Netflix will cost more

You are right about that. Maybe this is my fault for not being a diligent enough consumer, but I was shocked when I signed up for Netflix how little I could see in the way of movies. I'm a good year or two behind the theater releases and I still can't find anything on my preferred list. Yet all their advertising made no distinction whatsoever, they just said "Watch instantly for $7.99!!!!!"

 

Again, the problem is in the marketing. Netflix makes it seem like its instant watch and DVD catalogs are equals and that's simply not true.

When I joined Netflix, I spent about two hours sifting through movies to put together a queue of about 100 or so titles that I wanted to see. Over time, I rented some and took them off the queue. And, of course, I added others as they came along.

Right now I have 100 DVDs on my queue (A lot of them are multiple discs of the same TV show's season). I have about 30 things on my instant watch queue, most of which are on there in case new episodes come out (Rescue Me, for instant).

The vast majority of the things I want to see are not available instantly. And, each week, Netflix adds movies but you're lucky if there's one, maybe two, flicks you've ever even heard of.

But, yeah, if you want to see the 2008 kids flick "Spirit of the Forest"--whose plot is summarized as: "Wicked landowner Mrs. D'Abondo (voiced by Anjelica Huston) can't see the friendly trees for the fearsome forest that stands in the path of a proposed highway, so when she pulls out the chain saw, it's up to gophers Furi (Sean Astin) and Linda (María Adánez) to jam the works. In this animated comedy, Tiger the Free Cat, Huhu and all the other critters go on the sniff for the mighty Spirit that can save them."--then I'm sure it's a great value.

Me? I prefer new release movies from the past three years. I'm not even asking for things coming out this week!

 

You expect to be able to see new release movies from the past three years, whenever you want, as many as you want, for $8/month?

It hasn't been *that* long since we all had to schlep to the video store and rent movies at $3 a pop. We've become really spoiled.

 

Where exactly did I say I wanted every new release movie from the past three years available at all times? All I said is it would be nice to have a selection of movies released within the last three years, that I've actually heard of, at my disposal

And don't pull that "We've become really spoiled" bullshit either. I'm not the CEO of the company that proclaims to be the best value in entertainment. I'm not the CEO who is marketing his company as the go-to source for movies and television shows. And I'm definitely not the CEO who made the decision to charge people 60 percent more for the exact same thing.

There's a reason Netflix lost 600K customers because of this price hike and it has little to do with the actual cost of the hike as much as it does the attitude that Netflix is providing some great and benevolent service and we, as customers, should give them anything they ever ask for because, well, shucks, it's better than paying $5 per movie like we used to.

Spare me the rhetoric. Netflix changed the game and changed the landscape and value of renting movies, putting the focus on getting the most bang for your buck. They can't come back a decade later and whine about it now.

 

Netflix's marketing of the streaming service undeniably created that impression. And since it is possible to order any movie under the sun from Netflix via DVD, it wasn't a great leap to think that would extend to this new streaming thing. (Very few people know much about the media rights/copyright landscape.)

Their subscription buildup, and their stock price, have thus been built up artificially over the past year and a half.

 

Since he's talked about here, this seems fitting:

 

I stand corrected. "Breaking Bad" is now available to stream.

 

Oh shit yes.

 

Is it as awesome as I've heard?

 

It's getting up to The Wire level for me. I never thought I'd say that.

 

Those with cable have OnDemand and, from what I hear, they're happy with it.

But I just got DirecTV and don't get their pay-per-view approach AT ALL. You have to choose the movie you want to see AT THE TIME they're making it available? I can't just order what I want when I want it and -- boom! -- be watching it that instant?

What kind of shit is that? It might as well be a premimum subscription network like HBO or Showtime if I have to wait another 75 minutes before I can watch the movie I want -- and then only if I can find the channel it's on.

Can I just order it up and let it load onto the DVR, so I can watch it another day/time?

Didn't like Comcast overall and am otherwise happy with DirecTV. But this aspect of it stinks.

And ultimately it's all Netflix's fault, because I wouldn't be searching for an option if they hadn't screwed with their pricing and kept their streaming inventory so shitty.

 

Let's not forget this either.

The streaming selection may be bad now, but it will get even worse in March when Starz takes its movies and goes home.