Back in the day, it was a point of pride for many of us to display our racks upon racks of DVD cases at home for every visitor to see. People damn near defined themselves by their collections: were you a rom-com person, a kung fu afficianado, an Italian neorealism buff? Were you the type to alphabetize or organize cases by color? I'd venture to bet that some new relationships were made or broken based on a quick perusal of a potential paramour's DVD fare.
With the advent of streaming, DVD shelves disappeared. While creating a lot less waste and providing a much bigger selection at our fingertips, streaming also brought about the hassle of having to remember where the heck we purchased each film, and switching services and possibly even devices to watch them. No more walking over to the shelf and grabbing the case you wanted, which could be found exactly where you left it. A new service called Movies Anywhere aims to change that, claiming to let you "seamlessly store your favorite movies in one place so you can watch them when and where you want."
According to the launch site, this happens in three easy steps:
Currently, the free service works with films purchased from iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play and Vudu. Once you connect your accounts from these platforms to your Movies Anywhere account, you can search and view them in one place, either on your computer via the website or on compatible devices with free apps from the iTunes (Apple TV), Google Play Store (Chromecast), Amazon App Store (Kindle Fire) or the Roku Channel Store (Roku). You can also purchase movies directly on the site, via the services you are already signed up for, and your purchases can also be downloaded for offline viewing.
This type of thing has been attempted unsuccessfully before, but this time there are some big Hollywood players behind it—namely Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Sony Pictures, and Twentieth Century Fox—and the service is also currently offering some grand opening promotions for new sign-ups, so we will definitely give it a try. Maybe it's time to start displaying our digital collections. We'll show you our screen shot if you show us yours.
Have you tried Movies Anywhere yet? How did it work for you? Let us know in the comments.
