# How do you watch Netflix - style, not hardware **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962 "2011-08-16T22:19:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/1 "2011-08-16T22:19:30Z")
I often hear people, both here and elsewhere, complain about a limited selection available at Netflix. This always boggles me. I could easily come up with hundreds of hours of either watch it now or mailed DVDs that I could watch. So my theory - some people have an exact list of what they want to watch. If Netflix, or what ever service, doesn’t have that exact movie available right now, then their selection is limited. So how do you watch? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/2 "2011-08-16T22:41:06Z")
I browse, pretty much 90% of the time. Once in awhile I’ll look for something specific ( and fail to find it 90% of the time ). I agree with your assesment. The folks I know that are down on Netflix streaming for the most part are either a.) very picky about how they spend their time ( nothing but the best content will do ), or b.) looking for specific things most of the time and are thus always disappointed by the weaker selection, or c.) both. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/3 "2011-08-16T22:47:27Z")
I usually browse. “Nothing good on TV, let’s see what Netflix has…” I can generally find something entertaining on Netflix streaming at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/4 "2011-08-16T22:52:54Z")
Netflix has gotten pretty good at suggesting things to me. For each program I watch, I seem to stumble upon one or two that I don’t have time for right now, so I stick them in my queue. The result is about six months (and growing) of queued-up stuff that I need to watch. ---
**Author:** ![SylverOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/5 "2011-08-16T22:59:37Z")
I have a ton of stuff in my queue, so it’s easy to pick something. Sometimes I’ll go see if they have a specific title available, which is usually because it’s something my husband wants to watch. ---
**Author:** ![gallan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@gallan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/6 "2011-08-17T00:51:00Z")
I long ago gave up searching for specific movies in the instant selection, and instead I’m now subscribed to the RSS feed which alerts me whenever they add a movie. I’m one of those who complains (often and loudly) about the limited selection of streaming movies. Yes, there is perhaps a lifetime worth of movies and TV shows available, but few of them meet my simple criteria: can I answer “yes” to any of these questions? Have I heard of this movie? Do I know anyone who has seen this movie? Have I heard anyone talk about this movie? Have I seen a preview or a trailer without specifically going to look for one? Was it nominated for any major awards? Have I heard of any of the actors? Have I heard of the director? Did the movie appear in any 1st-run theaters near me for at least a week? If the answer to any of those questions is “Yes,” I’ll watch it. I would guess that for 90% of the streaming content on Netflix, my answer would be “No” to all questions. This isn’t Netflix’s fault. I’ve determined that if a movie has even a slight chance of still turning a profit for the studio, it won’t be available to watch instantly. In fact, I’ve noticed that some old classics are available through instant watch and then suddenly disappear when the studio releases them on blu-ray or releases a “50th anniversary collection” or something like that. In other words, Netflix Instant Watch is home to all of those movies that nobody is willing to actually buy. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/7 "2011-08-17T00:53:50Z")
I have both disc and streaming, and don’t watch either often enough to get my money’s worth. But I sort of feel like I pay to keep my queue, which is where I keep awesome movie recommendations. Usually I check my queue and see if there’s anything I feel like watching, and I will find something. If not I poke around the current selections. The few times I got it in my head to go watch something, they didn’t have it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/8 "2011-08-17T16:38:48Z")
I selected ‘browse until something looks good’ but I am not sure that is a crisp description of what I do. Having rated disks for almost a decade I have come to rely heavily upon Netflix’s recommendations and put them in my queue then, usually, take the next one in the queue. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/9 "2011-08-17T20:08:23Z")
_The Wild And Wonderful Whites Of West Virginia_, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/10 "2011-08-17T21:32:28Z")
I _want_ to watch a specific movie, since I don’t watch that many movies, and very little TV. Unfortunately, the odds that Netflix has what I want for streaming are remote, so I often end up looking for something else I really want to see. Most of the time, I give up and move on. I don’t want to watch a movie just for the sake of watching a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-watch-netflix-style-not-hardware/592962/11 "2011-08-19T17:29:09Z")
I’m usually a grazer - I’ll browse the new arrivals queues for a half hour, then either pick something or nhot. But sometimes will pop in to watch something specific - Battlestar, Top Gear, Mythbusters, etc.