# Why are people so snarky about Netflix's discs-by-mail service? ("Yes, it still exists!" Ha ha.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 12, 2018, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950 "2018-06-12T08:22:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/81 "2018-06-14T03:08:59Z")
At least “Cite 2” is an actual cite! The first one was just silly. Squeegee, I do have a 4K TV. But I have come to the conclusion, after watching Netflix 4K content and comparing it to 1080p content, that the perceptible advantage is very small. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/82 "2018-06-14T03:12:15Z")
For the record, I own a 4K television as well. This has nothing to do with thinking people shouldn’t dare enjoy them or whatever nonsense. But you should at least be aware of the limitations of what you’re buying. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/83 "2018-06-14T03:15:28Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > At least “Cite 2” is an actual cite! The first one was just silly. > > Squeegee, I do have a 4K TV. But I have come to the conclusion, after watching Netflix 4K content and comparing it to 1080p content, that the perceptible advantage is very small. Fair enough! And I’ll permit the “this post is my cite” exception 🆒 I’d probably feel the same way if I had a 4k (unless it were my computer monitor, and I’m currently angling for a 4k 32" with my boss!). But I’d never _regret_ having 4k televisions if I had widely available 4k content. I can always walk closer to the screen if I see a gnat’s hair that looks interesting. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/84 "2018-06-14T04:25:45Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > It’s not science. How people perceive what they see is not science, it’s perception, and is not entirely understood. Using sciency arguments to tell people what they’re perceiving isn’t science. Err… perception is part of science, and it is as understood as any other part of science. It is measurable by [psychophysics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychophysics). ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/85 "2018-06-14T06:12:40Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > I still have the Netflix dvd/blueray service as well as the streaming, but many movies in my queue are “no longer available.” These tend to be foreign/art/cult movies. People kept the disks and Netflix doesn’t want to replace the stock. Not just art movies, also music concerts (ESPECIALLY music concerts) and rare documentaries. It used to be that nearly every in-print DVD was available with Netflix disc-by-mail – no longer close to true. In fact, it’s when (sometime recently) Netflix deleted ALL of their DVD bonus discs that I realized what a ghetto their mail service had become. What’s really sad is that it sounds like their streaming service – which I’ve never tried – is actually much worse. :smack: > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I’ve seen that, and maybe I’ll have to pay more attention, but I seem to remember that they might be missing deleted scenes, interviews, etc. but have a commentary track. But again, maybe when you play the commentary, it’s just the producers exhorting you to pay for the real DVD. Sometimes a movie will be released with a bare-bones DVD and a feature-laden Blu-Ray in the same package. _Ender’s Game_ was one set I purchased almost four years before I got a blu-ray player; the DVD has most of the features but the 90-minute documentary was blu-ray only. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/86 "2018-06-14T12:24:02Z")
We should have spent those years watching nothing but the rare stuff, if we had known it was a “limited time offer”. But it’s still better than any alternative I know of. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/87 "2018-06-14T14:13:24Z")
Compare the shock you get for being a disc subscriber to the shock _I_ get when I tell people that I have NEITHER Netflix NOR Amazon Prime and therefore don’t watch most of the nonsense they are watching. 😉 On a related note though, we cancelled our Netflix sub when it seemed like they were intent on removing everything (that we wanted, anyway) from the disc-based subscription. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/88 "2018-06-14T14:25:33Z")
What did they remove? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/89 "2018-06-14T16:08:35Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Actually, often the Netflix DVDs omit the commentary and special features. The DVDs appear to be specially made for the rental market. (Some even have a message suggesting buying the retail disc for the extras.) Perhaps for recent movies, but the classics I get from them usually have commentaries. On the other hand the MST3K discs don’t seem to have the extras I get from the boxed sets I can borrow from the library. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/90 "2018-06-14T17:20:16Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Because all those pixels still help make the picture look better. Look up anti-aliasing. Mobile phones have resolutions from 300-450ish ppi. There’s no way in hell you can see all those pixels, but I never hear stupid arguments about there being too many of them when it comes to phones, just pseudo-sciency arguments about televisions having too many pixels. It’s a crock. Actually, there’s an excellent argument against too many pixels on a phone - driving those surplus pixels takes extra processor power and cuts into battery life. Unless you’re using the phone as a VR display, there is no reason to have higher pixel counts. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/91 "2018-06-14T17:52:11Z")
I had no idea you could still get the DVDs. I do believe that it would be worth the extra three dollars or so a month for me. I should thank the guy who wrote the article, but would that be too ironic? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/92 "2018-06-14T18:45:57Z")
Three dollars? ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/93 "2018-06-14T19:33:17Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > What did they remove? All kinds of random stuff. I had like 80-odd discs in my queue at one point and I looked at it and it was full of “Not available” holes. This was years ago now, so I don’t remember exactly “what” was removed, just that I was left with the sensation that selection was shrinking fast. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/94 "2018-06-14T19:43:08Z")
Oh, I see what you mean. I guess to be fair, they weren’t so much intent on removing those discs, they just didn’t put a priority on replacing them when they wore out or got stolen. ---
**Author:** ![Sveltington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@Sveltington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sveltington)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/95 "2018-06-14T20:00:44Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > I go to the library. If they don’t have the DVD I want, they can order it from any library in the state and I can pick it up within 2-3 days. And, oh yeah, it’s free. Don’t know if that’s hip or unhip, but it works for me. Me too FWIW I am very very:cool: ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/96 "2018-06-14T20:42:17Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > Try to take it in stride. A buddy of mine gave me shit about my flip phone (I’m 50 he’s 30) I introduced him to my tube amps for guitar. The damn flip phone is futuristic compared to vacuum tube tech. (tube tech is what? 1920’s-30’s era)😃 Yeah, some people just don’t need the latest bells and whistles. My father-in-law says he wants a modern Smartphone – but there’s no way he’d learn how to use the apps and gadgets on the home screen of a Smartphone, much less pages 2 through 5! The only reason he has WIN10 computers is because his WINXP machine died and he was forced to get a WIN7 machine and then he didn’t know how to keep it from automagically upgrading…:smack: All he does is play Spider Solitaire and use the text processor (Not even MS Word!); why does he need WIN10!? On the other hand, your tube amps are irreplaceable! Deeply devoted guitarists will spend whole weeks trawling Ebay and similar sites looking for tube amps and even just single replacement tubes for their existing amps because the warmth of an overdriven tube amp simply can’t be mimicked closely enough by a transistor board. My dad left behind a couple hundred vaccuum tubes and miscellaneous connectors and parts (he taught electronics at the local community college and, naturally, was a hobbyist in the garage) which I loaded into my truck and hauled to the dump a dozen years later. A dozen years after that, my friends were crying because they couldn’t find replacement tubes for their amplifiers. How could I have known? Sometimes the older stuff is still better. I can’t stream the Ferrer/Powers version of Cyrano de Bergerac because nobody bothers to make it available. I can’t find them on BlueRay because they weren’t converted. I originally found it on an old VHS tape; only recently did I find it on DVD. But I still like to watch it once in a while and no other rendition is as great. And, like those Tube Amps, audiophiles are shifting back to vinyl because they say they hear warmer tones and subtle nuances that CD and other digital formats can’t convey. –G! ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/97 "2018-06-14T21:43:43Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > I still have the Netflix dvd/blueray service as well as the streaming, but many movies in my queue are “no longer available.” These tend to be foreign/art/cult movies. People kept the disks and Netflix doesn’t want to replace the stock. This is why I dropped my Netflix DVD subscription a few years ago. The dream of access to _every DVD you can imagine_ was proving to be a mirage. When I signed up for a Netflix DVD subscription, I had a long list of obscure movies I had been dying to see for years. Well, eventually I got through the majority of that list. There are still old and/or oddball movies I want to see, but Netflix doesn’t have them and probably never will. Occasionally I will check to see if some of the things on my wishlist have turned up, but the answer is always “no.” Just for fun, I looked up the very first DVD I got from Netflix. They don’t have it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/98 "2018-06-14T21:56:57Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > . . . Sometimes the older stuff is still better. I can’t stream the Ferrer/Powers version of Cyrano de Bergerac because nobody bothers to make it available. I can’t find them on BlueRay because they weren’t converted. I originally found it on an old VHS tape; only recently did I find it on DVD. But I still like to watch it once in a while and no other rendition is as great. . . . I couldn’t find Melvin and Howard anywhere! This is a great film. Finally tracked down a VHS copy thru the library. When I picked it up, the librarian said, you do realize this is a VHS tape, right? Of course I realized it! So many great films didn’t make the transition to DVD or streaming (or at least, not for free). You mean to tell me some people junked their VCRs?!? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/99 "2018-06-15T14:50:27Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > I couldn’t find Melvin and Howard anywhere! This is a great film. Finally tracked down a VHS copy thru the library. When I picked it up, the librarian said, you do realize this is a VHS tape, right? Of course I realized it! So many great films didn’t make the transition to DVD or streaming (or at least, not for free). You mean to tell me some people junked their VCRs?!? I had my last VCR until about a year ago when my brother (who had none) needed to watch a tape. I gave him mine with the caveat, “Better try a sacrifice tape first; it’s been at least five years since that was even powered up.” Good thing I said that because it munched the tape in an instant. He wound up getting a player from Goodwill. > [@erysichthon](#): > > This is why I dropped my Netflix DVD subscription a few years ago. The dream of access to _every DVD you can imagine_ was proving to be a mirage. > > When I signed up for a Netflix DVD subscription, I had a long list of obscure movies I had been dying to see for years. Well, eventually I got through the majority of that list. There are still old and/or oddball movies I want to see, but Netflix doesn’t have them and probably never will. Occasionally I will check to see if some of the things on my wishlist have turned up, but the answer is always “no.” Well, the phenomenon of being able to watch movies from the past at will is pretty recent. Time was, a movie arrived and stayed a while, long or short depending on its popularity, then went away, never to be seen again. And that was mainstream only, thank you. Forget about indie or foreign movies unless you lived in a city large enough to support an ‘art-house’ venue. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950/100 "2018-06-15T15:42:11Z")
Yeah, like I said, it has turned out to be a brief, passing era rather than the new normal as we assumed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-so-snarky-about-netflixs-discs-by-mail-service-yes-it-still-exists-ha-ha/815950.md?page=6)