Netflix splits DVD and streaming business into separate companies, adds games

heiney9

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

do you realize that most isp don't have a limit? Seriously I've never even heard about them having limits except in your posts. Cellular providers are a different story, but home isp providers don't impose a limit, at least not in any part of the country I've been in.

Around here they all do,

My Comcast limit is 250GB per billing cycle. You get a warning the 1st time you go over; you get suspended for 24 hours the 2nd time you go over and the 3rd time you are banned from using them as an ISP for 1 year.

AT & T also impose a limit which I believe is less.

Not sure about other providers as these are the two major high speed ISP in my area and most of Northern Illinois. I was told we were a test bed for Comcast, if you have Comcast prepare for it to hit your area sometime in the near future.

It's not a joke, it's not even all that rare and as we move forward unless the FCC steps in this is what you can expect. The other thing is in our area currently there is no Fibre Optic ISP access for residential. If you have a solid fibre optic ring in your area then I doubt anyone would be capped. We don't have that here so perhaps that's why it more prevelant here.

H9

kuntasensei

Bill Hunt over at thedigitalbits.com sums it up pretty nicely:

Finally today, a number of you have asked for my opinions on Netflix deciding to go download-only and spin off its DVD rental by mail business off as a new company called Qwickster (you can read more on the news here, here here and here). My personal opinion is that it's ill advised. There's still a lot of life in physical media yet - especially on the rental side. There's no shortage of DVD rental subscribers. I also strongly suspect the streaming/downloading future is nowhere near as simple and rosy as adherents wish to believe. Broadband infrastructure upgrades are still way behind here in the States, and Net metering alone could prove a show-stopper to this model. As more and more businesses push cloud services and streaming content, Internet access providers are going to start asking SOMEONE - either those offering the content or those consuming it or both - to pay for the true cost of the bandwidth they're using. That means added and fees for consumers and a LOT of them. Streaming movies might not be so appealing to cash-strapped consumes as the costs to enjoy it continue to rise. The other problem with streaming is that sooner or later, the content providers (read: the Hollywood studios) are going to realize that they don't need Netflix and other content delivery middle men anymore - they can simply create their own streaming services and maximize their own profits.

But Netflix's decision reflects the uncertainty all of the entertainment industry is feeling. As the world of entertainment content continues to go digital and online, and as physical media eventually takes a back seat over the next decade, nobody really knows exactly how much people are willing to pay for such content and how profitable it will be. Yes, people might pay $15 a month for downloading, but no one is going to pay $35.99 for a single movie download. Likewise, while CDs and hardback books once sold for $20 each, most music fans are eschewing albums for $.99 song downloads and most ebooks are $9.99 or less. Plus, Netflix can't exactly be reassured by the fact that the Post Office seems to be having ever growing difficulties and some politicians are actually calling for it to be abolished entirely. Mailing and distributing physical discs requires a LOT of costly infrastructure - tracking software, sorting machines, distribution centers. Yes, streaming requires infrastructure too, but a lot less of it. Which means lower costs. The bottom line is that from a purely business standpoint, Netflix's decision probably makes sense to them - especially in the long run. But in the meantime, a company that's already pissed off its customers en masse multiple times, is apparently happy to piss them off some more and is betting that it won't matter in the long run because they're the biggest player in the streaming/rental business. This is classic corporate arrogance, plain and simple. Maximize profits at all costs - even at the cost of consumer service and convenience.

The bottom line is that while downloading is awesome in many ways, it's not so awesome in others. Quality suffers, content can suffer, and LOTS of jobs are going to be lost. Physical media needs to be authored, manufactured, packaged, shipped and sold in real, physical places by real, physical people. Digital downloads are stored on a server and are sent by computer to your playback device at the click of a button - all by computer with just a very tiny fraction of the human involvement physical products require. If you're a corporate shareholder, that's awesome - pure profit. If you're someone whose job is no longer required, well... maybe not so much. This is the trade off we're making as a society and it seems we're just all going to have to get used to it because it's here to stay. Welcome to the 21st Century, folks!

gudnoyez

Should I be happy of the increase, no but who is, everything has a price increase its called supply and demand. I think the extra 6 dollars is still ok, you cant rent more than a few new releases at Block Buster or Family video for $15.98 I enjoy streaming and dvd's in the mail. I dont have to leave the comforts of home, imagine bringing back that new release on a weeknight late and there is a foot of snow on the ground and its -15 below out. I will still be a net flix customer, I have seen the Red Box kiosk quit working when it's -15 below they freeze up and they wont let you return that rental, and then you get a late fee its happened to me, I know most of you are saying thats what you get for living in the upper midwest. Being able to have to not brave the elements, unlimited streaming and dvd rentals is 15.98 well spent.

tommyboy

Sorry to be the idiot of the group, but I have never used netflix so don't know much about it. I usually order from redbox but the only time I have experience with streaming movies is the VERY rare case when I order a movie from comcast. The one thing I noticed though is most action scenes are much less dramatic, less bass, less seperation, etc. compared to the DVD of the same movie. So my question is, is netflix streaming any better or comparable to a dvd (or BR)?

AsSiMiLaTeD

Netflix streaming is at best DVD quality and depending on the connection and material often times not as good.

tonyb

Never had it, never will, could care less if he makes a fortune or goes belly up. Personally I think the man is getting some pretty funky advice from someone.

AsSiMiLaTeD

So with the news and potential split, Netflix had me looking at other options for streaming. Really the only thing I looked at was Amazon. While Amazon does have a decent selection, it's not as good as Netflix's (yes that's subjective) and more importantly the queue management and interface is not as polished as Netflix (no that is not subjective that's pure fact).

It looks like I'll be sticking with Netflix and Qwickster for now because it's still my best option, but I'll be keeping an eye out for other options.

Polkie2009

Is anyone at all paying attention to the stock on Netflix (NFLX)? Might let it go down to around 105 and buy some, see how it rebounds.

sucks2beme

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Your ridiculously personal hatred of netflix is likely unhealthy. Seriously its not like the guy is murdering orphans or something...

Just murdering the customer service.

heiney9

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

It looks like I'll be sticking with Netflix and Qwickster for now because it's still my best option, but I'll be keeping an eye out for other options.

Yep, me too for the time being. I am not at all happy about it, but right now after all the changes, etc it's still the best and cheapest option.

Here is just another persons POV to balance the scales a little bit. I am not endorsing what Netflix has done because I am still angry, but maybe there is a method to the madness or maybe it's just madness.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2011/09/20/why-netflix-is-smarter-than-its-customers-

kuntasensei

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Netflix-Abandons-Plan-to-Rent-nytimes-4287150265.html?x=0&.v=1

Well, so much for that. Guess they finally figured out that people want ONE LIST, not separate companies. Either that or the mass exodus from their service hit 'em in the wallet.

mantis

These moves actually just pissed me off. I have been a customer of Netflix from the very beginning and loved the service. Now I just dropped the Blue ray/DVD service and just kept the streaming. We have Red box Terminals all over the place and I think this might be a better way to go as we don't watch movies all the time. Winter is coming and I do see us sitting in front of the tv more but
Splitting up the site , raising up the prices that much is to much to ask.
Netflix did a very poor job.

bobman1235

mantis wrote: »

These moves actually just pissed me off.

Splitting up the site , raising up the prices that much is to much to ask.

I love that people complain when a company does something, then the company says "oh, sorry, we won't do that then." and people still complain. It's fascinating.

mantis

bobman1235 wrote: »

I love that people complain when a company does something, then the company says "oh, sorry, we won't do that then." and people still complain. It's fascinating.

Well when people have been paying the bill for years and years , really liked the service and then that service changes , yeah people are going to say something about it. If people didn't companies would do whatever the hell they wanted and not know when they where making mistakes by pissing off there clients. This is the feedback good companies use to better themselves. Even after the fact.

bobman1235

mantis wrote: »

Well when people have been paying the bill for years and years , really liked the service and then that service changes , yeah people are going to say something about it. If people didn't companies would do whatever the hell they wanted and not know when they where making mistakes by pissing off there clients. This is the feedback good companies use to better themselves. Even after the fact.

No, you don't understand.

Netflix said "hey, we're going to split our service up into two companies."

People complained.

Netflix said "oh, sorry, we see that you don't like that idea. We won't do that."

People complained.

Sooo... do you want them to listen to your feedback or not?

kuntasensei

Bobman, the price hike was more of an issue than the split. But this sudden reversal does show a distinct lack of leadership on the part of their CEO. And don't kid yourself that they did this based on listening to customers. They did this because they reportedly lost over a million customers after the original announcement. If anything, they listened to their SHAREHOLDERS.

maximillian

I have been a Netflix customer for several years. I have enjoyed their service the whole time. The price increase while not pleasant isn't a big deal. The DVD/streaming split was a bigger issue for me since it would have made things unecessarily more difficult. This new news is a welcome change, but I agree with Kuntasensei that it shoes a lack of leadership foresight.

ryanjoachim

bobman1235 wrote: »

No, you don't understand.

Netflix said "hey, we're going to split our service up into two companies."

People complained.

Netflix said "oh, sorry, we see that you don't like that idea. We won't do that."

People complained.

Sooo... do you want them to listen to your feedback or not?

I'm with bobman on this one. Complaining when they announced the idea is all well and good, and it is important in informing companies when they make a mistake.

However, continuing to complain after the fact is not only useless it's just plain annoying.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I still don't get the outrage over AT MOST an $8 a month increase in price. I realize everyone has their limits on what they can spend, but if $8 a month meant ANYTHING AT ALL to me or had ANY bearing on any decision I made, then I would not be a Netflix subscriber in the first place...

bobman1235

kuntasensei wrote: »

Bobman, the price hike was more of an issue than the split. But this sudden reversal does show a distinct lack of leadership on the part of their CEO. And don't kid yourself that they did this based on listening to customers. They did this because they reportedly lost over a million customers after the original announcement. If anything, they listened to their SHAREHOLDERS.

And that's not acceptable? "Speak with your wallet" is how you talk to companies. People spoke with their wallets, and NETFLIX LISTENED. Aside from batshit crazies ilke Keiko, I would think most of us would be happy about how it worked out.

mantis

bobman1235 wrote: »

No, you don't understand.

Netflix said "hey, we're going to split our service up into two companies."

People complained.

Netflix said "oh, sorry, we see that you don't like that idea. We won't do that."

People complained.

Sooo... do you want them to listen to your feedback or not?

Yes I do.
So let me get this straight. I never got an email from Netflix about the price increase or the split on the dvd rental service. Now I just went and read that the DVD service is going to stay on netflix.com. I found out all this on this forum and here say. Not from Netflix. That is my biggest problem with Netflix right now. I'm glad they decided to keep DVD where it should be.
When companies start making wild moves when they have so much money , these are the things that make big companies fail. I like Netflix and don't want to see them fail.

exalted512

Keiko wrote: »

netprix can still kiss my batsh!t crazy ****. :twisted:

lmao.

bobman1235

Keiko wrote: »

Oh! That hurts. But netprix can still kiss my batsh!t crazy ****, qwikster. :twisted:

You seem like a real nice guy, but the chasm between "how bad the offense is" to "how angry you are about it" is about the biggest I can imagine.

BlueFox

Netflix is realizing that while streaming might be the future, DVDs are the present. Actually, today's paper had a good article on how ISPs are charging, or will start charging, for bandwidth usage. This will decrease streaming use, especially when the consumer has to decide between Internet ****, or reruns of I Love Lucy.

bobman1235

Netflix is the only company I've ever dealt with that emailed me personally every time they made a price or policy change, months before said change goes into effect. Complaining about 8 dollars a month, sure, I can kind of, on some super cheapskate planet, understand, but their communication has been top notch in my book, at least, compared to the rest of the known universe.

Demiurge

Keiko wrote: »

Bob, it's not so much the money as it is the principal of greed behind it, plus the lack of customer service and communication. This can be argued until Hell freezes over, but the reality is, a lot of people got pissed at netflix and effectively hit them where it hurt.

Since you've clearly investigated their books, can you please explain to me how they're greedy?

They can't just arbitrarily raise prices and hope to go home with their pockets stuffed with cash. Business doesn't operate that way. They have to weigh many things before even considering raising prices, including what it may do to subscription rates. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Netflix pays way more per DVD/Blu-Ray than you and I would at Best Buy. Lets not forget all of the licenses that they have to pay for in order to stream content. They are competing, too. They need a sales and marketing effort.

Netflix is just being poorly run at this point. The e-mails were smug and did more harm than good. Having an idiot as CEO doesn't mean that the company is greedy.

Netflix has been an incredible deal. When they raised prices I adjusted my plan accordingly. Why can't people just take care of themselves instead of making **** up?

mantis

Keiko wrote: »

I never received an email reflecting the additional charge. I read about it here and on yahoo first. I did however get that arrogant apology and bs explanation via email from the CEO about their plans to split the service after the fact.... No biggie, let's just agree to disagree. I've already opted to get my entertainment elsewhere.

I have yet to receive any emails from Netflix about any of this crap. I have been a member since 2006.

AsSiMiLaTeD

You guys not receiving emails need to check your spam settings then. Everyone I know has received an email. I HIGHLY doubt they're 'picking' on people and not sending them emails, its much more likely an issue on your end.

Demiurge

It's all automated and sent to the e-mail you have registered with them. I have been a member since 2004 and got all of them.

Regardless, I'd still love to know how idiocy equates to greed in this case.

shawn474

bobman1235 wrote: »

Netflix is the only company I've ever dealt with that emailed me personally every time they made a price or policy change, months before said change goes into effect. Complaining about 8 dollars a month, sure, I can kind of, on some super cheapskate planet, understand, but their communication has been top notch in my book, at least, compared to the rest of the known universe.

+1.......I agree. At the end of the day decide to renew or not. Your choice; just like it is their choice to hike rates.