Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%) • Hacker News Board

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#131

Post by CamperBob » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 3:13 AM UTC

jdludlow wrote: post #14

agildehaus wrote: post #5

Poor site redesign followed by a price hike followed by a pointless attempt at splitting up the company. Not surprised.

The price hike didn't bother me. The company split would be annoying, but not the end of the world. It's the terrible UI design of the new site that has me looking for alternatives. It's so bad. Do they actually think that this UI is functional, or is there some kind of internal fear to question it?

The whole redesign seemed engineered to hide the fact that they would be offering less content going forward.

That's when I hit the 'sell' button, personally.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#132

Post by grourk » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 3:15 AM UTC

goodweeds wrote: post #55

JohnTHaller wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, you don't really 'own' the movies through iTunes or Amazon either. And Netflix's stream servers have plenty of bandwidth to serve up. I use it daily without issue and HD programs, so it's not the servers. More likely, it you're internet connection or their overburdened peer connection to Netflix's peer. Either way, not something really in their control. As most internet service is getting more unreliable (…

I thought of that, and pretty thoroughly ruled it out both by testing on my super-spiffy badass link (100mbps synchronous over microwave ala webpass.com) and my girlfriend's spiffy 8mbps adsl2+ link through Sonic, neither of whom have a reputation packet-mangling like comcast. Being a network-geek, and having been really bored one weekend, I took my macbook pro, and my girlfriend's macbook air (both of which have thi…

Netflix works a treat with my webpass connection on my ps3. Never stops or stutters.

That said, I'll probably cancel because there's nothing I want to watch anymore.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#133

Post by tedunangst » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 3:33 AM UTC

chadgeidel wrote: post #92

pkamb wrote: post #20

I'd prefer having less total movies for streaming if they cut out all the B-movie crap. Or give us a [never ever ever show this again] button.

I would pay for the "don't show me this again, ever" button.

Does rating a movie "Not interested" not accomplish that?

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#134

Post by palish » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 3:47 AM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #130

cubicle67 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

excuse my ignorance, but what's a credit score and why does it matter? I can see it's a Bad Thing to have a low one, but in what way does it impact someone?

A credit score is maintained by a credit bureau, so potential lenders can check up on how "good" a potential borrower is before making a deal. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Credit_score So having a low one makes it difficult and expensive to get a loan or any kind of credit.

That's correct, but it's not quite that simple.

If my car dies, I won't be able to get anywhere, because I can't get a loan for a new one.

When we move to a new apartment, they won't allow us to have Internet service. I am not exaggerating in the slightest. AT&T U-Verse already denied me once in the past, before I got my score to 760 --- they refused me service. Completely. No alternatives. It didn't matter to them whether I had $10, $1,000, or $10,000 in the bank. The computer told them "unknown risk", and so they would not do business with me. There were no alternative internet providers. I would have been completely screwed, but my wife (who was my fiancée at the time, thankfully; credit score of one person will reflect on both of you after marriage) was approved.

We will not be able to get a house, if we choose to. We might not even be able to live in a specific area we want --- apartment complexes check your credit before allowing you to live there.

All over $80, due to the messed up health insurance system. Blergh.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#135

Post by frek818 » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 4:01 AM UTC

chadgeidel wrote: post #91

theoj wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree, it does feel like there is a lot of B-grade stuff on Netflix streaming. Paradoxically, the unlimited movie buffet might be their undoing. There is a limited number of movies that are truly excellent and worth watching. Once you go through those good ones, you're left with the crap. Having unlimited watching quickly moves you from the good stuff to the crap, and then you cancel your subscription. Neflix faces a…

I personally am amazed that people's queue is not constantly full. Right now I have 178 disks in my "DVD" queue and 87 titles in my "Instant" queue (including series which take one slot). Maybe there's a ton of stuff that I don't "need" to watch, but I can always find something interesting. I really don't consider myself a huge movie lover either.

Hard to believe you have that many movies in your Instant Queue. Is this Reed Hasting? I admit that I find a unpopular movie that I enjoy sometimes. But I mostly sit through 5 boring unpopular movies before I find a gem.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#136

Post by danbmil99 » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 4:05 AM UTC

nfriedly wrote: post #112

palish wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine was the opposite experience. It wasn't really the same situation as yours, so maybe this is totally irrelevant. But here's my story, just incase. My health insurance denied my coverage for a Dr's appointment ("pre existing condition") a month or two after the appointment. I had moved by then, and apparently the mail didn't get forwarded or something. The dr's eventually turned me over to some California collecti…

Ouch - I would contact each of the credit bureaus and ask them to remove the claim. It was purely a communications error because, as you said, you're willing and able to pay the bill. (I'm not sure who the "they" is, hopefully not the credit bureau :(

FWIW there are companies that specialize in 'fixing' your credit, and resources on the web for same. With some work you can usually clean up a bad credit score over time.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#137

Post by nitrogen » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 4:07 AM UTC

poppysan wrote: post #108

cookiecaper wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a great example of the excessive control given to rights holders, so excessive that a prominent company like Netflix ($300/share is certainly not something to shirk) and similar hypothetical businesses can be totally gutted at the pleasure of a handful of production companies and/or publishers. The diminution of Netflix is no small matter and will hopefully serve as a very visible demonstration of the cruel absu…

I have to disagree with you. Whats the point of an IP if you have no control of who uses it. The problem is that the content holders don't realize who their friends and enemies are. They worry about the web, but when a solution to a lot of their issues arises, they want to charge them right out of business. my 2 cents...

Whats the point of an IP if you have no control of who uses it.

Compulsory licensing already exists for music. Something similar could be done for movies. It may not fit in an $8/mo streaming plan, but the change would allow anyone to set up a streaming site as long as they pay the compulsory licensing fees.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#138

Post by nitrogen » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 4:08 AM UTC

cookiecaper wrote: post #119

alain94040 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I can't believe the nerve these software developers have, they don't accept a $0.99 for all their apps. Let's make them lose their copyright and make sure app stores can dictate pricing freely, without having to negotiate with developers.

I'm not arguing for the abolishment of copyright entirely. I just think 90 years+ is a term far too long. I'd like to see it reduced to something in the 20-30 yr range, and perhaps some broadening of fair use and derivative works allowed without license.

Once copyright goes to 20-30 years, Netflix (or its successor) could have a tiered plan: $8/mo that streams fully-recouped and out of copyright movies, $x/mo for new releases.

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#139

Post by danbmil99 » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 4:09 AM UTC

cookiecaper wrote: post #54

gkoberger wrote: post #3

I feel bad for Netflix. They're between a rock and a hard place. The content providers want more money and eventually want to cut out the middleman. The users balk when the price is raised, even though unlimited streaming and DVDs for a month still cost less than a decent meal. And every decision they make (like Qwikster, which was likely done so they didn't have to pay content providers a fee for users who weren't s…

The best potential outcome of this would be accelerating potential copyright/IP reform. Netflix is destined to die unless they can find a way to diversify; as you said, the rights holders want to cut out the middle man. The overhead requisite in old-world rental chains like Blockbuster is sufficiently prohibitive that the media companies did not have an interest in supplanting that market, but now that Netflix has pr…

> apparently media companies don't think it prohibitive to set up some servers and stream reruns.

Hmmm... because it's so easy to do that well? Their arrogance would be amusing if it wasn't so brazenly stupid.

How is it that Jobs and Apple could do iTunes successfully, but Netflix's neck is under Hollywood's boot?

Re: Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers (stock drops 28%)

#140

Post by badclient » Tue, Oct 25, 2011, 4:11 AM UTC

Mizza wrote: post #90

badclient wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

still cost less than a decent meal So many great things on the web cost less than a single cup of Starbucks. Yet, I myself am so hesitant to pay for them. On my landing pages I design at work, I'm increasingly trying to communicate this via comparisons("less than a morning Starbucks trip"). Another one is showing a dollar bill to communicate that for less than a dollar a day, they will get _____. For a service that w…

Your web apps don't release dopamine into my bloodstream. Your iPhone game doesn't give me a headache if I don't play it. I can't take a girl on a date to your eBook PDF. The reason that digital goods _seem_ more expensive is because the result we get _is_ less valuable to us as human beings. It's hard to pay money for things that leave you exactly as you were before - sitting in a chair, looking at a screen.

Yeah but if you bought my productivity app, you may have more time for your date.

Or you may have less headaches from your finances.