Forget every illegal movie site, such as Popcorn Time.  Forget the risk of receiving a plethora of viruses when downloading movies to watch without paying.  As of this past week, Netflix Inc. has unveiled a new feature: one may now download TV shows or movies for offline watching.

Netflix has made this move in order to keep up with competitor Amazon Inc., who already had this feature available to customers.  Netflix made this feature available through a new software update that is available through iOS and Android.

In the past, when users had encountered problems on Netflix; such as too many users attempting to watch at one time, they had come up with a solution that would result in an additional cost to customers.  The solution of allowing more users at one time was changing the original cost of eight dollars to twelve dollars.  However, as Netflix makes itself available offline, they have decided to extend their services to all subscriptions at no additional charge.

Steven Mischell commented, “I personally think Netflix could have made more money on charging for downloads, but as a user I am ecstatic that I can watch some Breaking Bad on the way to hockey practice.”

Many students are already envisioning vacation excursions with this feature.

Senior Ryan Jennings states, “I just can’t wait to use this on the way to vacation.”

Jennings adds, “Not even just for vacations, I can see myself watching it on any type of drive.  It’ll make a drive with the family a little more enjoyable being able to get my fill of a show.”

Although Netflix going offline has major positives, it also suffers a few drawbacks.

Not all shows and movies are available to be downloaded.  A list of the shows that are able to be downloaded include Stranger Things, Breaking Bad, and Parks and Recreation.

Despite its drawbacks, Netflix’s stocks have grown since they had announced they were becoming available offline on November 30th.

Senior Tony Timmers, who has been a Netflix fanatic since the days where the company would mail the customer a movie, recounts the evolution of Netflix.

“I had always believed that Netflix was the way to go even back when Blockbuster was relevant.  They were always trying to make themselves more available and convenient to us.  Being younger than sixteen at the time prompted me to urge my mom to subscribe… It’s just insane to think that now, when I’m driving to Florida, I can just watch whatever I want.”

Timmers added, “Why would I turn back on Netflix just because not everything is available after sticking with it for so long.”

Whether Tony’s hopeful mindset is good enough to encourage others to want to try it, especially now because of its downloadable content, or whether you’re content with Amazon, it is universal that Netflix is on the rise.