I'm fine with the changes Netflix made, although I would prefer to login to only one site.
What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
11–20 of 114 posts
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#12It's not just the tone of the email or the new name that bugs people - it's the complete separation of their sites, pretending that the DVD-by-mail site can't communicate with the streaming-only site, etc. People are annoyed that their ratings/suggestions won't carry over to the new site, and that the streaming-site won't let them add a movie to their DVD-by-mail queue when they search for a title and find it's not a…
Agreed. In the end this is all about Netflix and not about its customers. If any of this had anything positive to offer customers it could have been spun better, but it doesn't.
I think netflix is actually in deep trouble. It's lost Starz, and could be losing other valuable rights, it's changing its business model in a way tha damages its own stickiness, and it raised its prices in a recession for reasons that make no sense to customers.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#13I think "Netflix Classic" would be a poor name for the old service. It would be shortened to "Netflix" in conversation and cause a whole host of problems and confuse customers which "version" they were on.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#14Keeping the logo and the word Netflix in the new company name makes it less attractive should they wish to sell it off. Just sayin'.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#15I think they renamed the DVD service so that it allows them the flexibility to sell it off at a later stage, I dont see anyone mentioning this but it is quite common for businesses to sell parts of the business to gain cash to pump into their future expansions. In this case it makes sense to put 100% into streaming.
I agree. They had to know they'd confuse and alienate people by changing the name of the service _and_ creating an whole new website for people to figure out. But it does allow them to extract the highest value should they sell it off later (and they will).
With plans to sell there was only two things that would have been even more bone-headed than what they did:
:a => "Sell it as Netflix DVD (or something like that) and have two companies named Netflix running around."
:b => "Sell it and force the acquiring company to change the name, in which case they would have to accept a huge discount on the value of the business."
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#16This letter is genius. If Netflix had sent it out I think it would have averted the entire crisis.
I don't think any of the serious complains about the letter had to do with the new name or the tone in which it was delivered. I don't think anyone would cancel their service over the name Qwikster or because the CEO is a jerk.
The real complaints dealt with the separation of the services and thus the separations of the ratings system and of queue management. This letter does not address either of those issues, and thus would fix nothing.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#17The whole point of the original email was to recognize that their pricing changes made them seem out of touch. What's so bad about a CEO apologizing to his customer base? Also, I'll always take product name critiques with a grain of salt. I remember when people were complaining about how awkward MacBook Pro sounded. Don't even get me started on "iPod". If the service is good, then people will use the name and avoid t…
Hell, remember ipad? Sanitary napkin jokes, pundits predicting doom, and a stoic Jobs? But it's almost become the "xerox" of tablets. Unfortunately, the name is the least stupid aspect of Netflix's new plan.
I'd argue that the difference between iPad, iPad, MacBook Pro and Qwickster is that it's very very easy to mis-spell Qwickster.
It could be Qwickster, Quickster, Qwikster, Quikster, Qwickstr (if you wanna go the Flickr route) and probably some variations I haven't thought of. At the very least, Netflix should have made an effort to secure the domain-names for these alternate spellings to ensure their customers can find them when they finally go live.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#18Would have been better if they attributed the change to getting squeezed by Hollywood. At least people could sympathize rather than make Netflix into a villain. I suspect the change came in large part due to payment terms on all accounts as opposed to accounts consuming media.
That might help with their relations with customers, but probably wouldn't endear them to the media companies they have to negotiate with. Those negotiations are no doubt already pretty tense, and Netflix shouting loudly about what jerks they are won't make them less so.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hell, remember ipad? Sanitary napkin jokes, pundits predicting doom, and a stoic Jobs? But it's almost become the "xerox" of tablets. Unfortunately, the name is the least stupid aspect of Netflix's new plan.
I'd argue that the difference between iPad, iPad, MacBook Pro and Qwickster is that it's very very easy to mis-spell Qwickster. It could be Qwickster, Quickster, Qwikster, Quikster, Qwickstr (if you wanna go the Flickr route) and probably some variations I haven't thought of. At the very least, Netflix should have made an effort to secure the domain-names for these alternate spellings to ensure their customers can fi…
The other difference is that Qwikster is a deeply stupid name.
The other other difference is that iPad, iPod, iPhone, etc. actually describe their eponymous products, and Qwikster doesn't recognizably describe anything.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#20I'm guessing someone in PR wrote a letter just like it. Then the CEO decided that it didn't really have the emotion and humility that the one posted had.
Sure, PR can spin anything to seem pretty, but sometimes its really just better to admit failings (pricing changes) and show that you're not perfect.