Netflix (DVD Delivery Discussion Only)

[Perkins Cobb]

...nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD...

What a fucking fool.

I'm still digesting the rest.

[Donald Brown]

The arrogance of that post is beyond belief. So, people weren't upset over the huge price hike, they were just upset that its awesomeness wasn't properly communicated. Now, the services are further distanced, with queues that aren't integrated, with separate log-ins and credit card charges, and this is supposed to be welcomed as some kind of improvement.

[mfunk9786]

Netflix to split DVD rentals exclusively to new site, Qwikster; adds video game rentals.

I have to say, despite all the bitching that will come from all this, it's smart business. Depending on the price of the game rentals, I might even sign up. Once the dust clears, the company will be stronger.

[matrixschmatrix]

I'm more bothered by the wishy-washy bullshit "DVD rentals may not be around forever" kind of language than the thing itself. If this were a sign that they feel that DVD has been neglected in favor of streaming, and that they want to put it in the hands of people who will put more energy into it, I wouldn't have any issue with that- and certainly game rentals by mail is a good idea, if they can keep enough copies in stock to make it reasonable to get whatever game I want more or less right away. The tone of the piece seems to be more 'eh, fuck it, this isn't even a Netflix problem anymore' to me, though. I worry that this movie is primarily about protecting the Netflix name while continuing to let the DVD rental service decay.

[Noiradelic]

Funny, I just canceled the streaming in favor of DVD rentals at midnight, when my billing cycle ended.

[Alan Smithee]

Yeah I canceled streaming during the initial price brouhaha but recently turned it back on after being bored one night. Now they've just further pissed me off. The thing is as someone said above, not only do they want to protect the netflix name, I'm sure they just want this company to die. They are essentially quarantining a diseased business. I mean god knows napster and friendster are still unbelievably successful that's why they named it that right?

[domino harvey]

Seriously had to check to see if this was a parody article. Jesus Christ

[Minkin]

At least they have their PR lined up already

[Alan Smithee]

That complete waste of space is about to get a big pay day. The world is a cruel and random place.

[Perkins Cobb]

Most of the business types commenting on this seem to think Netflix wants to sell off the disc business. At this point, I'm ambivalent -- that'll probably send it down the tubes totally, but I guess there's also a chance it could end up in the hands of some company that actually needs it to succeed.

[Drucker]

Don't worry, your envelopes will still be red!'

Also, famous last words: "There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!)"

I'm just pissed because I don't have cable. I use netflix streaming basically in the same way I would use cable, which is to kill an hour or two with old cartoons that there's no reason to own...if I end up dropping one first, it would almost certainly be streaming.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I'd cancel just over the lame name change. What a bunch of clueless pricks. NPR weighs in on the changes.

[mfunk9786]

It's amazing how quickly people are willing to turn on a company that provides a pretty excellent service for an incredibly reasonable price.

[domino harvey]

Over ten percent of my queue has disappeared because Netflix no longer replaces DVDs. They have moved to a streaming model and done so in a way which alienates as many disc consumers as possible, removing viable competition early on with low prices and superior service, and now that they're practically the only real game in town, they've taken to bullying "our way or the highway" methods. I can understand not minding the changes if they don't effect you personally, but gimme a breaksville on Netflix apologia!

[Drucker]

This isn't meant to sound leading, but don't you honestly think that this opens up the door for future price-changes a lot more easily? While Netflix is still an excellent service, in the past few months (at least) things that are negative about it have increased faster than good things.

[swo17]

It's amazing how quickly people are willing to turn on a company that provides a pretty excellent service for an incredibly reasonable price.

That depends on which service of theirs you are most interested in utilizing. For new films, I'd probably agree. For classics on disc, they've willfully deteriorated over the past year to such an extent that Blockbuster looks rosy in comparison.

[dx23]

It's amazing how quickly people are willing to turn on a company that provides a pretty excellent service for an incredibly reasonable price.

The problem is that they were providing a better service for a lower price and suddenly they took away benefits and raised the price. Of course people are going to be pissed. Now, the CEO blogs one of the most ridiculous public letters I've seen from a Fortune 500 head honcho and in the process shows how out of touch he is with the general public by not only keeping the higher prices, but by splitting the company in two sections, making it harder for the consumer to keep track of the things they want to rent/view/stream. If that idiot would smarten up a little, he could see how easily it has been for a site like Amazon.com to keep consolidating services and bring all their business to one same place, making it easier for the consumer to do whatever they need.

[Mr Sausage]

All of this makes me pretty happy that the Canadian version of netflix, zip, is still committed to sending out physical discs.

That along with Universal Healthcare should make the allure of emigration all the sweeter (this might curb that a bit, tho').

[Perkins Cobb]

It's like a shoe company deciding to sell right shoes and left shoes for 12 dollars each where pairs of shoes used to be 20 dollars and thinking that consumers will notice the lower 12-dollar price but not the fact that it buys only one shoe.

That's pretty funny. (From the NPR piece linked above.)

[mfunk9786]

For a company clearly looking to kill its DVD-by-mail business, Qwikster is a brilliant name. Evokes Friendster/Napster--Internet graveyard.
...
Still, I feel like my start-up company, http://www.KrazyTownBluRayz.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, is well positioned to succeed.

[Drucker]

The fact that this the post begins as an apology for screwing up is ludicrous, in that it took months for the apology to come out, came out after shares dropped, and was a lead-in to more things that people don't seem to want.

[SpiderBaby]

It's like a shoe company deciding to sell right shoes and left shoes for 12 dollars each where pairs of shoes used to be 20 dollars and thinking that consumers will notice the lower 12-dollar price but not the fact that it buys only one shoe.

That's pretty funny. (From the NPR piece linked above.)

This should be the #1 reason why people should laugh at this.

He pretty much says "There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!)." and thinks he is pulling one over by saying "Members who subscribe to both services will have two entries on their credit card statements, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as the current charges."

So your saying there will be no pricing changes anymore, you all are "done with that" suggestion, but they will just be 2 entries instead of one and will end up being more than what you were paying before any of this happened, in which case, you are STILL paying more.

$10 is what some was paying for streaming and 1 dvd at a time. He said there will be "No pricing changes"! So is the dvd entry just going to cost $2? I think not.

[Noiradelic]

The fact that this the post begins as an apology for screwing up is ludicrous, in that it took months for the apology to come out, came out after shares dropped, and was a lead-in to more things that people don't seem to want.

Yeah, it's a preemptive apology for the new change dressed up as an apology for the old one.

I think this may be a smart business move, but don't show us utter contempt by pretending it's for the consumer's benefit.

They must've spent all of 5 minutes spitballing the new name. A -ster suffix, really?

[Mark Metcalf]

I just cancelled my Netflix subscription. I wanted to participate in their questions about the reasons for cancelling, but my reasons (not stocking new Criterions, Eclipse, Animeigo, etc.) is not on their list of answers.

[Tom Hagen]

The name is terrible. "Qwik" is even worse than the "-ster" suffix. If they weren't going to spell it "quick," they least they could have done is chosen the Simpsons-approved "Kwik."