It really appears that I am the only person on the planet who is not mad at Netflix. I got the email from the owner of the joint apologizing to me, and all I could think was “For what?” There really are that many people who just have to have a hard dvd in their hands?
I only stream files from them, and have no use for waiting 3-4 days for something to be mailed to me, let me watch five minutes of it, and decide I hate it. Netflix’s decisions have done nothing but enhance my experience. Streaming only is cheaper, exactly what I want, and not only that, with the dvd only movies removed and only streaming now available, it makes my choices easier.
So whine away, luddites. Streaming is the future, and it could not be any easier. You turn on your blu-ray, choose netflix, and go. They even sell wireless blu-rays these days. Or use your xbox-360 or PS3 or whatever you have. Or your mac mini.
So I guess, basically, the point of this post is to say “Thanks, Netflix, for making my experience cheaper and easier.”
Enhanced Voting Techniques
You ask why isn’t all of Netflicks cataloged streamed? Hard to belive having a pile of DVDs is somehow cheaper than streaming.
Scuffletuffle
But…their backlist, only available on dvd, like Taggart, etc.
That’s why I’m conflicted.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
that, to me, is the problem. More than half of what I want to watch will only be available by streaming in the future.
Hal
I might feel that way if I hadn’t been to the movies in more than 5 years. There’s still tons of dvd’s I haven’t rented. It just seems like a complete inconvenience to have to go to two different sites.
P.S.
Watching Thor right now on DVD. Not bad.
lamh34
I actually had both streaming and dvd mailings, but I realized that I don’t really like the “streaming” experience with my Wii and I hate watching movies on my computer. I like watching them on a TV, and until I can afford a state of the art tv/hd/wireless home network, it made no sense to pay for streaming anymore.
Plus, most of the things I want to watch on streaming are only in DVD form. So I just changed to DVD only.
slag
Actually, I think the true odd man out is anyone who doesn’t give a shit about Netflix services offered.
Spaghetti Lee
Alright, whine I will. I like having physical media that I can hold in my hand. I don’t like when it’s all floating around in the ether and it’s not really mine. I’m sure this makes me old-fashioned and obsolete, but I don’t give a shit.
khead
Preach it, Cole
Warren Terra
Streaming may be the future, but all too often it isn’t the present. Too many things aren’t available on streaming, and when streaming is available it comes with drawbacks: resolution is usually inferior, service drops are not infrequent, and then there’s the extras – subtitles, commentary tracks, special features – that are often available on DVDs (though all too often not available on the rental-only DVDs of recent Hollywood movies) but not on streaming.
And for me, Netflix has a turnaround time of about 48 hours with almost perfect consistency (weekends and holidays excepted): mail gets picked up at my apartment around noon Monday, the new disk is mailed Tuesday and arrives around noon Wednesday. That’s pretty darn good, especially when I didn’t have internet at home.
Regarding Netflix’s behavior, I think they’ve been pretty massively dumb here. The price rise didn’t greatly bother me; I probably should have responded by cutting my discs-at-a-time, but didn’t bother as I’m lazy and it was a few bucks a month. But the smarmy email announcement last night really did irritate. Among among other things, it just makes no sense: why would I want to maintain separate cues for streaming and disc delivery? Will Netflix and Qwixter share data about what I’ve watched, and what I’ve liked? Isn’t half their business model their ability to leverage a unified record of what I watch and what I like? If I liked a movie or a show, will I now have to go to both services to see lists of discs and of streams that might also interest me? What sort of baboon creates a structure where longtime customers like me are even worried that any of these are reasonable concerns?
lamh34
@Hal: I really enjoyed Thor. I think it didn’t get a fair shake for a while cause of the usual fanboy hang-ups, but it was pretty good way better than Cap’n America or Green Latern, and maybe second only to X-Men First Class.
BTW, if anyone hasn’t seen “Bridesmaids” yet, it comes out on DVD tomorrow I think. “Bridesmaids” was by far the funniest movie I saw this past summer! Melissa McCarthey stole the movie and just so happened to win an Emmy last night for “Lead Comedy Actress” for “Mike and Molly”. I watch “Mike and Molly” and while I think it’s a nice show, I can almost bet that M. McCarthy won some parts for “Bridesmaids” as much as “Mike and Molly”.
lamh34
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: so true
Stefan
There really are that many people who just have to have a hard dvd in their hands?
Oh, honey, if you have to ask…
Ah. Sorry. “Dvd”. I admit I read something different the first time.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
They don’t have anywhere near the selection streamed. They have dvd’s you cannot get anywhere else. If you like the mainstream bullshit maybe streaming is for you but if you are interested in film their dvd option is it.
JPL
The payment programs do not bother me at all but the new changes do. I’ll add a movie to my dvd queue and it informs me that I can stream it also. That service will disappear so yeah, it bothers me.
Martin
True, but Netflix’s business is going to blow up. The studios receive $32B per year in affiliate fees (in the US). That’s between $35 and $40 per (US) household. Every household that unplugs cable because of Netflix makes the cost of the studio licensing to Netflix go up, which is why they raised their rates right before the NBC renewal, and why they couldn’t come to a deal with Starz.
Streaming won’t be long-term viable until there is a revenue model to replace that $40. Subscriptions, ads, rentals, purchases, whatever – $40/household. If you’re paying less than that (or aren’t watching however many equivalent ads), you’re on borrowed time.
Netflix’s problem is that they have no way of getting from where they are to where they need to be. The more successful they are at getting people to unplug, the harder it’ll be for them to get content, or the more they’re going to need to charge – and you can already see the pants-shitting over the $1 increase. How will they react when the other $25 comes through?
Michael D.
I am fine with Netflix. I only ever streamed anyway, so now mine is $1-2 less a month.
Warren Terra
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
A company tried this: a farm of DVD players where one subscriber had control of one DVD player, thereby replacing the shipping with electronic delivery, on the argument that one renter was using the disc at one time, and physical delivery was unnecessary. They got crushed in the courts; the license they get to rent DVDs doesn’t permit this.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@lamh34: All you need is a ethernet drop and a bluray player with the streaming option.
anonymoose
Right now the DVD service complements the streaming service. There are just too many films that are not available for streaming, but I can get on DVD.
I feel the content providers are going to do anything they can do to neuter the streaming service by demanding exorbitant licensing fees and we will never get a full catalog of stuff on streaming. (I’m thinking of what the RIAA did to napster)
It was only a couple of days ago that I was complaining to the wife they need to get more stuff on streaming. I dont want to go to Hulu, Amazon or whatever to get different stuff. It would be best to get stuff at one place…then Netflix goes and splits up their service.
Spiffy McBang
Maybe I missed something, but how does this make Netflix cheaper or easier to use? The price isn’t changing (is it?), and even for a stream-only user like me there’s nothing beneficial about this split. There’s nothing really bad, either- maybe it’ll be a brief irritation to go to a different site?- but it’s a wash at best. Presumably people with shit internet that only use the DVD service will be in a similar boat. And it fucks with the people who do both.
I’m completely missing where this has any positive impact on consumers at all.
General Stuck
I got no problem with Netflix changing themselves and asking a little more for their service. I usually flip back and forth between the streaming to DVD’s, depending on what new movies have come available on disk. And since I know nothing about the business that NF pioneered, especially with the stream option, I have nothing to counter their decisions with.
The email this morning was nice to get from the co creator of this fine service, and I want to see them healthy profit wise so some fool like Murdoch doesn’t predate them and take over.
Bort
I actually just switched from streaming to DVD only. I’m not happy with the streaming catalog (which is not the fault of Netflix). I’d rather have shows like True Blood and the Wire, as well as A list movies like Inception, the Social Network etc.
But, I agree that the whining is pretty lame. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. Use Redbox, or whatever.
HW3
Regarding the devices, I got the family a Roku player last Xmas. We couldn’t be happier, and there is even an app that will let you browse the entire streaming selection available on the Netflix web as opposed to the somewhat limited search functions in the official Netflix app.
About the back catalog, I think this is a moot point that will be irrelevant in no time at all. There was a time after all not too long ago when you had to rent VHS for any older film. Streaming is a much better solution as the process only has to happen once for the video to be available to all users who are interested.
With services like Amazon Prime and Hulu already offering competition to Netflix, this is what we are going to be watching.
General Stuck
@Spiffy McBang:
They separated the stream service from the DVD service, and raised the price for having both at the same time. But individually, they are the same price, I believe.
L. Ron Obama
Streaming is great, until you hit the 90% of the catalog that is DVD-only.
There’s only so many times I can watch the X-Files or Star Trek all the way through, or, like, seasons 1 and 4 of Knight Rider.
Move your entire fucking DVD catalog to streaming and I’ll be a happy camper, until then I have to choose between breadth and speed.
skeeball
warren terra hit a lot of the key points for me. but i’d like to add: streaming is absolutely not the present for people who do not have broadband internet access.
they already changed their pricing model. if you didn’t want discs via mail, you didn’t have to get them. also, i recognize that the needs of a streaming company and a dvd by mail company are increasingly divergent, however there would have been nothing wrong with creating two fully separate entities on the back-end and leaving a unified front end for users to use. splitting them and making me check multiple places to decide how i want to view a movie is just terrible
KCinDC
What @Warren Terra said. The price increase didn’t bother me at all. Making things worse for those of us who use both DVDs and streaming, on the other hand, seems like a big mistake. It will be a lot time before the streaming selection (and quality) catches up with DVDs, and it may never do so with the current attitude of the content providers (and telecoms).
keith
I personally prefer ripping my DVD collection to a hard drive and watching locally. I just don’t trust streaming’s reliability. Plus, no buffering
Martin
Oh, that $35-$40 above is per month. The $32B is per year.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@skeeball: Also, subtitles suck on the stream.
Warren Terra
Note also this, from Boing Boing:
And, from the comment thread, this:
So, to sum up: at 3AM a poorly-written email was sent out announcing a major change in our service provider’s entire structure, in a way that is very confusing and causes people to become concerned that the service will now become much harder to use. And the monumental fnckups didn’t check whether the twitter handle for their new name was available, and they didn’t squat the URLs for the half-dozen most likely misspellings of their easily misspelled name (and, no , quickster.com isn’t them either). Honestly, it’s like the CEO was drunk when he announced this.
Stefan
BTW, if anyone hasn’t seen “Bridesmaids” yet, it comes out on DVD tomorrow I think. “Bridesmaids” was by far the funniest movie I saw this past summer! Melissa McCarthey stole the movie and just so happened to win an Emmy last night for “Lead Comedy Actress” for “Mike and Molly”. I watch “Mike and Molly” and while I think it’s a nice show, I can almost bet that M. McCarthy won some parts for “Bridesmaids” as much as “Mike and Molly”.
Kristen? Kristen Wiig? Is that you, Kristen?
LanceThruster
They said digital signals are superior to analog, but when I have problems with digital (quite often sad to say) they are worse, more annoying, far less viewable than the typical analog ones. The “error-free” claims of streaming fall into the same category AFAIC.
If I could have a hard copy of a ring tone to load on my phone and subsequent upgrades, I might consider it, but the fact that the purchase lives and dies with a single cell phone is idiotic. Imagine if your VCR tapes were only licensed for a single designated VCR and no other.
Effum.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Stefan: It’s ok but if that’s the funniest movie this summer there are slim pickens.
Moe
Oh, so now you’re hip to technology?
Ever get your phone to text from the PC, Cole?
MikeBoyScout
@ 9 Warren Terra:
I’m in your boat.
And if it becomes one iota more challenging as a Netflix user/consumer I’ll switch from Netflix to Amazon and Vudu for streaming and to Redbox for the films where only the hard copy is available.
patrick II
I think it is pretty absurd that Netflix couldn’t have written software that recognized the plan of the person logging in and show streaming movies, dvd’s, or both.
Martin
@Warren Terra: Yep. Physical media and streaming are totally different licenses, even negotiated by entirely different parts of the distributor. Every contract the distributor has with the studio or network has different conditions – some pay residuals only for broadcast, others also for sales, others also for rentals, others also for streaming. Clusterfuck is putting it mildly.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
is it class war-farey to say that even when I find what they’re doing annoying or inconvenient, I find it hilarious when any big corporation does something really stupid, but harmless
Tom Hilton
@Scuffletuffle: This. The thing that has kept me loyal to Netflix for 10 years is the depth of their catalogue. Jess Franco? Jan Svankmajer? Louis Feuillade? Doris Wishman? They’ve got it…on DVD.
Streaming, not so much.
Martin
@Warren Terra:
Considering his company has lost 40% of it’s value (about $5B in market cap) since the start of the month, that’s probably a pretty good guess.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
people told me Bridesmaids was the female “Hangover”. I thought the Hangover was pretty mediocre.
Flowers
Regardless what you think of your pricing plan, splitting into two services with different interfaces is…well, dumb. They’ve done nothing to address people’s issues about pricing, but I wouldn’t have expected that. But in splitting into two separate tacos, that just seems less than intelligent. Dilute the brand, force people to search two locations (if you do still want both). Really, in making it two completely separate services they’ve actually made things harder.
right now, I search one spot and I know if they have it on streaming…if they don’t then I can get the CD. Sure, I’ll pay for both. But now I have 2 separate bills, and have to check first one site for a streamed version, then a completely different site for the physical? What about all my movie rankings, will they be shared between sites? Will the Qwikflix site tell me if a movie is available on Netflix.
In a nutshell, take their pricing out of the equation, splitting the services into two separate companies is boneheaded.
MikeJ
@skeeball:
Hmmm. Congress complaining that the Post Office isn’t a profit centre, even though it’s mandated in the constitution. Not enough broadband available. PO losing customers because nobody except junk mailers use it any more.
I say let the USPS lay fibre to the curb and fuck Comcast.
Lysana
I stick to DVD-only because my ISP insists on charging me for going over a certain amount of bandwidth/month and I need to conserve somewhere when I am a music collector and YouTube addict.
Martin
And wait if the USPS stops Saturday delivery. The whining will become deafening as all of those people realize that the weekend-weekend disc turnaround just got quite a bit more challenging – particularly for those that are rural and likely already broadband-impaired.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You think it’s funny to watch women shit in sinks and in the street in wedding dresses? You’ll love this flick. And what’s with all these Limey’s runnin around, is this Caddyshack?
Litlebritdifrnt2
@Spaghetti Lee: You sound like my boss, with the fact that our subscription to Lexis means we have the updated to the minute laws at our fingertips on any given day when we signed up years ago he announced “cancel all our subscriptions” This was great for me because it saved us a boat load of money for the hard bound copies of the SCOTUS, NCSC and NCCOA, as well as updates for our statutes and USCA. Just recently he told me to reorder all of the Statutes because “there is just something tangible about being able to read the printed page as opposed to on the screen”. We have not gone back to getting any of the other bound volumes however as with our downsized office space we do not have anywhere to keep them.
Recently he wanted a particular treaties which we did not have and he called one of his lawyer buddies. His lawyer buddy said he didn’t have it and his advice was “google it” sure enough the entire book is available on line for free.
MikeBoyScout
Also too, …
Netflix was King Of the Mountain until its recent series of foot in mouth screw ups.
It has been said above, Netflix’s biggest problem is its smalll and shrinking catalog of streaming choices. Yes, streaming is the future. And if Netflix (or some other provider) does not get its act together SOON the kids already know how to set Mom & Dad up with a bit torrent of the flick they want to see.
The solution for Netflix and its customers is to acquire a significantly larger streaming catalog by paying what it takes to get it, and pass the cost on to those users like John who will gladly pay it.
nuf sed
Omnes Omnibus
@MikeJ:
Win. Jobs… Broadband access… Constitutional mandate (arguably wrt this)… Screwing over cable companies… Yeah, I like it.
Arclite
Mr Mix really channeled my thoughts this morning: separate is stupid. If it’s not on streaming, I still want to watch it, and I don’t want to go to a separate site with separate billing requiring a separate search and separate queue management to order the DVD.
General Stuck
I see no reason why that won’t add a stream tag to the DVD interface, for a movie that has both options. I mean, the ideal for them is to have people buy both services at once, for only 15 bucks a month, so I expect them to advertise what is available for stream on the DVD site as well. Just like they do now.
Clark Stooksbury
I hate to restrict myself to what is available to stream so I only get dvds, so I’m not mad at Netflix/Qwikster either.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@General Stuck: So you don’t believe their press release?
arguingwithsignposts
I don’t see an opportunity for a firebagger/emoprog/Obot debate here. WTF Cole?
dimmic rat
Really. John “I can’t text because of my hideous fat fingers” Cole calling someone a luddite? And you accuse the rethugs of projection…
Omnes Omnibus
@arguingwithsignposts: Lack of creativity on your part. That fight is like Elvis.
punkdavid
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): As Raven said, it’s about the selection, and that’s why I need the DVD option.
I have three different types of things I watch on Netflix:
1) New Releases, most of which are still not available on streaming.
2) Old movies, which I choose because it came up for some reason and now I want to see it. On rare occasions those are streaming, but I don’t generally choose my movies based on what is available streaming, just as I rarely choose the music I listen to based on what is on the radio. I tend to be more proactive than that.
3) Stuff for the kids, and I’m very happy to have the streaming for this, since then the kids can watch their stuff over and over (as kids do) on the Blu-Ray player. We get kids DVDs sometimes too, when it’s a film I really want them to see and it isn’t on streaming (and there is a lull in good releases for me and the Mrs.
All said, until the streaming selection is GREATLY expanded, streaming only is inadequate for my needs.
Litlebritdifrnt2
@Warren Terra:
It is also very similar to the Amway rebranding debacle with “quixstar” or whatever the hell it was once everyone got wise to the Amway scam. A couple I knew fell for that monstrosity and it eventually broke up their marriage.
BTW did anyone ever see the “My Family” episode (British Sitcom with Robert Lyndsey and Zoe Can’tSpellHerNameButShePlayedMadamHoocheonHarryPotter) where they got totally brainwashed by a similar scheme, it was utterly hilarious.
arguingwithsignposts
In other news, I’m on jury duty. I can’t talk about it.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@punkdavid:
Where else can you get The Sandpiper and the Comedians?
General Stuck
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
I see nothing in the press release that bars them from advertising for the stream service on the DVD website. By simply showing that if they want to get the separate stream service, these movies are on it for streaming as well as DVD.
And offer a link, or instructions on how to do that. It is still the same company for both services. And if they don’t do that right away, I bet they do when folks bitch about why they aren’t doing that.
RodeoBob
Wow. Where to start?
How about the slow, gradual decline in service & offerings. When I started with Netflix, I was paying for 3 disks out at a time. Streaming movies sounded neat, but the 3-disk option was what made it work for me, especially watching TV series that were sometimes (whoops!) shipped out of order. When my divorce finalized, and I went to sign up for a new account, guess what? 3-disks were no longer an option, only one disk at a time. Unlimited streaming doesn’t sound so hot when what you want to watch is ‘disc-only’.
The streaming catalog is a tiny fraction of their total DVD library, so streaming-only (while convenient) means instead of finding the specific movie you wanted to watch and watching it, you end up searching for something to watch. Instead of having the “whatever I want, when I want it” experience, Netflix streaming-only option re-creates the 1980’s video store experience of wandering through genre sections, looking for something that seems worth watching. That’s exactly the opposite of why I signed up for Netflix originally.
Adding insult to injury, even though my account is streaming-only, Netflix is more than happy to recommend movies to me that aren’t available for streaming-only, a helpful reminder of what service I’ve given up, and all the things my current service fails to provide. This is a recent change, along with their interface, that makes me wonder why I’m paying for this service at all.
It’s not bad enough to have a relatively small library of streaming-only options, some of them are intermittently unavailable, often without notice or warning. Even when there’s advance notice (“available until 10/21”) that just takes me back to the Video Store experience. No, no, Netflix, the whole point of this service is that I don’t have a “due date” to watch the movie of my choice.
The movie catalog isn’t just limited in titles. Many of the transfers are low quality and low resolution. Subtitles may or may not be an option, and alternate audio tracks mostly don’t exist. It’s great that your Blu-ray player is capable of crystal-clear, sharp images on your widescreen TV… too bad the print that’s available has transfer lines and cigarette burns on it.
Now, Netflix could be expanding their on-line offerings. I say could be because despite having my email address, a company blog, and coders who understand RSS feeds, there’s no way to know when or if new titles have been added except by slavishly searching through the (laughably named) “new arrivals” tab which offers new clues about when it was last updated. I think there are new releases each month, maybe even every other week, but I haven’t found a simple, reliable way to see what’s been released on what dates, or what might be coming up.
TL;DR version: I liked Netflix because it was better than going to the local video store. Now the only difference between the two is the drive there and back.
joes527
@RodeoBob:
Well yeah, that AND the fact that the local video store no longer exists*. But that is a mere detail
* Don’t get me started on RedBox. If you think that netflix streaming selection is limited …
Maxwel
Are more DVDs playable with the streaming account? I have 27 DVDs in my Q, none can be PLAYed.
Comrade Dread
Problem I have, John, is that their streaming selection isn’t nearly as exhaustive as their DVD selection.
Now, if as a result of paying more money, Netflix can afford to pay the studios for the rights to distribute newer materials faster, then I’ll be grateful.
cckids
I keep my disc Netflix subscription for all the documentaries, etc, that aren’t available streaming. Like lots of others; it isn’t about being Luddites, it is about the limited availability of streaming content. Netflix’s backlog of PBS & independent documentaries are a godsend to homeschoolers. Better than lots of textbooks & more interesting too.
General Stuck
@RodeoBob:
This has been my one big complaint about NF from the start. How they present new releases really sucks, and I usually either visit the Redbox site or Blockbuster, to get a more full list of all new releases, and then go back to NF to search and queue them. Has nothing to do with their new structure though.
palooza
Win: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/netflix
some guy
@arguingwithsignposts:
hard to have that argument when the President went on the TV today and made the speech Jane Hamsher and Digby have been begging him to make for the last two years, using language, tone, and conceptual apparatus commonly seen on popular websites like Firedoglake and Hullabaloo.
trollhattan
Once I have Korea-grade streaming at Korea-like prices I’ll think about that being my entertainment medium. (Drums fingers on table listening to clock tick. Wait, that’s a digital clock!)
arguingwithsignposts
@some guy: oh, i see it’s on. ;)
some guy
and to add to the Netflix thread, searching for new releases has always been an achilles heel for them (along with throttling heavy users,) which is why I always kept Rotten Tomatoes open whenever searching NF for dvds.
trollhattan
@palooza:
Heh. That guy’s right up there with the bestest. Seattle boy, I understand.
Warren Terra
@General Stuck:
Bookmark this page. It’s the Netflix page of “DVDs released this week”, it’s what they showed before they “improved” their New Releases, and it still works (though irritatingly I don’t know how to see what was released last week). Mind you, that page will be useless once Quixter gets implemented.
@arguingwithsignposts:
See, if they were really serious, you’d have to tell us that you can’t talk about whether you’re on jury duty.
Scott Supak
My satellite connection has a cap on bandwidth, and if I go over, I’m screwed to dial up speeds until it comes down. So, I’m stuck until Verizon decides to hook me up out here.
Oh, and quality, also, too. Blue Ray…
arguingwithsignposts
@Warren Terra: i’d have to kill ya.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Warren Terra: That link is an internal BJ link.
Southern Beale
Dude. You’ve got “offa my lawn” syndrome. Like, a raging case of it.
arguingwithsignposts
@Southern Beale: the funny thing is the “get off my lawn” movie isn’t even available on streaming.
Thymezone
John, your post is way too sensible. Such ideas have no place here, there is no appetite for them.
Please put up a rant of some kind, rational or not, the crowd will love it.
Dee Loralei
@arguingwithsignposts: that made me snort. ^5
arguingwithsignposts
@Dee Loralei: my work here is done, then.
Warren Terra
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
I fixed it. For some reason, copying from the address bar didn’t add the http:// precursor it usually does.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Warren Terra: operator error!
Southern Beale
Okay, John. Here’s the thing:
The issue is not whether Netflix customers are embracing new technology like streaming. The issue is that Netflix did not make the deals it needed to with studios and production companies giving it access to a large amount of streaming content. Therefore, Netflix does not have a significant streaming library because they made a sucky business decision. And customers are mad because they’re acting like they’re all that when they’re not.
My issue with this whole thing is that Netflix’s decision to split into two units basically accommodates those users who want access to Netflix’s DVD library, but will go elsewhere for streaming — Hulu, for example. I don’t know how many people that is, but a lot of us wanted the convenience of managing both via one account. By splitting into two, they are basically making their customers search two libraries. That’s stupid because of course you’re going to search the bigger library. They’re basically sending people to their competitors.
That’s my take on it. Tell me I’m wrong. My husband deals with most of this shit and I’ve been hearing him bitch about Netflix for weeks now.
Southern Beale
@arguingwithsignposts:
LOL … see my 8:05 pm comment. That is the point, exactly.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Southern Beale: He left hours ago.
arguingwithsignposts
@Southern Beale: i am just the straight man.
daveNYC
to chime in, streaming is the future, but it isn’t the present. Not while Chuck is DVD only or web streaming only on Hulu. Or while I can get every Star Trek except for DS9 streamed. I want to go streaming only, it’s just the selection won’t let me.
Southern Beale
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
I never imagined John actually reads all the comments. I don’t see how that’s humanly possible.
I’m just making my point.
Sam Houston
I’m not mad; I’m sad. Netflix has always been at the mercy of Big Content. Now Big Content is putting the screws to Netflix. Now we’re seeing is the death throws. They should last for another 3 years and then we’ll be stuck with paying Big Content directly PLUS being forced to watch commercials for the privilege.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Southern Beale:
it
was
a
joke
Pococurante
Netflix floundered and their catalog continues to shrink.
That is why any reasonable consumer, one who pays attention to the product they buy, would care.
One doesn’t have to be a luddite to care about the quality of their purchase.
Singularity
Not reading a single comment before I say that I completely agree with you, John. I really hate having to pay extra to subsidize a bunch of users who refuse to move into the 21st century. Glad Netflix decided to prioritize the customers who will be their future.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): What’s an ethernet drop? If it’s a cable, yeah, right. How do I get that from the second floor to the back family room in an 80-year old house without spending a fortune on an electrician?
A WiFi attachment for our BluRay player costs $80, and then I’ll get what, the same level of streaming I get on YouTube on the computer? Full of pauses and breaks and drops?
No thanks.
Southern Beale
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
Oh!
Well it lacked the international symbol indicating a joke, so how was I supposed to know?
:-)
Southern Beale
@Sam Houston:
Nah. Someone will figure out a way around it. Big Content can build all the walls it wants, but people are building ladders every day. And so it goes.
RossInDetroit
I’ll repeat myself from the earlier thread.
1) not everyone has broadband. Plenty of people will die of old age before it reaches them. But the USPS goes there 6 days a week.
2) some streamed movies look like ass. I’m not a videophile but the compression really annoys me on some streamed films.
3) just about everyone can watch disk media on a decent size screen but for many, streamed means squinting at a computer. Not as good.
Thymezone
Totally disagree. First of all the licensing issue is under the control of the people who own the properties. Netflix has only one bargaining chip, and that’s money. And the industry sees that on demand and streaming, or something like them but faster and better, are the distribution paths of the future and they are gaming the whole thing to maximize their revenues. Titles are licensed for streaming for windows of time, just as they are licensed for on demand or premium cable. No distribution outfit is going to get control of that right now, maybe ever.
But whatever happens with pay per view licensing, the DVD as vehicle for the content is going to go away, probably sooner rather than later. It’s out of date by about ten years already, and technology is rushing up behind it. No recording artifact is going to carry the distribution load of the future. That just ain’t going to happen.
And of course, Netflix is splitting in order to sell off the disk business, which is a very smart move, because the future will not belong to the operator who has to carry that big load of warehouses and people and machines and industrial revolution junk. Somebody will buy it and run it into the ground the way Blockbuster has been run, and by then, people will have forgotten the DVD the way they have forgotten VHS. It won’t be that long.
Netflix is nothing but a transition business, filling the gap between the old Blockbuster model, and the model of tomorrow, which will be entirely electronic. Get used to it.
lamh34
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): yeah, I know, but I like the features of DVDs.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: I have a hundred year old house and my modem is on the second floor. I drilled a hole in the attic wall, ran the cable out the eave and down the exterior wall. Then I ran it through the vent in the crawlspace, low-crawled under the house. Drilled a hole in the floor and hooked it up, nuthin but a thang.
hawestile
Good grief, John. Do I sense a tad of “I’ve got mine, fuck you” in this post?
I’ve been a Netflix subscriber since June 2000. I’ve completed almost every single one of those mail delivery, streaming quality, and various other customer satisfaction surveys they’ve sent me. I didn’t complain about the recent pricing change even though it meant I’d be paying more than $10 more a month because I figured I’d just drop to a lower plan. (I’m now paying the same amount for 2 dvds a month + streaming that I was paying for 4 dvds + streaming back in August. It’s not a big deal — nothing that I’d cancel my subscription for — but it is a little annoying.)
This new change is ridiculous though and I don’t see how it could possibly create a more “user-friendly” environment for customers like myself who want DVDs + streaming. Is my DVD queue going to be carried over to Qwikster or am I gonna have to re-add all 300 titles I have in mine? And what, I have to go to two sites now just to figure out if I should add it to my DVD list or stream it? (Netflix streaming, might I add, would never have even existed if we hadn’t supported the DVD service for so long.)
The change in pricing is one thing, but Reed’s post about this new change felt like a huge middle finger to the customers that stayed even though they had to pay a little more. And the timing is especially poor since the new rates just kicked in last week. It’s like he’s saying, “Baby, I know I screwed your sister and I admit that was wrong. So I hope it’s cool that I screw your mother too.”
I’m reminded of Dumb & Dumber: “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any dumber, you go and do something like this…”
Unfortunately, I don’t see Netflix redeeming itself anytime soon.
Brian S
@Southern Beale: I’d only argue that Netflix can only make the deals that content providers are willing to make, and it seems pretty clear that content providers don’t want to deal.
This deal strikes me as the kind of thing that will turn into Netflix selling off the DVD portion somewhere down the road and trying to be the one shop still standing when content makers realize they really don’t want to do the crap work of providing access themselves.
Brian S
@Southern Beale: I’d only argue that Netflix can only make the deals that content providers are willing to make, and it seems pretty clear that content providers don’t want to deal.
This deal strikes me as the kind of thing that will turn into Netflix selling off the DVD portion somewhere down the road and trying to be the one shop still standing when content makers realize they really don’t want to do the crap work of providing access themselves.
Seanly
I would agree with John except that library of streaming videos on Netflix sucks and is only going to get worse with the loss of Starz.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@lamh34: Me too, like I said, I need the subtitles for my shitty hearing. I know that they are available on some streamed movies on some devices but not my sony blu-ray. I still hooked it up and used it until this latest cluster-fuck. I’ve got the wire if I need it.
scav
Whatever one’s exact personal market-niche is, and they seem to come in all possible varieties, I don’t think this will go down as a golden moment in management and set up as a casebook study to emulate and kneel before. Nevertheless, if El Presidente Netflixo was in banking, he’d probably be up for a bonus for navigating this tricky transitional period. There, I worked in a class warfare angle.
And it is so fucking amusing to hear people that value variety of content over technological method of delivery as luddites, and people who don’t happen to live in areas with the freaking infrastructure to support streaming as luddites. Apparently, anything but the active and unconditional support of the bleeding edge of near vaporware is luddism now. Abstract technological development and not actual consumer demand is the determinant of markets in this brave new world.
Thymezone
@Thymezone:
Still there, John? I rest my case. Posts like yours are a waste of time. Bile-filled hate rants are the way to go, please revise your approach. This sane shit is boring.
Woodrowfan
FWIW, I went to the Post Office Saturday. behind the clerks there are several baskets labeled with the type of mail that goes into each. There was one just for Netflix. The clerk said that it was a major part of their business now. If Netflix starts phasing out their DVDs, that’s another hit for the Post Office it doesn’t need.
Oddly, we did not get this email that everyone is talking about, and we are Netflixers. (yes, i checked the spam filter.)
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@scav: smile when you say that Aristotle!
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Woodrowfan: They have to have some kind of setup with the PO where they scan the bar code and it releases the next flick. . .that’s it “nextfilcks”!
MaximusNYC
@some guy:
And yet FDL managed to stay mad at Obama anyway… by attacking him for the Medicare cuts. What Medicare cuts, you ask? Good question.
Thymezone
@Woodrowfan:
How would you like to own a business model that depended entirely on the predictable future and reliability of the Post Office right now? Any wonder why Netflix is going to carve that business out and sell it? The Post Office is busy planning service reductions. How long do you think they will continue with Saturday delivery, for example?
scav
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Haven’t had a chance to buy my alcohol yet: get back to me and I’ll see what I can wrastle up from the archives.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@MaximusNYC: Their shit it far beyond mad, it’s deep seated hate. They banned my ass for saying so.
Woodrowfan
@Thymezone: Good point. It’s a viscous cycle.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@scav: Bring it dawg. And I think you left a word out in the 1st sentence, 2nd paragraph.
Scuffletuffle
@palooza: The Bobcats…soooo funny!
hawestile
@Singularity: Um, since when are you paying extra? Streaming only just dropped in price and I might be wrong, but I don’t think you’ve ever had an increase.
Thymezone
Let’s focus on something with a real future: Ralph Nader’s primary challenge. His previous stabs at national politics has been about as successful as the combination word-food processor idea I have been working on …..
Thymezone
@Woodrowfan:
USPO: Junk mail and DVD delivery service. Great future.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Yeah, I hear you on the drilling and stringing and low-crawling. And exterior walls. I suppose I could find a way to run the cable if I really had to.
Our TV room is in a new addition in the back. When we built it, we ran power (natch), phone, and cable. Who knew we’d need ethernet, too?
WeeBey
John! You’re right!
Let me just stream The Wire right now!
Oh, wait.
scav
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Certainly left two “Describes” out but the FYWP monster banned me from editing so rantspeak has the flavor it has.
cinesimon
This is of course the first step toward them selling the DVD mail-order division. Given they never wanted to have such a business, I think they’ve set up an infrastructure that, if sold to the right people, could be exactly what us rare film lovers have been looking for: a source of very hard to find films able to offer rental deals based on usage as Netflic does, for films that cannot be found anywhere, apart from maybe via torrent and similar sites.
Netflix may eventually loose a lot of hard core film lovers, but they’re the customers they were losing money off of.
So in the medium term, as long as the mail-order buyer is the right one, both Netflix and the customer will be winners.
And of course those who only ever wanted Netflix as an easy mainstream film streaming service, are the winners immediately – and they are, of course, the customers Netflix care about retaining.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Thymezone: Your word-food processor has already been perfected, sad to say. You missed out on the patent. At least, that’s the device I presume has been preparing Ms. Palin’s word salad for the last couple of years, no?
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Just a thought.
PeakVT
I can’t believe how much discussion the changes to Netflix have generated. Good thing nobody but a few geeks were on the net when New Coke came out. If it happened today, the controversy would clog all of the intertubes up completely.
JR
And as soon as they offer the same selection streaming as they do on disc, you might have a point, Cole.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@scav: It’s like a cloze test!
Marginalized for stating documented facts
I’m with Cole. For only $2 more per month I now get twice as many DVDs in the mail. Good deal!
Elizabelle
Question from Luddite Central:
I’ve never used Netflix.
I have an old MacBook (black! and heavyish; probably 4-5 years old).
Will streaming movies work for me?
Because I don’t have the patience to deal with Youtube videos and Hulu that gets stuck.
Thymezone
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
She is my tester. So far, so good. Product release coming soon.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Elizabelle: Netflix will stream through your browser so it’s more about connectivity than hardware. What OS you running?
Are you saying youtube and Hulu doesn’t work well?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@PeakVT: or the Edsel
khead
@Southern Beale:
Why hasn’t your husband used a competitor?
300 comments griping about Netflix at BJuice today…… I have 50 bucks that says I can count the number of people from those comments that actually dropped Netflix on one hand.
The whitewhine.com comment in the earlier thread was awesome.
MikeJ
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
Did you add it in the last 20 years?
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@khead: I dropped the streaming months ago. After all the shit I went through to run the fucking cable.
JGabriel
John Cole @ Top:
You’re praising less choice?
That’s very … conservative of you, you anti-videochoice freak.
.
mcd410x
Early in the day, there was a good roundup of why Netflix may be doing this. The one that made the most sense to me was that studios are going to charge Netflix on a per subscriber basis rather than per content. With so many subscribers not using streaming it made sense to split the two, pay less to the content providers and keep the profits.
Elizabelle
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
Thanks Raven.
I’m running Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and have high speed internet (modem and wireless) through Verizon.
Hulu didn’t work well a few months back. (Heard rumors Hulu doesn’t do well on a Mac, but can’t evaluate that.)
Youtube videos sometimes don’t track right; depends on the video.
Jade Jordan
Netflix is tired of being a profitable company and desparately wants to quit.
Step 1 Price increase
Step 2 split into two companies
Step 3 name one company something stupid and unrelated
Step 4 send out empty mailers
Step 5 insert porno frames into the streamed kid movies….
by step 10 you will be out of business and on the beach full time.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Elizabelle: You might want to kick up your ram, it’s cheap and pretty easy to do.
John S.
This is simply marketing FAIL. Never mind the licensing terms, the available content and all the actual details of the service offering (I kid). This is just a collosally stupid branding fiasco.
It’s one thing to split an offering into two paths which are still connected and can cross-sell. But that isn’t what Netflix is doing; they are creating two completely separate entities. Read some of the replies to the first few comments – totally separate databases and searches. Lame.
And the name is fucking retarded. Quikster? Quixter? Quickstir? Who the fuck will remember the difference, it’s that lousy. They could have gone with something at least tangentially related. Netflix is the streaming online service? Call the other one Mailflix or something, and put it under the “Flix” umbrella.
But as one person mentioned upthread, it’s like the CEO got drunk and posted this crap at 3am.
Sarah in Brooklyn
The thing is, there is a lot lot LOT of good stuff on Netflix that isn’t available streaming. I’m re-watching Foyle’s War right now, and it’s only available on DVD. So I’m worried – my DVD queue is way longer than my streaming queue, and until all those titles are available to stream, I need a good source for old fashioned discs.
John S.
@Jade Jordan:
What you said.
Martin
@mcd410x:
Pay less to the content providers? Yeah, it doesn’t work that way. They’re going to switch from a household model to a per-stream model or a per-device model. Want to watch something while the kids do? 2 subscriptions. Want to be able to watch from your Xbox/TV and your iPad? 2 subscriptions.
Netflix’s problem is that people are unplugging and studio revenues are down. Less revenue isn’t going to solve that problem.
MikeBoyScout
Netflix/Qwikster meet New Coke!
jheartney
@John S.: I’ve heard a couple of possible rationales:
1. Separating the two allows some sort of licensing juju that helps them buy more streaming content (can’t vouch for how valid this is).
2. They are planning to sell the disk business, so they need it to be a clean separation; whoever buys won’t want to have to deal with Netflix name, or something related like ***flix, and won’t want to be yoked to the old parent company’s databases.
darkmatter
@John Cole: When the entire country is broadband ready and the download/upload times are better than now, streaming will be completely viable.
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/netflix-adding-video-game-rentals-to-its-newly-re-branded-dvd-service/3671/
Qwikster going after gamefly is somewhat laughable. If gamefly can’t even get what games you put on your list in a timely fashion, qwikster will probably end up worse.
Ron
My biggest issue is that the catalog of what’s available on streaming is very small compared to what’s available on blu-ray. So yes, I would stream if all the movies I wanted were available on their streaming catalog.
Irony Abounds
Clearly since John doesn’t rent dvd’s the change doesn’t but him. I like Netflix’s streaming because I love all the old tv series. However, the streaming movie selection does indeed suck big time. More importantly, however, to those that say streaming is the future, just wait until your internet provider starts dinging you big time for bandwidth charges. If everything gets funneled into streaming, you know there are going to be huge surcharges for that, particularly if you want quality that even approaches blu-ray. And if you don’t mind crappy video quality, then don’t talk to be about being a luddite for not embracing streaming.
clayton
Some of us live in big cities and don’t have access to broadband. Unlike you hikx in the hills.
John S.
@jheartney:
#1 They can “seperate” without having to separate in order to achieve that goal. I can’t image why they couldn’t operate in exactly the manner suggested without having to mar the experience so badly.
#2 If they were planning on selling, they would have made the business more valuable, not less. That’s like taking Disneyworld and making it Fredworld. What, you’re not going to pay $80 to visit Fredworld?
Elizabelle
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
Thank you. Happen to be going to Apple tomorrow; will follow up on that.
PIGL
I have waded through 140+ comments, and not once did I see the wordz “torrentz”
What is wrong with you people?
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Elizabelle: Don’t buy memory from them, it’s wayyyy cheaper other places.
crucial
and easy to do yourself, there are youtubes that show you how.
MikeBoyScout
@156 PIGL:
Well, you see “bit torrent” at 49.
Mike
I think that the reason why so many people are upset is that the streaming service’s selection is pure crap. I’m not into the whole Netflix thing, but I was over my buddy’s house the other day, and I couldn’t believe how awful the streaming movie selection was. 90% of it consisted of video only releases, and high number sequels to bad movies that don’t even have the original actors. It’s simply not worth any money at all unless all you care about is TV shows (and you better not care about Starz shows, ‘cos you are losing that next year).
Netflix is putting themselves in a dangerous spot, though. The studios are putting big time pressure on the company for streaming money. Since the studios have essentially a monopoly over content, they can rake Netflix over the coals. With DVD’s, there was already an established policy going back many years about DVD rentals. Streaming is uncharted territory, and the movie studios can pretty much hold their monopoly product hostage until they get what they want.
Cacti
I heard the reason they chose the name Qwikster was because “New Coke” was already taken.
maya
@clayton: I live in the hills and the only option for quasi broadband is satellite. Hughes or Wild Blue. Major problem with streaming is that it chews up your FAP (Fair Access Policy) that limits you to a certain amount of MB download per 30 day period. 7500, for me.
Unless I missed something here with streaming, that’s mega download time. I could probaly watch 2-3 movies per month and that’s it. Times up. Wouldn’t have any FAP left to come here. More the pity.
No wonder we’re running out of cyber space. You Neflix streaming hogs are goobling it up faster than a Republican at a Subway sandwhich shop.
Jennyjinx
I love Netflix. I have no problem paying a little more for the benefit of legally watching full series of shows I missed the first time (like “Life on Mars” which was exceptional and should’ve never gotten the axe). My kids love it, too. Right now my grandson is enamored with the 90’s version of X-Men. We only watched the 80’s Spiderman series 4 times before I had to lie and tell him they took it off.
If they only had movies, I wouldn’t even bother with them. Meh.
Judas Escargot
@MikeJ:
One could make an argument that fiber/copper fits the definition-in-spirit of a ‘Post Road’.
Scott P.
95% of what I watch is not available via streaming, so it’s the DVDs for me.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@MikeJ: Yes, the addition was in the last 20 years. Does that make me stupider?
Was it the same ethernet cable? I’ve got Cat5 running under doorways and rugs now for the xBoxes on the 2nd floor. If I’d strung whatever was current in 2004 through the walls would it be obsolete now?
DaddyJ
@PIGL:
I guess most of the posters here don’t think theft is cool, even when spelled with a z.
Elizabelle
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
Thank you. Much obliged. Will let you know how this worked out.
Thymezone
@MikeJ:
LOL
Yutsano
@arguingwithsignposts:
I saw what you did there.
Barry
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: “You ask why isn’t all of Netflicks cataloged streamed? Hard to belive having a pile of DVDs is somehow cheaper than streaming.”
It’s been mentioned that they go out and buy DVD’s when the studio won’t license them directly, which gives them negotiating clout.
Persia
@Mike: The other problem with the streaming is there’s very little closed captioning and a lot of it isn’t very good. This means almost everything I want to rent for my kid has to be on DVD.
RGuy
It’s probably not worth commenting now but John you kind of missed the point of why people are pissed.
It’s not that they don’t want streaming (most of us do) it’s that there’s hardly anything worth streaming on there. I just did a search of the top 100 netflix “rentals” and out of 100 guess how many are available to stream? About six. Yes, six percent of the most popular movies are available to stream. At this point, I think you can figure out why people are annoyed.
steve
I’m no Luddite and I have no particular fondness for physical media, but Netflix’s streaming catalog is hopelessly inadequate. Nine times out of ten, the movie I wanted to watch wasn’t available via streaming. And on the rare occasions when it was available, I’d have to watch it RIGHT THEN or risk having it magically become “unavailable” the next time I tried to stream it. Hell, even Comcast has the decency to tell you the exact date that an on-demand offering is going to go away.
It’s also worthwhile to point out that broadband quality isn’t equally robust everywhere. I had pinned my hopes to getting Verizon’s FIOS service until they decided it just wasn’t worth the money to extend fiber optic broadband to the schmucks in flyover country and dropped it.
IrishGirl
@lamh34: I had the same problem. To solve the problem I spent about $80 on a conversion piece that will connect to your PC or laptop via VGA but can connect to your HDTV via a number of different connections such as HDMI or S-Video or Traditional Red/Yellow/White cables, etc. Here’s a link to some examples but I got mine at Radio Shack (don’t mean to plug them specifically–it was close that’s all)
IrishGirl
I am going to probably get rid of Netflix AND my cable TV at the same time. Netflix, as so many others have said, doesn’t have enough quality streaming content to watch. And until they or someone else does I’m not paying for it. And Cable TV mainly just pisses me off. I get most of my news from the Internet anyway. I’ll be saving myself at least $60 a month which I will use to get a professional deep tissue massage. It all depends on one’s priorities ;)
Lymie
So, this tells me that you all have good internet to stream at all times. We have poor DSL, and often watch DVDs while traveling long distances, so we don’t really have a choice. I think you may forget that not everyone is so connected.
uptown
@lamh34:
Monoprice is your friend for high quality but inexpensive converters, connectors and cables.
Mark Kolmar
Netflix are getting ahead of themselves. The current state of online video is like the early days of digital music when 128kbps MP3 was standard and the selection was spotty. Record companies wouldn’t sell digital music, in case someone could steal it. If you think the record companies were bad about that, consider the cost to produce a major Hollywood motion picture, and calibrate your paranoia to that level.
Eventually, Netflix and others will be able to deliver a better picture than they do now, with a selection that will please most people most of the time. But it will be a while. In the meantime, this is awkward.
Online music reached a critical mass only recently, where most listeners can get most of the music they want, in relatively unencumbered, decent-sounding formats, and manageable size.
(I prefer lossless WAV or FLAC, when available, and like CDs or vinyl for the same reasons. But I’m not “most listeners” for this point.)
DVD movies have lossy encoding of the picture and sound, and the size of the data is still roughly 10 times the size of CD audio. Blu-Ray HD is roughly 4 to 6 times the size of DVD. It is a lot of data, even for broadband internet. If streaming used the same type of encoding as the discs, you would download 6GB to 30GB for every feature-length film. Not to bore you with the particulars, but the video streams are shrunk more and differently. People can more easily forgive a lot of the flaws in the picture, compared to the faults they hear in lossy music. But the problems are more obvious to see, even if they are less bothersome. So the quality is better than VHS or analog broadcast, but it is a trade-off compared to DVD.
For the casual viewer, for most programs, the trade-off for convenience will be worth it. And the picture quality will improve over time. (Look at some older DVDs.) This assumes Netflix or others will be able to stream most of the content that the bulk of viewers want to see. They are not there yet.
Smaller new releases and back-catalog obscurities via stream will make more and more sense with time. I suspect that people who enjoy older, black-and-white, difficult imports, etc., will continue to use DVD and Blu-Ray in the foreseeable future. As with the late arrival of The Beatles online, it may also turn out that the most popular, lucrative content and well-known franchises will be the last stuff to make the leap to streaming.
So far, I kept both the 1-disc plan (w/ Blu-Ray) and streaming. If I choose one, for now it will be the discs. But I’m a hi-fi snob with a critical eye, and I don’t have much of a sweet tooth for summer blockbusters. So I do not expect this type of mass-media experiment to cater to my tastes right away.
jc
You live in an old man bubble.
Do you have any idea how many poor people can´t afford to buy a computer and pay a monthly online fee?
Of course you don´t and it´s the same reason you don´t get why some people might need DVD service. They already have a DVD player you condescending old piece of shit.
Kevin
If it is not in my streaming then I go find it on Redbox. Sorry Netflix I’m completely in the “not searching two sites and having two separate charges” camp.