The bottom is dropping out of Netflix • Hacker News Board

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#141

Post by jmull » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

zach_garwood wrote: post #118

Since Netflix is sticking with the binge-watch release model they pioneered, I wish they would provide a 1 or 2 week-long "binge" one-time payment option. They could charge as much as for a month's subscription, but you wouldn't have to deal with canceling your subscription when you're done watching the 2 or 3 shows you actually signed up to watch. $20 for a limited time, no hassle binge is a pretty good deal; it's c…

It seems like that would hurt their business, not help it.

They don't want to to get in and get out. They need subscribers and the revenue flow they bring. I think they should stop the binge model for new, original content. That is, release new seasons one episode at a time rather than drop them all at once.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#142

Post by itronitron » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

regularfry wrote: post #114

jimmar wrote: post #102

Lots of people are complaining about terrible content on Netflix. Years ago, Netflix was praised for its "long tail"--basically it could have content that appealed to people with diverse interests. But it seems like people now see the long tail as useless junk and would prefer a shorter tail with more concentrated quality.

Long tail works as long as the people in the tail can find the content relevant to them. If browsing and search is bad enough that it doesn't seem to be there, it might as well not be.

Their UI, or the service itself, is also flaky. It's fairly common for us to start watching a series and the next day Netflix will show us as having already watched all of the episodes, despite our changing to a complex password and also not enough hours passing for us to have watched them all. I wonder if they are juicing the numbers for some reason or if it's just an error.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#143

Post by jayd16 » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

WillPostForFood wrote: post #110

I blame Netflix for popularizing the stack of horizontal scrolling carousel of thumbnails. It is a terrible way to browse, and so many companies mindlessly copy it.

You say mindlessly copy but what's the better solution they're ignoring? Or do you mean you don't like TV focused controls used in a browser?

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#144

Post by malermeister » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

simongr3dal wrote: post #139

cercatrova wrote: post #101

It's easier just to pirate than keep up with all these streaming services. - You get the benefit of high quality (true 4k, not stream compressed "4k") and no buffering. - Plex, Radarr, Sonarr automatically downloads and categorizes your content for you, you can just sit back and enjoy your content. - Edit: Plex et al are not the *only* ways to download content, not sure why some replies are thinking so. I too can typ…

I don't really get why Netflix is so sour about password sharing, it's literally part of the subscription pricing, they tell you how many concurrent streams you're allowed to have.

Obviously that's just for one person watching different things on their TV, computer and phone simultaneously. /s

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#145

Post by slfnflctd » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

alexilliamson wrote: post #74

ethanbond wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there's so much content that even with a very low hit rate, there's more than enough to entertain yourself to death. For example, the 18 hour Vietnam War documentary by Ken Burns is itself enough to burn a month or so of TV time.

+1 for Vietnam. And Jazz. And The West. There is something about starting a Ken Burns series that is super relaxing, and releases the pressure to find the "perfect thing" to watch for the next 10-20 hours. Vietnam is particularly amazing. Shout out to the Trent Reznor soundtrack too.

The West is pretty depressing, though, as it's mostly about the horrific treatment of the indigenous people of North America. I've been putting off the Vietnam one for similar reasons. Not exactly what I think of as relaxing.

Jazz and Country Music are definitely more digestible, I finished both and was glad I did. Baseball is also actually pretty chill & enjoyable, even for someone who never had more than a passing interest in the sport.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#146

Post by nikanj » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

jimmar wrote: post #102

Lots of people are complaining about terrible content on Netflix. Years ago, Netflix was praised for its "long tail"--basically it could have content that appealed to people with diverse interests. But it seems like people now see the long tail as useless junk and would prefer a shorter tail with more concentrated quality.

The long tail I want: movies/shows made in the 80s, your friends might recognize the name. The long tail netflix has: made last year in Romania, nobody has ever heard of it.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#147

Post by nradov » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

10729287 wrote: post #81

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I only use Netflix and Prime, and both feel really stale to me. It's all "content" - good to very good production values designed to fill a gap and appeal to a demographic. But very repetitive and production line, with no passion projects, nothing too arty or quirky, nothing outside of the box, no surprises. Some of it is quite watchable, but none of it is exciting or fresh. It's all some combination of stock soapy c…

I guess this is the cons of being such a data oriented company. It requires guts to think beyond ROI when you have so much infos about your users and their habits.

Data oriented optimization strategies tend to result in local maximums. Jumping across the solution space from a local maximum to the global maximum requires a visionary leader, and some luck.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#148

Post by bjornlouser » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

I wish they would allow viewers to sync the playback of a podcast on their phone to the video on a separate screen.

I would probably watch more of their terrible shows if I could listen to commentary through an unsanctioned channel

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#149

Post by nerdjon » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

I finally canceled Netflix as many of the shows I loved were canceled (largely the expensive to produce ones).

Sense8, Travelers, Altered Carbon, basically there expensive science fiction.

Sure nailed it is fun but I won't miss it. The only one that I will truly miss is Big Mouth... but there are alternatives.

Apple TV+ is quickly becoming my science fiction go to and they seem to be going more than HBO route with a smaller catalog.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#150

Post by dmitriid » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #92

Honestly for me I just do not know all the content Netflix has because the browsing is so bad. I wish instead of pushing shows to me best on algorithms, it would just let me browse categories and recent additions etc in a simpler way. Maybe categorised by year.

After all major content providers dripped out of Netflix (Disney, Warner Brothers, just to name two biggest ones), Netflix can't afford to show you "all the content" because they don't really have any content.

So they are in a desperate situation to try and make you watch anything at all.