That was fast.
Too slow for me though, I'd already cancelled my "Qwikster".
Netflix kills Qwikster
51–60 of 165 posts
Re: Netflix kills Qwikster
#52Netflix, Spotify, Pandora, and pretty much any other digital media streaming service will likely face a problem at some point fighting with content providers about licensing costs.
If you're a content provider, why would you want to take anything less for your content than everything Netflix could afford to pay? Particularly since there are other options (e.g. Amazon, Blockbuster) that could grow to compete with Netflix.
It will be interesting to see how things play out between the media streamers and content providers. Unless a media streamer can get an essential monopoly on its market (e.g. Netflix in movie/TV, Spotify in music) to be able to set favorable terms, I think its going to be difficult for any streamer to be really successful.
I agree with many others that Netflix is doing a fantastic job of destroying its public image and goodwill, which is opening the door for other companies to make a push. And their streaming selection is so limited - I got the streaming trial, but couldn't find a single movie on which I wanted to spend two hours of my life and cancelled the trial a week later having watched nothing. I can't imagine paying monthly fees for this library unless I wanted to watch a certain TV show - but I'd probably cancel again as soon as I finished that show.
Re: Netflix kills Qwikster
#53In 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. Although I have yet to decide whether the recommendation engine is worth my while, the positive PR created by the Netflix Prize convinced me at least to give it a sustained try (and to encourage a friend to give it a try) which means rating a whole mess of movies I had seen.
Well, guess what? After the split, streaming-only customers cannot rate titles that are unavailable on the streaming service.
For example, when I find myself on the streaming service's page for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, I see a message that says, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is not available to watch instantly. Watch The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on DVD! Add unlimited DVDs for only $7.99 more a month." But I see no way to rate the movie.
Also if Netflix's negotiations with content owners means Netflix loses the right to stream a movie I already rated, I guess I will no longer be able to use Netflix's web site to see that rating.
In summary, as part of the split, Netflix management hobbled the recommendation engine for no good reason that I can see. Netflix seems to have lost sight of the fact that people use their service because of their interest in movies.
Re: Netflix kills Qwikster
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
We weren't good at quickly watching the DVDs and returning them anyway plus we saved a buck a month. We were not either, so I would usually rip the DVDs when I got them and then watch it when we had time (also my only dvd player is a 360 and it's so loud...much better to stream over the ATV). After watching I would delete them...honest, I rarely watch a movie twice. Recently that became harder though because of incre…
How do you do your DVD ripping? I like to rip DVDs for my iPad, but was disappointed to learn that HandBrake won't do deCSS on Windows. I'm not keen on paying $50 for a 3rd-party decryptor just so I can watch movies I own on the bus.
Handbrake on OS X. The latest SVN version usually worked with most movies.
Re: Netflix kills Qwikster
#55Re: Netflix kills Qwikster
#56The tone on this one is quite a bit different: http://blog.netflix.com/2011/10/dvds-will-be-staying-at-netf... The email that came a few weeks ago actually had me stop what I was doing and read it (I was walking in to grab coffee, and I stopped outside to finish the email). That message was full of excitement, and started with a proper "Dear Customers: I screwed up". Why haven't I gotten an email this morning saying…
Why would this move cause you to cancel your service?
Re: Netflix kills Qwikster
#57Earlier 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.
I canceled the streaming and kept the DVD plan since I could never find anything worthwhile streaming. Then I signed up for Amazon Prime which is cheaper, has roughly equivalent streaming content and the nice shipping. I don't see how Netflix streaming is a good deal unless there is a significant increase in the quality of available content and that doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon.
Kids.
If you have them, it's worth it. If not, it's harder to justify.
Re: Netflix kills Qwikster
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you do your DVD ripping? I like to rip DVDs for my iPad, but was disappointed to learn that HandBrake won't do deCSS on Windows. I'm not keen on paying $50 for a 3rd-party decryptor just so I can watch movies I own on the bus.
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.
Re: Netflix kills Qwikster
#59Wow. How can this get any worse. Netflix management has gone crazy.
They took a brand that (in my eyes) was almost as venerable as Amazon and just thrashed it. They lost a ton of good will (and market capital).
People (including me) used to love Netflix. They, like Amazon, always seemed to do the right thing for the customer.
I'm sad. They are too few good companies in the world.
Re: Netflix kills Qwikster
#60Great companies can overcome Marketing mistakes.
Coca-Cola was one of the world's great marketers. How else can they get you to pay so much for water + sugar + a jolt? (And how do they charge more for water than Exxon charges for gasoline?) They made a huge blunder in the 80s abandoning the classic formula, with a New Coke that was better by all objective measures. Despite all their market research telling them how good it would be (blind tests, etc) their customers revolted. Shortly thereafter, they backed out of the decision. The Chief Marketing Officer (Sergio Zyman) even turned lemons into lemonade, making a career as, "What we learned when we got New Coke wrong."
Netflix made an awful decision. If they were a large static company (or government!) they would have had a hard time backing out of the decision. I'm sure there was plenty of research and consulting powerpoints explaining why it was a good idea, so everyone was covered. Unfortunately, it was a decision that could have destroyed the company. Bravo for Netflix acting decisively and correcting it's course! They likely saved the company.