Same here, except that I’ve only been a subscriber for four years. I never got a notice about the previous change in their subscription services, either. If it hadn’t been for this thread and the news articles, I would have been automatically switched to the 2-DVD plus streaming option, despite the fact that I have never streamed a video from them.
Yeah, I saw that apology letter and then wondered what exactly they were going to do about it. Apparently nothing.
I’ve been a Blockbuster customer all along and I can’t believe they’re not totally cashing in on this Netflix blunder. If I were doing their advertising I’d be really driving the point home about how they care about customers blah blah blah maybe even offer to lock in monthly rates for new customers. Something. Maybe they’re doing this and I didn’t notice.
As I alluded to earlier in the thread, we ended up dropping the one-DVD plan for streaming only. I think we are actually paying a few dollars less now, so that’s good. We chose streaming for a few reasons. One, we actually watch more TV shows and documentaries and two, we were really bad about getting the movies back in the mail, so we probably only watched about two movies per month. I can wait for just about every movie, the ones I can’t wait for are few and far between and I’m willing to go to the theatre (about three times a year) to see them.
Finally, I really want to support streaming media because I think something is going to have to change to make it viable, but that change will only be forced by huge demand for it. The studios will have to come around to accepting that digital media is the future and their outmoded business models are relics of the past. I don’t want to own physical tapes or discs anymore. I’m happy to pay subscription fees to watch anything I want without actually owning a physical object I have to deal with. I still have four huge boxes of VHS tapes I don’t know what to do with. Screw that.
But here’s the thing, I’m not beholden to Hollywood. I like a good movie when the mood strikes, but I can live without it. I’ve already decided long ago that rising ticket prices have dictated that I spend less at the movies than ever before because the hell if I’m going to pay $40 to go see a movie with my husband every Friday. I don’t have that kind of money. When I was a kid, it was $1 to go to the theatre and refreshments (popcorn-candy-drink) weren’t much more than that. I can’t abide the prices at the theatre these days. Studios are greedy ass-bastards and I say fuck that. How many friggin Spy Kids movies do they think I want to see anyhow? And they think I’m going to pay money for that shit? I believe the scientific term for that drug is hallucinogenic.
Our library has a good movie and TV DVD section, and I just check out whatever I want. It’s free, and if it’s not on the shelf, I can order just about anything and get it in a week or two. There’s no movie I’m absolutely dying to see right this second. Patience is a virtue.
I agree, Elendil’s Heir. Just days before the July debacle I was ready to sign up for the cheapest deal when it was still both DVDs and streaming. Netflix had great branding and customer satisfaction, and the price was great.
Glad to stick with the public library now. I have access to the contents of the whole state’s library system. I usually get a requested DVD in less than a week, and just have to drive a mile and a half to get it free for a week.
He apologized to the “many members [who] felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes” and the members “who felt we treated them thoughtlessly”. In other words, it was a classic non-apology apology.
I think a lot of people inferred too much from the line “Let me explain what we are doing.” He didn’t mean “Let me explain what we are doing to fix the problems created by the pricing changes.” He meant “Let me explain the factors that drove our decision to make the pricing changes.” He then goes on to explain that they are splitting the streaming and DVD-by-mail services into two websites and two businesses. This isn’t offered as a way to make up for the pricing changes; it’s an explanation that the pricing changes occurred because of the separation of the businesses. They decided to separate the businesses first, and that drove the pricing changes. But then they announced the pricing changes first and, when everyone went nuts, they inexplicably thought that enlightening us on the overall plan would somehow appease us. The email was neither an apology for the pricing change fiasco nor was it an attempt to rectify that situation. It was just an overdue announcement of their plan to separate the businesses.
It certainly is available on DVD; that’s how I’ve been watching it.
I was fine with the new pricing model, but I’m pretty concerned about the signs that they’re trying to cut themselves loose from the DVD business altogether. The appeal of Netflix, for me, is that they have everything, or pretty nearly everything, that I want to watch, and I don’t see that happening with a streaming-only service, or with a company that’s trying to starve out its DVD division.
Do any of you have experience with GreenCine? How does their selection compare? Are there any other good alternatives for someone who wants a big selection of relatively obscure titles?
Same here… I used to have Netflix, but cancelled it long ago, as I had a ton of DVDs that needed watching (I used to get the DVDs and copy them, then send them back as to maximize my usage).
I won’t use the library or Redbox for the same reason I quit going to video stores. You still have to return the stupid things in the middle of January, you’re going to forget sooner or later and then you’ll rack up the late fees.
Can the queues interact? I haven’t seen anything specific on this yet. I’ve got an email out to Netflix on this point, but my concern is that movies on my physical DVD queue cycle in and out of instant streaming availability all the time. Right now, when they become available to stream, they automatically show up on my streaming players’ queues. But when they cycle back out, they’re still on my physical disc queue too.
If they separate them and fragment the user experience in doing so, THAT would get me to quit. I’m still happy with the value I get with 2 blurays at a time plus streaming, but I’m NOT going to be spending time going back and forth between two sites to see if a physical disc happens to be streaming today. Besides, most of the time I’m not even looking to watch a specific movie- it shows up on my streaming queue, and I decide to watch it.
Sorry, late to the party.
So, who’s going to be the first third party to integrate the two new sites into one using the Netflix/Qwikster api’s? I’m sure someone will.
I don’t think there are any details currently, but it’s not an unreasonable assumption given that they’re clearly doing everything they can to make Qwikster (blech) its own company so that Netflix streaming can stand on its own. Integration would be a crutch.
I can understand costs, I can understand potentially wanting to sell off half a business. But I can’t understand engineering a giant leap backwards in user experience in this day and age. That part really (potentially) frustrates me.
From the Email
From the linked blog
I feel this is enough to say that no, the queues will not interact with each other. Furthermore, Netflix and Qwikster aren’t going to have anything to do with each other. As I said earlier, it really does appear as though Netflix is getting ready to sell off the DVD side of things, and I’ll bet that within a year they either Netflix or Qwikster loses the red color we’ve all become so familiar with.
Netflix lost 9.5% of its stock value today and is at a 52-week low so… nice job?
While I have no way of knowing if it is accurate, I can really see the article Kansas Beekeeper linked as a potential cause. If the studios are going to charge Netflix per subscriber then it makes sense to separate your streaming subscribers. Plus, Netflix will truly need to separate them, and if they kept the websites and queue’s integrated, the studios likely wouldn’t go for it.
Netflix wants to be a streaming company - they’ve made that obvious all along. But it seems that the content providers don’t like that Netflix is making money they feel they should be making (but weren’t). That is why they can force Netflix into accepting 28-day waits on new releases and crippled rental discs. Netflix needs the studios; the studios don’t feel they need Netflix. They are willing to kill a revenue stream that provides the customers with a way to legally watch what they want to watch at an acceptable price, then they will moan and cry about piracy and get everyone kicked on the internet and/or sued.
That’s right. According to the AP report in today’s paper, one service won’t even know how you’ve rated movies on the other service.
Awesome strip at The Oatmeal about the Netflix mess:
Poor analogy, I think. Integrated streaming and DVD has been excellent for Netflix, but they aren’t like a bun and filling. You can easily have one without the other.
Really, it is more like splitting a hugely popular fast food chain into burgers-only and chicken sandwiches-only. Both can exist fine without the other and may even flourish, but it’s dicking over the customers who had gotten used to the convenience of being able to walk into one store and order both burgers and chicken sandwiches.
What makes it stupid is that it’s disconnecting the brand from the more popular service. That’s going to hurt both new companies.
If my viewing history and rated movies don’t follow to the DVD service, I’ll probably finish up the TV series I’m currently watching and then cancel the DVD’s. I do watch a lot of the streaming content since I guess I’m not a “popular” movie watcher and tend toward the indies, documentaries, and complete off-air TV series. There’s a ton to watch, but damn if I’ll try to manage two queues that don’t show me streaming options.
That’s the thing for me - when a movie or series comes up as available to watch online from the DVD queue, I’ll opt for that every time. I would end up just pissed if I got something on DVD that I could have watched instantly but missed it because I didn’t check both websites thoroughly. Screw that.