The writing is on the wall. Netflix isn't doomed to fail, but it might be doomed to comparative (i.e. not a third of US internet traffic) irrelevancy. Every rightsholder has realized that it can make more money than Netflix will/can pay, either by making its own service or by licensing it to someone who will pay more (perhaps Hulu?). The content will continue to trickle out of Netflix until it's left with just some TV shows, B-movies, and of course their original content (which judging by other comments and my own experience is very hit-or-miss). The question is whether people will stay subscribed just for the original content (inertia is a powerful thing!) which is, as far as I can tell, a toss-up (which is why I wrote might).
Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
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Re: Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you canceled because a feature that can easily be disabled, they never had you anyway. EDIT: If you disagree, care to elaborate?
Ever consider you are being downvoted because you are wrong? Because that's what has happened here. Come equipped with sources and references before making claims.
Would you please stop posting comments with personal swipes in them? We've had to ask you this multiple times in the past, and you've continued to do it.
Re: Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
#133I remember when Netflix started automatically playing trailers (or their own version of one) whenever you rested on a title for longer than a few seconds. And I remember looking up how to disable this feature but you can't. I'm sure there will be "well actually"'s for this but when I checked, you couldn't and I don't bother every day checking to see if it's there.
I noticed the Netflix app on some older smart televisions don't have this feature which I can only speculate why but it's like an upgrade watching on those old versions.
I think it's clever, it gets the content they paid for playing on television sets sooner. Trailers can draw people in to watch something they might not have the same way the beginning of a book can suck you in sometimes. And for users that don't like this feature, it keeps them scrolling. Cause every time you scroll over to the next title, the trailer stops and you reliably get about 2 seconds before the next trailer starts playing.
So I started scrolling faster. I think what happened next was that I realized there was nothing interesting to watch much sooner than I would if I wasn't scrolling as fast to avoid the automatically playing trailers.
Their original content comes out so fast and different people in my social circles are so excited about completely different ones and recommending them to me all the time that they just all seem the "same". Something about not having months of hype and advertisements, big reveals, franchises, etc. makes the Netflix originals feel like the product of an assembly line than legitimate inspiration. Like they're doing sprints for creative work. There was a thread a while back on HN about "Bright" when it came out. I remember there was a comment suggesting that the plot/setting/actors/world seems like it was generated with neural nets or something. That's how they all feel to me.
Also the recommendation algorithm gets some things right about me. Most things probably. But it's noticeably more exciting to use when scrolling through someone else's profile. Because it's all new stuff. It's completely tailored for someone else. You're likely to find titles you wouldn't bother to search for specifically (typing in the title) but you're surprised it's on their and you want to watch it immediately. I like The Incredibles but I don't want to watch the Emoji Movie.
So I think they're getting eaten from a couple of angles. original programming is soylent green, other media companies are taking their balls home, the interface is designed in a way that reveals the lack of interesting stuff quicker, their price went up.
Re: Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
#134Once I realized that VLC on my phone does chromecast to my TV without issue, and that I can torrent directly to my phone, I began downloading old TV shows again. I would pay $15/mo for ONE service that has a ton of old content. Also nothing is more irritating than a show with only a few seasons. Don't even bother, Netflix.
>I would pay $15/mo for ONE service that has a ton of old content.
Exactly, this is why I love Spotify and am worried that players like Apple will use their cash to break of the market and buy songs exclusive to them.
Jay-Z tried it by only releasing his new album on Tidal, Apple bought exlusive rights to a song named 'Freedom' (lol).
I really hope we don't import this exclusivity to the music streaming business.
Re: Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
#135The reason I like Netflix less and less is their atrocious browsing interface: No customizability. I want "continue watching" always at the top and have an easy way to remove shows from there. I never want to see "Watch it again" anywhere. I don't want any movies on the Index. And I want a clear sign which shows are dubbed. (Well, and I'd like Japanese shows to have English subs, but that's not a UI problem) Over the…
You know what would save Neflix? A table view with columns Custom play lists Reviews and star rating. Boolean search. They can build and roll these out in a month. I really think their toxic UI is damaging them. My hunch is, they can't roll these out because they don't want people noticing how little content there is on Netflix.
They had reviews and star ratings before. Now they don't have reviews and only like/dislike ratings.
Re: Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
#136Yo ho ho, a pirates life for me
Re: Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
#137The reason I like Netflix less and less is their atrocious browsing interface: No customizability. I want "continue watching" always at the top and have an easy way to remove shows from there. I never want to see "Watch it again" anywhere. I don't want any movies on the Index. And I want a clear sign which shows are dubbed. (Well, and I'd like Japanese shows to have English subs, but that's not a UI problem) Over the…
Or show a flick under "continue watching" that you deliberately stopped watching because you didn't like it. Even disliking doesn't help - it's still wasting a tile - just greyed out.
Re: Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
#138I doubt this is the average person's experience but the Netflix interface is so geared toward user engagement that it is actually not productive or convenient to use. Its merely designed to keep you searching and stumbling. Rather than performing the function that I pay for which is simple convenience. Its an inconvenience and an absolute burden. I make it usable with a few firefox plugins but theres no way to get it to a no-nonsense state where you can just select the show you want to watch and watch it. They seem to have an imperrative which is to distract and misdirect you and it is pivotal to the platform, given they cannot magically show you more content. They rehash the existing content to fool and entice you.
Re: Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
#139Not surprising, on demand video services became the same thing as cable TV. Dozens of services, each having their own content... I wouldn’t be surprised if they started bundling them in the future; something like an internet provider offering Netflix + Disney + Mubi for slightly cheaper than getting the 3 separately. That would mean we went full circle and a new cycle can start.
Re: Netflix shares sink 10% as subscriber take-up slows
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
With the focus on series and binge-watching, I don't think it's a bad feature.
Previews that auto play on hover (with SOUND!) = rage inducing Auto playing the next episode = Good
I absolutely hate this feature. Can I not even browse quietly in the middle of the night while everyone asleep.