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Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster

blog.netflix.com

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Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster

#11

Post by Vexenon »

I really, really liked the way Hastings wrote this post. It takes a lot to own up to your mistakes, but he seems dedicated to making Netflix succeed, and the decision to split the service into two is really... interesting, to say the least. I'll probably stick with streaming and forget about physical media, to be honest. It's much more convenient to drive to the Redbox down the street than wait a few days and have to deal with mailing discs back and forth.

Kind of glad to see video game rentals coming; too bad they're late to the party and will have to compete with Blockbuster, Gamefly, and Redbox.

Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster

#12

Post by male_salmon »

pyrmont wrote: post #4

While they seem to be going to great pains to be genuine and upfront about what they're doing, why does Netflix need to create a separate company in order to innovate? Apple doesn't have a separate Mac and iPhone business and they seem to innovate just fine. What really seems to be going on is that Netflix is getting ready to spin off its DVD business. That this seems so obvious makes the repeated apologies feel like…

As Reed says, the streaming business is global, but the DVD business is US-only. Maintaining code that services functions that apply in some locales but not others will slow down Netflix's ability to innovate.

Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster

#13

Post by yequalsx »

male_salmon wrote: post #6
waterlesscloud wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Awful, awful decision. I have no intention whatsoever of maintaining 2 accounts, one for streaming and one for dvds. I'm straight out lost revenue.

Just out of curiosity, why would maintaining two accounts be so painful? If that were so, wouldn't it be equally painful to maintain different social network accounts (assuming you have two or more).

Netflix is the one recurring bill on my credit card. I like the company and think it has great customer service. I trust the company. I don't want multiple recurring charges on my credit card. The more paid accounts a person has the more likely it is that an account will be forgotten about.

Also, it would be a pain to find out a movie isn't available for streaming and then having to login to another account to put the movie in its cue. And I don't want to browse DVDs and put one in my queue when it's available for streaming.

Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster

#15

Post by male_salmon »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #9
male_salmon wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just out of curiosity, why would maintaining two accounts be so painful? If that were so, wouldn't it be equally painful to maintain different social network accounts (assuming you have two or more).

Billing will be separate, which is a minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless. The bigger issue is splitting my ratings and thus my suggestions. I already ignore other places to rate movies since only netflix provided a tangible benefit to me. Split it, and it won't.

With billing, most of us already maintain different accounts with different e-commerce sites. One more is not that bad. Ratings on either Qwikster or Netflix will benefit you because of the improved recommendations. Yes, it's a shame they won't be integrated, but overall the split will benefit the company and its customers.

Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster

#17

Post by deyan »

May be this is the wrong decision, may be it is the right decision - it is quite unclear and only time will tell. However, from an entrepreneurial perspective, Reed has all my respect - it is incredibly difficult to disrupt yourself and he has certainly placed his bet. That takes balls and I respect that.

As to why separate, I assume that from an operational perspective it makes running the businesses easier. It is strange that some things e.g. ratings, accounts, etc. will be separate though, that's for sure.

I can't wait to see this play out!

Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster

#18

Post by redthrowaway »

zoowar wrote: post #14

Let's hope Netflix can compete without having to splatter advertisements throughout the stream.

I'd be okay with a two-tiered system: a Netflix Light that is cheap and ad-supported (hopefully at the beginning, not interspersed throughout), and a Netflix Full that offers no ads.

Mostly though, I just want to have a decent selection in Canada. I was chatting with a friend about the possibility of doing a movie streaming startup, and I couldn't get past the fact that Netflix's biggest problems are not of their creation; they come from the studios. I wish them the best of luck, and hope that someday I might be a customer, but I'd hate to have to deal with the rights hassles that they do.

Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster

#19

Post by Vexenon »

Jarred wrote: post #7

I think the challenge for Netflix here will be to disassociate Netflix with DVD rentals. People will go to Netflix's website, and expect their DVDs to be there alongside their streaming movies.

When I think of the term Netflix, I think of watching flicks on the Internet. I'm sure a lot of people don't look at it that way, but the term Netflix makes a lot of sense when referring to a streaming service (as opposed to a service that rents out physical media).

I know a lot of non-savvy people probably can't make that connection, but I think the company will make it clear that Netflix is no longer the place for DVDs.

Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster

#20

Post by pyrmont »

male_salmon wrote: post #12
pyrmont wrote: post #4

While they seem to be going to great pains to be genuine and upfront about what they're doing, why does Netflix need to create a separate company in order to innovate? Apple doesn't have a separate Mac and iPhone business and they seem to innovate just fine. What really seems to be going on is that Netflix is getting ready to spin off its DVD business. That this seems so obvious makes the repeated apologies feel like…

As Reed says, the streaming business is global, but the DVD business is US-only. Maintaining code that services functions that apply in some locales but not others will slow down Netflix's ability to innovate.

Again, Apple runs businesses (eg. Macs) that operate in some jurisdictions that their other businesses (eg. iTunes) do not. You don't need a structural separation to 'innovate', you need a structural separation to ease a sale of a business.
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