> I noted this elsewhere, but I believe it has to do with Netlfix relationships and negotiations with the content creators, and how it differs from the Qwikster model of buying discs. Qwikster requires zero relationships and negotiations with the content creators.
Query: why does a radically different content acquisition model necessitate or suggest a split of the company? Would it not be less troublesome to make a new internal division focused solely on the DVD side of the business?
> I can't really understand why people get so upset about these changes because I can't find the catalog size/ low cost anywhere else. If anyone knows of a better service/value, I would be interested.
That they are splitting the interface has killed my long-term interest in Netflix. I tend to search for films based on whim and have an active love of long-tail content. I tend to throw several films at a go into my queues, being little concerned about what arrives and when. Each new disk a surprise; I end up using the Instant Queue as a priority filter when searching for entertainment. After the split my use case will be destroyed--I'll be required to visit two websites, which I won't as I can't do so idly--and consuming films becomes a matter of searching my own desires and making, as it seems to me, an arbitrary choice between formats. I once did treat Netflix as a library which could be idly passed through, picking things here and there off the shelf. It's all about the movies for me; format is a tertiary concern. Once Quickster is live the library will be gone. It'll be two properties competing for my attention and making the choice of format a primary concern.
I want to watch movies, not decide how to do so. Netflix is a luxury good, not an essential service. It _has_ to be so trivial to use that one does so without a thought because any luxury good that starts to incur costs--beyond acquisition--becomes less so. Netflix has the size, but by splitting they've reduced their lead over their competitors and it is no longer possible to view them after the awful website redesign, the price increases, the non-apologies and the site split as casually luxurious as they once were.
I'm still with Netflix, but I'll jump ship as soon as a competitor gives me that effortless feeling again. Netflix used to have it, Amazon almost has it and any one of the content holders might grow a clue, start their own streaming service and have it overnight.