The name change and web site split is obviously the prelude to a spin-off. They split their stock between the streaming business and the mail business, shareholders get shares in both (and the right to hold or sell the portion they prefer) and the two businesses go their separate ways. It's a really smart way to deal with a company that has a developing business and a mature but declining business, and it will probably unlock significant value in the stock market value, because it lets people cherry pick which business they want to invest in.
What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
21–30 of 114 posts
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#22I 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.
It's also a poor idea to use a subdomain for the main entry point to a separate service (by their design), i.e. users of 'classic' will still type 'netflix.com'.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#23Reed Hastings makes me wonder what kind of company Netflix is.
Does Netflix listen to its customers? I've hated the website redesign since it launched and from what I've read, I'm certainly not alone. I find the redesign to be much less user friendly than the old one, which I loved. I don't login as much as before to browse, review and add to my queue. I avoid the website and stick to watching stuff on my Roku. In my opinion, the redesign took the Netflix website from one that was fun to use, to one that devalued the company to being just another company that provides movies. The charm is gone.
And now this odd, Qwikstupid thing. That site isn't even up yet. Is it because they planned it that way, or are they looking for customer feedback first before making any concrete changes?
And that takes me back to my original point: does Netflix care about customer feedback?
(edited for my terrible typos)
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#24It's downright embarrassing how badly Netflix has botched this transition. Not only was Netflix sitting on 25 million happy subscribers, but subscribers who were notoriously brand-loyal, and whose word-of-mouth promotion effectively acted as an unpaid sales and marketing force. Now they seem to be doing everything they can to alienate their most dedicated users, essentially saying "We don't want your business anymore".
As a Netflix user for 5+ years, I for one can't wait until a viable competitor with equivalent selection emerges.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#25Reed Hastings makes me wonder what kind of company Netflix is. Does Netflix listen to its customers? I've hated the website redesign since it launched and from what I've read, I'm certainly not alone. I find the redesign to be much less user friendly than the old one, which I loved. I don't login as much as before to browse, review and add to my queue. I avoid the website and stick to watching stuff on my Roku. In my…
Netflix does listen to user feedback. Back in 08, the profiles feature almost got the ax before vocal user feedback convinced them to keep it. I'm sure they're listening, regardless of what the final outcome is.
June 19, 2008 - Removing Profiles - http://blog.netflix.com/2008/06/profiles-feature-going-away....
June 30, 2008 - Nevermind - http://blog.netflix.com/2008/06/profiles-feature-not-going-a...
(Work has any URL with "netflix.com" blocked, so I'm guessing these are right blog posts.)
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#26The 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.
See also: Wii.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#27Unified queue.
Regardless of media, business structure, delivery mechanism, company name, etc. methinks what all customers want is a single place to choose & queue content, filtered by whatever options they desire, delivered on whatever medium is available and they pay for via a spectrum of contracts (from unlimited-per-month to single order).
Just make sure it's all on one queue. If multi-queue, then only because one customer may be grouping for multiple individuals (ex.: husband wants ultraviolent scifi, wife wants sappy romances, kids want Elmo galore). Whatever you do, don't force the customer to spend time/effort along such artificial differences as media (ex.: I want the DVD of "Scarface", but it's not on streaming anymore and I don't want to pay extra for the BD version - let me pick those options based on my single content choice, don't make me search 2-3 different sites for the same title which, I notice, have unreliable availability).
Amazon faces the same issue: vast business differences between warehouses of books & other physical stuff shipped by mail, vs. server farms for Kindle, streaming video, cloud storage/processing, etc. - same problem as Netflix, yet they're doing well under one website. I can search for Moby's latest album, and when ready to order can with ease choose between CD, MP3, DVD, and instant video: same content pool, same checkout, easy delivery, user doesn't care how it all happened.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#28It's downright embarrassing how badly Netflix has botched this transition. Not only was Netflix sitting on 25 million happy subscribers, but subscribers who were notoriously brand-loyal, and whose word-of-mouth promotion effectively acted as an unpaid sales and marketing force. Now they seem to be doing everything they can to alienate their most dedicated users, essentially saying "We don't want your business anymore…
I spent 20 minutes on Netflix last night looking for one decent movie that I haven't seen. I gave up and watched reruns (hah, deprecated term) of The Office on Hulu.
I hate their new site, I think Qwikster is a good idea poorly executed, but if they have good movies I'll still use them. If they continue to have crap, will cancel my Netflix account sooner rather than later and happily go back to piracy.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#29It's downright embarrassing how badly Netflix has botched this transition. Not only was Netflix sitting on 25 million happy subscribers, but subscribers who were notoriously brand-loyal, and whose word-of-mouth promotion effectively acted as an unpaid sales and marketing force. Now they seem to be doing everything they can to alienate their most dedicated users, essentially saying "We don't want your business anymore…
To me, it goes beyond selection. Netflix is great because it's embedded, deep. I don't care if anyone else spins up the best, cheapest, most wonderful streaming solution ever. Because Netflix is already on my Xbox. Or my Wii. Or my iPhone. Or my PS3. Or my Roku. Or my TV. They're in deep, and no one else has the coverage they do. I can't watch Amazon's streaming product on my Xbox. I can't watch any of a dozen different channel specific streaming options on anything but a web browser.
I can't wait for a viable competitor with equivalent selection AND device coverage emerges.
Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week
#30This 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 t…
The fake letter doesn't separate them:
> Members can log into both sites using the same login. This will allow streaming-only members to add DVD by mail, and DVD-only members to upgrade to streaming, at any time. The websites, however, will remain separate, so that we can start giving these different worlds the unique attention they deserve.