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Netflix kills Qwikster

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Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#81

Post by nooneelse »

smoyer wrote: post #19
uptown wrote: post #5

While this rights the ship, Netflix made the colossal mistake of rocking the recurring-billing boat. Smart businesses know that when you've got a customer setup for recurring monthly billing, there's a certain percentage of these customers who will continue to pay even though they're not actively using the service. Part of it is laziness of figuring out how to cancel. Another part is the thought that they may someday…

We switched to the streaming-only plan before our billing cycle and have been happy ... We weren't good at quickly watching the DVDs and returning them anyway plus we saved a buck a month. How did other HNers respond to the price hike? I would expect this group to be dominated by streamers anyway.

We did the reevaluation, but it still came out in favor of keeping both dvds and streaming.

The combo of streaming and dvds is still less than we were spending (in $ and hassle) on dvd rentals from the local big-selection store most months. (And comparing any of this to the entertainment option of cable is a big win, obviously.) Redbox seldom to never has anything to interest me, and the lack of depth to the Netflix streaming catalog precludes me wanting streaming alone. I'm somewhat bad about holding a disc for a while (b/c I often get documentaries and educational stuff, so I have to be in the right mood), but my wife watches what she gets very quick, so that common complaint doesn't bite us much.

She regularly gets dvds that are rare enough that they have to ship the disc from across the country, and I really like that Netflix will send us the next disc from the queue to "make up for the delay" which has never been much of a delay at all. So, many times we have had one more disc on hand than the plan we pay for. Good customer service like that is still something Netflix does. The two-websites and queues plan made me worry they had lost their senses, but this reversal and having had three discs this week when I pay for two has me still in the loyal customer column.

Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#82

Post by dpark »

matwood wrote: post #71
dpark wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. I was hoping since you had an Xbox, you were ripping on Windows. I've used HandBrake on OSX before, and it worked great. I just wish the Windows version would handle DVDs the same.

I have an ATV2 for streaming movies from the mac and netflix streaming. The xbox360 only plays games and occasionally plays DVDs - I think I rented a movie a few times from xbox marketplace and it worked fine. I thought about getting a ps3 for the BRD functionality and games, but at this point I don't want to deal with any physical media. Even if the 1080p is better, I've never looked at the movies streaming through…

I've got a PS3, specifically for Blu-Ray, but I rarely use it for that any more. I use it for Netflix, and at this point any number of devices could handle that. If I were buying a Blu-Ray player again, I'd probably buy something else. I got a first-gen, when the PS3 was still the cheapest. But now it's not, and I don't game, and having to use a dedicated Bluetooth remote is annoying. Also there's no Amazon Prime app.

You're probably right about 720 vs 1080. You've go to be pretty close to see the difference on a 46" screen. I believe I read that someone with 20/20 vision has to be closer than 8 feet to see the difference on a 50" screen.

Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#83

Post by smoyer »

w33ble wrote: post #68
Retreads wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We had (and used) both services, but the price hike caused us to reevaluate all of our media expenses. Cancelled all Netflix and our cable. Retained Xbox Live (and internets, of course). We were more annoyed by the Netflix change than enraged by it, and it was a convenient reason to examine the value vs. expense ratio of what we were buying every month. So while we used both the streaming and DVD services, we didn't…

That's interesting to hear. Netflix forced you to re-evaluate the value proposition and it makes sense to consider all forms of entertainment while you're at it. I wonder if there are a significant number of people like yourself that also took this opportunity to cut the cord on cable (and satellite).

I would have loved to cut off the cable and rearranged our streaming choices, but my wife is a rabid college football fan and I'd be in the dog house ;)

Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#84

Post by Terretta »

dpark wrote: post #58
matwood wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Handbrake on OS X. The latest SVN version usually worked with most movies.

Thanks. I was hoping since you had an Xbox, you were ripping on Windows. I've used HandBrake on OSX before, and it worked great. I just wish the Windows version would handle DVDs the same.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SlySoft

Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#85

Post by davidrchen »

This reminds me of when Gap tried to change their logo; making an unnecessary change that consumers didn't ask for.

It's good they righted their mistake because nobody will be talking about this in 6 months.

Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#86

Post by Osiris »

I'm really surprised by all the mistakes Netflix has been making lately. The mistakes aren't necessarily the direction they are taking the business, but how they are communicating that with their customers.

Couldn't they have done a little market research and discussed some of their ideas with existing customers to solicit feedback and determine if what they were thinking was going to be accepted by their client base? Microsoft does this all the time, and I'm sure many other companies do.

Instead, Netflix is making hugely public announcements about changes in service, and then backpeddling or apologizing when their customers get upset.

Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#87

Post by gallamine »

kbutler wrote: post #67
smoyer wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We switched to the streaming-only plan before our billing cycle and have been happy ... We weren't good at quickly watching the DVDs and returning them anyway plus we saved a buck a month. How did other HNers respond to the price hike? I would expect this group to be dominated by streamers anyway.

We looked at the value: not-deep-enough streaming catalog plus deep DVD catalog was a great service and a good value. Either one alone? Incomplete service. Both? Not enough value at the 2X price. We kept our subscription open until the day the price hike would hit us (How does Netflix get away with "the moment you cancel, your subscription ends, no refunds for partial months"?!?), then canceled completely. I tried to…

Isn't "Not enough value at the 2X price." a bit hyperbolic? Most people would say a 60% cut is "around 50%". I'm not trying to criticize you, but there seems to be a systemic overreaction that I can't quite figure out.

Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#88

Post by dmuino »

rfairfax wrote: post #25

What's going on at Netflix? If you ask employees, they'll tell you that the culture - often praised for its high performance standards - is a culture of fear. It's a product management-driven organization where PMs aren't afraid to use the poor performance card to remove subordinates who don't go along with their ideas. The emperor has no clothes. In Netflix's case, the emperor is any product manager. It's no wonder…

I'm a Netflix employee. If you ask me I'll tell you in no uncertain terms that it's not a culture of fear. I've been here for one year and have only seen one person removed for performance reasons. Fear is never a driving factor in any of my decisions.

Employees ask tough questions during company meetings and our executives are incredibly open. I guess we've become complacent because their decisions had been bold and right before these past couple of months. I believe this is why there was not a stronger push back internally.

Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#89

Post by mortenjorck »

hollerith wrote: post #53

In explaining the split, Hastings cited the need for the streaming business to stay focused. In other words, Netflix took away a convenience many customers wanted to address a need internal to Netflix's management. That's less than ideal, but I understand the need for the company to face up to reality and shortcomings in its capabilities. More worrying is what they did to the recommendation engine after the split. Al…

It's particularly bizarre that the UI doesn't simply display those movies in a similar manner to how unavailable discs have always been displayed: You can "save" them for when they become available, and you can most certainly rate them.

Re: Netflix kills Qwikster

#90

Post by spacemanaki »

Something that's totally missing from Netflix's blogpost is any mention of the video games rental they were going to introduce with Qwikster. The NY Times piece only quoted someone saying it may or may not happen, which is disappointing.

From what I've read the current games-rental-by-mail offerings kind of suck, which is why I've never bothered to try it. I'm kind of interested in a Netflix-version of this so I hope they go forward with it. I was actually almost ok with the split, and prepared to subscribe to both, specifically because they were going to add games.

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