Topic: Netflix

[analog kid]

http://i.imgur.com/4FRxU.png

[themudking]

BOOO!!




<rant>
Netflix did not succeed because they fought the good fight.  They won the battle against the rental box stores because they were cut throat.  They offered less selection, lower quality (streaming), and less service for an extremely low price.  Their customer accept a low standard because the price is was so low.  Everyone with an internet connection could tell that internet streaming TV and movies was the future...it was just a matter of who was willing to lose millions to build up the infrastructure to *maybe* profit from it one day just like amazon with online book sales. 


That image really annoyed me because of the false history is represents.  Netflix won by being cut-throat and now they'll lose because they are treating their customers just like they did Blockbuster.  Someone else, maybe Amazon or ironically Blockbuster will figure this out and set up a service for the right price vs selection and will be standing on the ashes that once was netflix.
</rant>


BTW that is a cool avatar pic.

http://i.imgur.com/4FRxU.png

[analog kid]

I'm not too familiar with Netflix, and have only been a customer for a few days, but I think Amazon has already eclipsed them, in terms of selection of streaming movies and value. They have a client that runs on Linux, supposedly, but I don't like their bloatware.

[Avi]

I don't know, themudking. Netflix eclipsed Blockbuster through convenience. You no longer had to drive to a free-standing store, wait in line while movie previews screamed at you from 100 seizure-inducing, flashing flat screens and pay your fines or rent your films. Netflix did away with late fees and actually, offered a much broader selection of titles, in many respects. That's how they shut down Blockbuster, which was very late out of the starting gate in terms of internet movie rental. It's Amazon that's going to provide a real challenge to Netflix, at least in the area of streaming content, and I think that's what is behind the recent weirdness at Netflix.

In any case, if you're looking for corporate malfeasance, both Amazon and Blockbuster put the mom&pop book (now even the book chains) and video-rental stores out of business. Netflix was a later development.

[themudking]

Avi, I totally agree that Amazon was not our friend in terms of the local book store and is why I referenced them in my rant.  You make valid points about the annoyance of a trip to blockbuster but if Netflix had not priced Blockbuster and the local video store out of the game people would have still gone there.  The average video consumer needed the flat screens with previews running to decide what to rent.  I bet if you were to look at the raw data from netflix a majority of their dvd by mail subscribers keep the same movie for 2-3 months at a time.  Since they don't have the local video store and late fees to push them to act on anything.  I was not comparing the blockbuster internet movie system to netflix...blockbuster probably overreacted to netflix and spent too much $$$ on trying to compete and screwed their box stores in the process.


Don't get me wrong even though I hate what Netflix has done recently I love streaming movies and the rental model.  I recommended it as a christmas gift on the podcast just last year (before price increases, major studio spats). I just can't wait for a company to come along and do the whole thing right.  Probably GoogleTV at some point will end up the real winner. 


*Full disclosure my parents owned a video rental store when I was younger and I grew up in the video rental business*

[Avi]

My wife and I used to rent videos from a local mom&pop store (which we really enjoyed for the social aspect of talking about what we liked and hearing their suggestions), but Blockbuster moved into the neighborhood not with one, but with two outlets within walking distance - kind of like the way Char Yucks put locally-owned coffee houses out of business, deliberately and with malice aforethought. They didn't last too long after that.

I always feel conflicted about purchases from Amazon, but then, times change. I am nostalgic for the way things were (I mean, those algorithms that Amazon and Netflix use to make suggestions are terribly sucky) and I miss the salespeople who know what they're talking about when they offer suggestions (where I'm from, salespeople get snooty if you don't take their advice seriously). I finally told myself that, just as I greatly appreciate the new technology that finally allowed the pick-ups on harps, and other acoustic instruments, to reproduce their sound faithfully, I have to recognize that technology changes things - sometimes in good ways, sometimes in not so good ways. I'm not really happy with my conclusion, but I've eschewed being a complete Luddite, because then, I'd just be a hypocrite. Waah!