So what do you think of Netflix's new pricing?

Cafe Society
241

The biggest problem I see is this:
I agree that it looks like they are trying to go ‘streaming-only,’ and in the near future will sell off the Qwikster brand and all the associated gobbledygook (distribution centers, etc…), but as others have said, the streaming options aren’t great (I’m satisfied with it, but mostly because I use it for TV shows, not movies. I was able to get into New Who because of it, got all caught up on the first five seasons, not bad.) I predict that with a bigger emphasis on streaming, there will be an upsurge in the content…but it won’t last.

More and more studios are going to want a bigger piece of the streaming pie, and will charge Netflix more. If Netflix doesn’t pay up (I’m guessing initially they will, but then won’t after the studios inevitably raise prices again) ,they cut ties and take back their content, and then simply offer it up to stream on their own service.

This will be a bad deal for everyone involved, because no consumer is going to want to have separate accounts for Sony’s, Warner Brother’s, CBS’s, etc… streaming services, and sure as Hell won’t pay for multiple accounts. But it’s clear that studio execs are all idiots when it comes to thinking they know what the consumer wants, as they do shit like this all the time. They’ll go on thinking that their service is best, because since we’re buying directly from them, we eliminate the middle-man (Netflix,) and get it for cheaper!

Well, sure, Sony’s service might be cheaper on it’s own, but obviously if you pieced back together what you would have had form Netflix, it’d probably be ten times as much.

So Netflix streaming will be even worse than it is now, more people will cancel, and Netflix goes belly-up. Meanwhile, the studios get more pissed that they are making less money now, because as said, who is going to use their streaming services? And with Netflix gone, they lost the chance to go back to them. More people pirate movies/TV shows again, so the studios do even more annoying copyright shit to combat it, which does nothing more than piss off legitimate consumers, and entices them to pirate themselves.

All told, it will end up worse for everyone…consumers, content providers, and content creators.

242

Game over, man… GAME OVER!

243

I don’t like it. That simpering email didn’t help. If I have to re-rate any of the 2000+ movies in my DVD/streaming histories after the split, something’s gonna get cancelled.

244

I already have Amazon Prime because I order enough to make 2-day shipping a good deal. But I’ve checked out their instant video options & they lag far behind Netflix Streaming. Please ensure that the selection will work for you.

Until something markedly better comes along, I’ll stick with Netflix. Of course, I only need to find things *I *want to watch–I don’t have a whole household to entertain.

245

Could they have handled this any worse? They may still survive just due to the demand of streaming content and the income they make form the inevitable Quickster sell off. They may even flourish in spite of themselves.

Another Question. Does Netflix hate their coustomer/fanbase more than George Lucas?

I bet Amazon, Blockbuster, Redbox and others are scrambling to find a way to capitalize right now.

246

In the economics and accounting classes I’ve taken, one term used is barriers to entry. So what are the relative barriers to entry of the two services (streaming and DVD-by-mail)?

Streaming:

  1. Signing distribution agreements with the studios.
  2. Building the infrastructure and bandwidth necessary to deliver all of those movies to all of those people.

DVD-by-mail:

  1. Buying literally millions of physical discs of every movie imaginable.
  2. Building distribution centers throughout the country.
  3. Building systems and hardware to allow them to quickly process incoming and outgoing movies.

Now there are several other companies offering streaming content (Blockbuster, Apple, Hulu, Amazon, etc.) so the barriers are (apparently) able to be overcome. But the companies that have tried to compete with Netflix in the DVD-by-mail service (Walmart, Blockbuster) have failed for the most part. So my sense is that even though it seems to be a dinosaur, the DVD-by-mail service is the one more likely to be successful, although there are a lot of costs involved.

247

Amazon has what appears to be, all the infrastructure to do the DVD by mail thing. And the Streaming content. They could sneak in an take over the market while folks are still mad at Netflix.

A good move by another big player and one more bad move for Nextfix and Netflix is down and will be bought up.

248

I actually see Blockbuster making a comeback in the DVD-by-mail business because of this. Netflix as a brand gained enormous momentum and rolled right over Blockbuster’s brick-and-mortar model. By the time Blockbuster brought in their own DVD-by-mail service, Netflix was way, way ahead and they couldn’t keep up.

But this? Between the price hike and the rebranding, they’re going to lose a lot of customers. People who got used to Netflix may be confused by Qwikster, and there’s no brand loyalty to Qwikster. Blockbuster has an opportunity to come back with a recognizable brand and be a serious competitor.

249

Hang on… let me get into position on the ground here. Damn knees! Okay… ready.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

250

Amazon could do a great job. With Prime shipping I can order a $2 doo-dad and have it here tomorrow or next day for free.

The problem all these companies are going to have is dealing with the media companies.

251

I read somewhere that the reason that Dish Network bought Blockbuster earlier this year was because Blockbuster has agreements to allow it to stream movies from certain studios. Also, Dish Network wants to use the Blockbuster stores for its own purposes (perhaps selling and servicing its hardware). So I doubt they’ll build a DVD-by-mail business.

252

Seems to me media moguls in the past haven’t shown much foresight when it comes to adapting to new technology and new business plans. The movie studios fought television and videotape, the networks fought cable and videotape, the recording industry fought audiotape and recordable CD’s, and both went to ludicrous extremes to try to preserve their old business plans and marginalize, or even outlaw, new technology. Their shortsightedness may mean it will be years before video streaming finally hits its stride.

253

There have always been two separate queues which do not interact - even the selection of DVDs and Watch Instantly could be done separately. They are presented as separate ‘tabs’ within a single browser window, now they will be in different browser windows.

Really, not much difference.

254

Netflix is by far the best out of the three I’m subscribed to (Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime). It’s half the price of a pay per month online game so I consider it a good deal.

Netflix has more reliable playback with a better interface, it is the only one that keeps track of what you’ve already watched, and lets you make a queue of what you’re thinking of watching later.

They all lack depth of selections. I would love more selection. But even if I’m only watching a few episodes a month, it’s cheaper than the per episode price. Or a TIVO. And I watch it on my computer so it’s easier to use that way too than a TIVO or cable would be.

255

No, they do interact. For example, some months back I added Anthony Zimmer, which was not available at the time, to my “Save” list, which is on the DVD page. Netflix still doesn’t have it on DVD, but they now have it for streaming, and it has duly appeared on my “Watch Instantly” queue.

256

Except that I need only look a desired movie up once to be presented with Instant Watch or DVD options. Once they split, you have to go look it up on one site, then again on a second site.

Yes, this is basically the epitome of First World/White People Problems, but making things less convenient for customers is a bad thing for a company to do.

Netflix’s player is atrocious, though usable if you only intend to watch something from beginning to end. I like to skip around, particularly if I just want to watch a particular scene of a movie or TV episode, and Hulu accommodates that fantastically while providing just as workable regular playback.

257

I wonder if the Post Office troubles have anything to do with this. Netflix has always been dependant on the USPS to get it discs there and back. They may be planning on letting the physical disk service die if it would cost them two or three times more for delivery.

I just wish they would not only increase the streaming selection, but also the quality. I have a nice TV and surround, I don’t want two channel audio and 640X480 video.

258

Exactly. I was originally going to cancel the streaming option because I much prefer the DVDs. Then just a few days ago, I thought “Oh, what the hell, it’s only $6, I might as well just keep it,” in a fit of laziness. After today’s announcement, I canceled the streaming option.

259

That email was full of doublespeak. It starts out to the effect of: I’m sorry. I messed up.

So, I’m ready to see where the “I’m sorry” means that Netflix is going to do something better for the customer.

But, as I read it, it is the same price increase, but with 2 separate queues to manage what used to be one.

What was he sorry about? That in addition to the price increase, he didn’t make it sufficiently inconvenient to pay for and manage the service?

260

Yep, and there were lots of opportunities for the two queues to work together even better. Instead of moving them to 2 different companies.