having my first VUDU Party at work tomorrow! We normally hold a Holiday Party (a lunch really) every year and watch a movie. Well, instead of bringing in the DVD player and a movie this year I’ll be bringing in my VUDU box and showing it off to everyone. I work in a place with quite a few techies so I think that the VUDU Party will be fun. One thing worries me though: I have not yet used the VUDU box so the party tomorrow will be my first real experience with it. I hope it all goes well!

Erin (the entrepreMuse’s husband)

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