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Netflix Long Term View

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Re: Netflix Long Term View

#131

Post by mentos »

nbush wrote: post #49
jader201 wrote: post #39

Maybe it's just me. But one thing about linear (live) broadcasts -- and this also applies to an extent to live radio vs. mp3's -- is that there is just something engaging about watching a program that you know other people, at that moment, are also watching. It's also missed when watching a show that you DVR'ed, after the fact -- like the series finale to Lost, or the Super Bowl. If/when live broadcasts are completel…

I think this might be something that Netflix is overlooking. The community-like aspect of watching something simultaneously with the rest of the word is extremely powerful. The Twitch generation could prove that live broadcasts or some kind of time-locked release schedule is much more likely to build momentum. Granted, Netflix's data is probably much more convincing than any vague feeling of community, but I wonder i…

I totally agree Netflix is overlooking this aspect of live programming.

I would love to see a Netflix 'channel' that loops randomly through the top 100 shows/movies and plays the content live for everyone.

Re: Netflix Long Term View

#132

Post by cpeterso »

anatari wrote: post #12
solutionyogi wrote: post #4

Winning moments of truth We strive to win more of our members’ “moments of truth”. Those decision points are, say, at 7:15 pm when a member wants to relax, enjoy a shared experience with friends and family, or is bored. They could play a video game, surf the web, read a magazine, channel surf their MVPD/DVR system, buy a pay-per-view movie, put on a DVD, use a piracy service, turn on Hulu, or launch Netflix. We want…

Although I use Netflix all the time, it's in spite of their app. Outside of the "my list" I've curated myself, 98% of the things the Netflix app shows me, I'm not really interested in. I feel like that ratio could easily be made better if they allowed me to mark things I'm not interested in and never show me those things again + apply machine learning to display a better personalized catalog. Whenever I use Netflix I…

Many of Netflix's recommendations are films I've already seen. I asked Netflix's Twitter account about this and they replied (!!) saying it was a "feature". I guess they don't want to show an empty list.

Re: Netflix Long Term View

#133

Post by harryh »

rayiner wrote: post #121
guyzero wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or more generically, can a software company become a content provider faster than a content provider can become a software company? Put in those terms I'll bet on Netflix.

Creating content people want to watch is much harder than writing software. See, e.g., all the bitching on here about the quality of Netflix's catalog.

It's not about creating the content though. The people at BigMediaCompanies aren't actually doing that. It's about their ability to manage the process. It's not clear that they're particularly awesome at that.

Re: Netflix Long Term View

#134

Post by mxfh »

sandworm wrote: post #110
mxfh wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a contract-, TOS-, trade- or tax-code-violation but not "as much a copyright violation" as plain old piracy.

That's up for debate. Some rights groups (the mpaa etc) see a vpn as "bypassing technical protections". Once upon a time some claimed it a CFAA violation in that you were accessing a computer system under false pretences, ie you were fibbing about your location. BS imho and CFAA law has moved on from such interpretations, but some still call for netflix to block VPNs. Either way you are creating an unlicensed copy, o…

It's accessing the internet from a different IP, not a different location, the whole idea of an IP (without additional information) being equivalent with a proof of physical location will most likely not hold up as a legal concept in a higher court. So called geo-fencing by IP only is fuzzy by definition.

The copy is licensed since it's made available by the distributor to the customer. It's the distributors duty to the determine if a customer is eligible for purchase or not, best way would be having to provide a verifiable invoice address within the region of the granted license. An IP is a best guess at best, but not a verifiable proof of the physical location of the end customer. Netflix doesn't ask for an invoice address, Amazon Prime does. Amazon also has siloed accounts for each market where you would have to have multiple subscriptions in different countries to access the local offerings, where as NETFLIX has only one global platform. If an US-resident purchases a US-NETFLIX subscription travels abroad for a short or long period it shouldn't make a legal difference if a private VPN to the home's IP or a commercial VPN service is used.

By all enforceable concepts the place of purchase of the subscription is the relevant thing for having a valid license for private use, not the place of consumption.

Also I can't see why the first-sale doctrine wouldn't apply here either. Rights holder sold a distribution license to Netflix under certain restrictions (first sale). With Netflix distributing the copy to the end customer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine

Re: Netflix Long Term View

#135

Post by greg5green »

drawkbox wrote: post #91

Eventually, as linear TV is viewed less, the spectrum it now uses on cable, fiber, and over-the-air will be reallocated to expand Internet data transmission. Satellite TV subscribers will be fewer and more rural. The value of high-speed Internet will increase. This is something that has always bothered me, internet bandwidth only takes up a small amount of spectrum in place of channels and the cable companies could c…

Even now, with the 300/20 service TWC offers, it only uses 20 channels (16 down, 4 up -- equivalent to analog channels afaik).

Re: Netflix Long Term View

#136

Post by rogerbinns »

geoelectric wrote: post #113
rogerbinns wrote: post #37

Am I the only one who finds finding something on Netflix to watch increasingly difficult, and contradictory to what they say in that piece. My experience is mostly using Roku (a spinoff from Netflix) and Android. For example if I watch a WWII documentary, then they feel the need to recommend every one they have, for a long time. Oh and "watch" means "seen more than a second or two of", so you get all this crud even i…

I'm not a fan of their suggestion interface either, but InstantWatcher and CanIstream.it go a long way towards fixing that. But...Roku, a spinoff? Nope. Roku's independent, founded by the guy who founded ReplayTV, which was TiVo's only real competition way back when.

You'll need to correct all the people who wrote about Roku being a Netflix spinoff then. Here are some to start with:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3004709/inside-netflixs-project-g...

http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/23/netflix-created-roku/

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/23/before-the-launch-of-netfli...

Re: Netflix Long Term View

#137

Post by rogerbinns »

jaredsohn wrote: post #109
mark_l_watson wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huge Netflix fan, but you nailed one point: they should let us edit the "recently watched" and other lists. After I watch something, I would like to take it off of my 'recently watched' list instead of waiting a month for it to eventually disappear.

As of this past fall, you can remove entries from Recently Watched, at least via the web. Just click on "Recently Watched" from the homepage and click X next to something you want to remove.

You can also mark content as Not Interested on the web. But these kind of things aren't possible in their other interfaces, and having to make a mental note to later go to a browser to do things is annoying.

Re: Netflix Long Term View

#138

Post by craigching »

wmeredith wrote: post #58
hnnewguy wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and their original series (in my opinion) eclipse what HBO currently offers. I realize it's your opinion, but...really? HBO has a massive catalog of brilliant shows[1]. Netflix isn't even on the same planet when it comes to original content (but I hope they get there, better for all of us). [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_H...

Tis is my position as well. HBO has been putting out some of the best content available for TV for over a decade. Their back catalog make HBO Go's nominal cost seem like a pittance. Netflix has put together some quality original content (House of Cards is outstanding), but they're going to have to keep it up for a generation before they hold a candle to HBO.

I would love to buy HBO go without having to buy it through my cable provider. I know they were talking about making it available without requiring a cable subscription and your post seems to suggest it is available that way, but I just checked and that doesn't seem to be the case. Is that right? You still have to buy HBO through cable?

I flat out refuse to pay Comcast after their sales people tried to resell me on movie packages just after I canceled them (we're talking less than a week after I canceled). I had to tell the saleswoman who called me to stop her sales pitch (after already asking her to stop 3 times) or I'd cancel Comcast altogether :-/ I refuse to order HBO through cable again and that's hurting HBO's business IMO.

Re: Netflix Long Term View

#139

Post by joshuapants »

notnickwolf wrote: post #98
joshuapants wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And honestly, I think Netflix is most of the way there. HBO Go is a pain to use, the tablet app won't let me output to a TV or monitor, and it is frequently slow for me. I can't remember the last time I needed to wait for Netflix to buffer, and it seems to happen constantly for HBO. Netflix is solid on the technical side, and their original series (in my opinion) eclipse what HBO currently offers. HBO has one show th…

I'm interested, what did you enjoy about Bojack Horseman? I've seen it, and I was quite puzzled about who the audience for the show was.

Did you watch the whole season? I found that it improved a lot in the second half of the season and I'm hopeful that it'll get better in the future, especially with the cast they have. The first few episodes cribbed heavily from other shows, but they started doing their own thing later on and it was much better.

Re: Netflix Long Term View

#140

Post by sandworm »

mxfh wrote: post #134
sandworm wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's up for debate. Some rights groups (the mpaa etc) see a vpn as "bypassing technical protections". Once upon a time some claimed it a CFAA violation in that you were accessing a computer system under false pretences, ie you were fibbing about your location. BS imho and CFAA law has moved on from such interpretations, but some still call for netflix to block VPNs. Either way you are creating an unlicensed copy, o…

It's accessing the internet from a different IP, not a different location, the whole idea of an IP (without additional information) being equivalent with a proof of physical location will most likely not hold up as a legal concept in a higher court. So called geo-fencing by IP only is fuzzy by definition. The copy is licensed since it's made available by the distributor to the customer. It's the distributors duty to…

First sale doesn't apply because you are purchasing a "license" not a "copy". Licenses are essentially contracts through which parties can create all sorts of restrictions that wouldn't apply to copies. Top of the list are restrictions on selling the license to others, ie non-transferability.

The problem with Netflix really starts long before the consumer. With something like Black Books, which predates the netflix concept, nobody has universal distribution rights. The original creator, the BBC, long ago sold the American rights to someone else (PBS?). So there is nobody from which Netflix can purchase worldwide rights. Netflix instead purchases whatever rights they find and must mirrors them. Netflix very recently spoke out on this issue.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/netflix-upholds-geoblocking-...

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