Netflix

RobertSwanderson · 01 Jan 2007

I've had the same DVD sitting on my tabouret for three months now. I guess I can ditch the DVD plan.

I'm okay with waiting a couple of days to get a DVD, but my wife and kids are all about the streaming now. A couple of years of cheap, streaming meth from Netflix has turned them into addicts.

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

The act of placing a DVD into the tray is too slow.

At my day job, I posted this article:

The Top 10 Reasons Why Blu-Ray is Dead
http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/07 ... y-is-dead/

RobertSwanderson · 01 Jan 2007

Steve wrote:

The act of placing a DVD into the tray is too slow.

At my day job, I posted this article:

The Top 10 Reasons Why Blu-Ray is Dead
http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/07 ... y-is-dead/

Nice.

Is there supposed to be a comic on your comics link?

Tricky Kid · **Joined:** 23 Sep 2007 **Posts:** 5374

Steve wrote:

The Top 10 Reasons Why Blu-Ray is Dead
http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/07 ... y-is-dead/

Premature to say the least... and half the list are issues that apply only to computers.

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

RobertSwanderson wrote:

Steve wrote:

The act of placing a DVD into the tray is too slow.

At my day job, I posted this article:

The Top 10 Reasons Why Blu-Ray is Dead
http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/07 ... y-is-dead/

Nice.

Is there supposed to be a comic on your comics link?

Weird. Nice catch ... hit reload now.

http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/06 ... starts-up/
What Happens When Your PC Starts Up?

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

Tricky Kid wrote:

Steve wrote:

The Top 10 Reasons Why Blu-Ray is Dead
http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/07 ... y-is-dead/

Premature to say the least... and half the list are issues that apply only to computers.

Unsurprising, considering it's a PC blog.

JohnG · 03 Aug 2006

I just wish Netflix has better movies available for streaming. To get first run movies you still need the discs. Streaming is great for very old movies and TV shows, other than that, nothing.

Plus my system is built for Blu-rays and their sound. Streaming doesn't have that DTS-HD MA 5.1 sound.

So I'm not sure what I'll do. Probably cut back from 4 discs out to 2 discs and keep the streaming (my son likes it).

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

I like that streaming is finally catching up with full 1080p. I imagine HD 5.1 sound will follow as bandwidth increases.

Geff R. · 27 Sep 2006

hmmmmmmmmmm since i could care less about the streaming, on 2nd look this is an improvement (lowered prices if you drop streaming) IF they start bringing in more dvd's. 2 dvd's w no stream is dropping from $15 to $12

Jeff · 05 Oct 2006

Steve wrote:

The act of placing a DVD into the tray is too slow.

At my day job, I posted this article:

The Top 10 Reasons Why Blu-Ray is Dead
http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/07 ... y-is-dead/

This:

Quote:

Who wants to get a new PC, with a shiny new Blu-Ray drive, and not have it play Blu-Ray discs at all? Because of Blu-Ray’s esoteric licensing, you have to use whatever media player comes with the system, and if you format your hard drive or experience a crash, you won’t be able to play discs anymore. Even popular play-anything media player VLC has a lot of trouble with Blu-Ray discs.

Is simply wrong. 1) There are a lot of different after-market software blu-ray players that anyone can purchase relatively cheaply; loss of your hard drive or formatting your PC doesn't mean what you're saying, at all. Much of the time, you even get a CD with your OEM blu-ray software included, so you might not even have to buy another product.
2) VLC doesn't have a lot of trouble with blu-ray discs; it doesn't play them at all. Completely unsupported. It will play HD rips of blu-ray movies, but not blu-ray discs.

I agree with 1,2,5, and 10, but find the rest misleading or vastly overstating the problems with blu-ray and the ubiquitousness of streaming.

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

Jeff wrote:

Steve wrote:

The act of placing a DVD into the tray is too slow.

At my day job, I posted this article:

The Top 10 Reasons Why Blu-Ray is Dead
http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/07 ... y-is-dead/

This:

Quote:

Who wants to get a new PC, with a shiny new Blu-Ray drive, and not have it play Blu-Ray discs at all? Because of Blu-Ray’s esoteric licensing, you have to use whatever media player comes with the system, and if you format your hard drive or experience a crash, you won’t be able to play discs anymore. Even popular play-anything media player VLC has a lot of trouble with Blu-Ray discs.

Is simply wrong. 1) There are a lot of different after-market software blu-ray players that anyone can purchase relatively cheaply; loss of your hard drive or formatting your PC doesn't mean what you're saying, at all. Much of the time, you even get a CD with your OEM blu-ray software included, so you might not even have to buy another product.
2) VLC doesn't have a lot of trouble with blu-ray discs; it doesn't play them at all. Completely unsupported. It will play HD rips of blu-ray movies, but not blu-ray discs.

I agree with 1,2,5, and 10, but find the rest misleading or vastly overstating the problems with blu-ray and the ubiquitousness of streaming.

You're kind of agreeing with my point while still disagreeing with it. Playing Blu-Ray on a PC requires commercial software; if you lose your stuff, you can't play Blu-Ray with Windows Media Player, for example. It'd be like if there were no free reader for PDF like Adobe Reader, but only Adobe Acrobat. If you lose your code for your Acrobat DVD, no more PDFs for you. It's absolutely moronic.

What I meant by VLC having a lot of trouble is that it can play them if you rip them first. I didn't want to go into that kind of detail.

And streaming IS ubiquitous. It's responsible for the majority of Net traffic. You know how many people complained yesterday when Netflix raised their prices? A LOT.

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

Also, many new PCs don't come with any discs at all, even if they have blu-ray players built in. My laptop didn't.

Geff R. · 27 Sep 2006

One thing that surprised me: I recently picked up some BR's cheap for my business. Despite pricing them low, they're selling much slower than dvd's. Not what I expected. I'm glad my biz does not have a large inventory of BR, especially from up to a few months ago where even used were really expensive at Pawn Shops.

Jeff · 05 Oct 2006

If a system doesn't come with any discs, you usually get a utility partition that installs your OS back to the way it was; if the hard drive is dead, you can also often receive a disc from your OEM with a phone call. Or, you can pay $19.95 for a new app. True, it would be nicer if the OS could simply support blu-ray out of the box. Much, much nicer. I blame the same DRM you mention later for this not being the case. It really IS moronic. But that said, it's still not impossible to ever play blu-ray again after formatting, as you implied.

Streaming is ubiquitous amongst a certain demographic, yes. There is a vast group of video/audiophiles who will not even look at it, luddites who don't understand how to "make it work" (yes, for real), and people who just plain won't change from what they're used to: a disc in the player. I suspect that even with 30% of internet traffic (or whatever it was) being Netflix streaming, the vast majority of movie watchers are using discs.

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

It certainly helps that Netflix is on the Xbox, PS3, Wii and AppleTV (?) now, as well as built into many Blu-Ray players and TVs.

My parents in law were luddites about the DVD player we got them years ago; they never use it. However, they recently got their first DVR and stopped using the VCR to record stuff; now they DVR, rewind, and pause with glee.

Jeff · 05 Oct 2006

I got my parents off the VCR and "taping shows" several years ago now, thankfully. I was always the one who had to figure it out for them. The DVR is much simpler. :ohyes:

For me, the only way Netflix streaming can completely replace discs is if their entire library is available for streaming; not rotated in and out, just always there. New releases a month after they come out (on Netflix, which already gets them a month late thanks to idiotic antipiracy measures; thankfully, no pirates are Blockbuster customers, so they can get them on time.

)

Geff R. · 27 Sep 2006

Steve wrote:

The act of placing a DVD into the tray is too slow.

At my day job, I posted this article:

The Top 10 Reasons Why Blu-Ray is Dead
http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/07 ... y-is-dead/

Steve, as an fyi your site has a "poor" safety rating from WOT. No idea why.

I agree with your points 1-3. Not so much on the others.

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

Geff R. wrote:

Steve wrote:

The act of placing a DVD into the tray is too slow.

At my day job, I posted this article:

The Top 10 Reasons Why Blu-Ray is Dead
http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2011/07 ... y-is-dead/

Steve, as an fyi your site has a "poor" safety rating from WOT. No idea why.

I agree with your points 1-3. Not so much on the others.

Our "poor" rating with WOT has to do with a former affiliate going on a vendetta smear campaign Internet-wide. We're still trying to recover from it. It has little to do with our actual products.

Luckily, the WOT thing doesn't usually come up unless someone has the toolbar installed. Frankly, an Internet safety site that's crowd-sourced is going to experience these kinds of false negatives. Here's a better yardstick, in my opinion:

http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisc ... -ca-364814

Geff R. · 27 Sep 2006

Interesting. This is the first time I've experienced that with WOT.

Linda · 13 Jan 1966

Quote:

Netflix's stock price goes higher even with protests over price hikes

Netflix customers may not like the fact that the streaming video company has just boosted the price of some of its subscription plans by as much as 60 percent. But investors in Netflix seem to be happy with the moves. CNN Money reports that at the moment the stock price is up by nearly 3 percent today and did reach an all time high.

Apparently investors believe that the price hikes, which affect customers that use both the DVD mail order service as well as the streaming video business, will ultimately be good for the bottom line. One reason is that investors believe that many current Netflix customers will simply continue to use the service even after the price hikes go into effect on September 1.

However, as we have reported earlier today, there is a massive amount of outrage by current Netflix subscribers to the changes. The Netflix blog site and Facebook site, among many others, have been flooded with messages about the decision with the majority of them against the price hike and many saying they will either cancel or cut back on their subscriptions. Currently, Netflix has a total of 23 million subscribers but it's not known how many of them have the DVD-streaming combo deal

In the meantime, Netflix hasn't officially commented on the net protests. Instead, the company announced it has renewed an agreement with NBCUniversal to offer a number of their movies and TV shows on their streaming video service. That includes offering episodes of TV shows like 30 Rock and The Office one year after they are shown on NBC.

http://www.neowin.net/news/netflixs-sto ... rice-hikes

Geff R. · 27 Sep 2006

I just discovered that for those who will be moving to a lower priced plan (like me), you have the option to change immediately with the lower pricing kicking in immediately.

There is another bit of fine print though; if one wants to also rent BR along with dvd their is now a $3 surcharge. Fortunately me & my friend only want dvd, no Blu & no streaming, so it is a $3 reduction for us.

Hanzo the Razor · 24 Jun 2007

Quote:

Netflix Alternatives For Those Who Don't Want To Pay Up

Netflix jacked up its prices yesterday, and it appears from your comments that many of you are ready to storm Netflix HQ with pitchforks and fiery torches. It makes me wonder if perhaps there is a Netflixodus coming, a mass desertion, and if there is, where all of the abandoners will flee to.

The good news is, you have options. Your first option is never watching TV or movies again -- but let's assume you are not going to give them up. Here are some alternatives to the old Netflix pricing plans for you to mull over as the flames of your outrage cool:

THE NEW NETFLIX
Okay, this isn't what you want to hear, but you could just stick with Netflix and find an extra $6 per month in your couch cushions.

Look, you can't get unlimited DVD rental and unlimited streaming for $9.99 anymore. Kiss that goodbye, as my colleague Catharine Smith eloquently put it. Seemingly overnight, Netflix has gone from "Can you believe we get this for $10?" to "Can you believe we have to pay $16 for this?"

Your cheapest options, should you stick with the 'Flix, are streaming-only for $7.99 per month, or DVD-only starting at $7.99 per month (it's more expensive if you want to be able to order two DVDs at once). You can combine the plans for $15.98, saving you approximately $0 a month. The changes go into effect immediately for new customers; existing customers have until September to choose a plan.

But really, is $72 more per year such a huge expenditure for the convenience and familiarity of the Netflix infrastructure? It depends on your price sensitivity, and -- again, judging from the general outrage -- Netflix users are very price-sensitive.

If you can't spare to cut out one McDonald's Big Mac meal from your monthly budget, you do have alternative services that I'm sure will be happy to rescue you from Netflix's shores.

HULU PLUS
For $7.99 a month (same as either Netflix streaming or Netflix one DVD at a time), a subscription to Hulu Plus is yours. Hulu is best known for its television offerings, of course, but it has also added "hundreds" of movies, including many from the excellent, artsy Criterion Collection. Setting up your Hulu Plus to stream on your PlayStation 3, Roku, or Xbox 360 is easy, and it means HD-quality streaming classics and shows on your TV.

The major downfall of Hulu Plus, of course, is that even though you're paying 8 bucks a month, you still have to sit through those commercials that air on non-subscriber Hulu shows. You also lose the mail-in DVD option, so this one is for those with access to zippy Internet access only.

PROS: Large TV show database; entire Criterion Collection catalogue; HD-streaming; compatibility with several gaming systems, smartphones, and other devices.

CONS: Commercials, commercials, commercials; movie selection still lags badly in comparison to Netflix; no physical DVDs; in heavy talks to be sold to Yahoo, or Google, or Microsoft, or someone else.

APPLE TV & ITUNES
Is now the time to make the investment in an Apple TV? The little black box can be yours for $99, which allows you to rent TV shows and movies from the iTunes store and stream them straight onto your traditional television set. Though the selection is incredible and extensive, there is no "all-you-can-eat" option that made Netflix Streaming such a steal -- most HD movie rentals are $3.99, and most single episode TV show rentals are $0.99. You lose out on the frantic, free-flowing play-pause-play-pause enjoyment that is the Netflix/Hulu experience.

Another downside to Apple TV for many is that you have to own, you know, a TV. You can of course watch anything you rent or buy from iTunes on your mobile device or laptop or tablet or smartphone, but for the product to really pay off, you need a nice flatscreen that can hook up to the Apple black box.

PROS: Huge selection available for stream; compatibility across many devices; dependable HD streaming.

CONS: No all-you-can-stream option; no physical DVDs; need a fairly new television.

AMAZON PRIME
Most people don't think "video streaming" when they think "Amazon.com" -- heck, most people don't even think "video streaming" when they think "Amazon Prime," which is probably best known as the expedited shipping service for the Internet marketplace. But the $79 per year (about $6.50 per month) subscription to Prime also comes with its Instant Video service. Again, no physical DVDs, but there's a good number of streaming movies and TV shows available to Prime members.

No, the quality of selection isn't what it is on Netflix ("not even close," Ian Paul of PCWorld opines). The top 10 freebies on Prime Instant Video currently include the first season of Monty Python's Flying Circus, 80s space drama The Right Stuff, and a documentary about swinger's clubs in the 1970s called American Swing. The really attractive films are all available to rent on-demand at an extra pay-per-view fee, generally $3.99 for new releases.

PROS: All-you-can-watch streaming; cheaper than Netflix; comes with Amazon's expedited shipping for heavy Amazon shoppers.

CONS: Selection is not yet great; no physical DVDs.

BLOCKBUSTER
Don't laugh. Yes, I know the traditionally brick-and-mortar video rental store threatens to implode into a puddle of blue-and-yellow goo at any moment. But could its acquisition by Dish Network mean an opportunity for the two to take the lead in movie and television services?

Dish and Blockbuster have yet to team up to combine satellite TV and video rental in any meaningful way. But Blockbuster By Mail by itself isn't such a bad deal or a bad model. One DVD (or Blu-Ray!) at-a-time plans start at $11.99 per month. This is five dollars more expensive than the Netflix plan, but it comes with the ability to actually go to a store and rent movies there, meaning that if you want a movie on Friday night, you can go get it on Friday night. Blockbuster By Mail also comes with video games at no extra charge, and it supplements its physical DVD plan with an On-Demand option, where you can stream new releases starting at $2.99 (28 days earlier than most titles on Netflix, as the ads say).

Unfortunately, what you get in physical selection from Blockbuster you lose in streaming. Their free on-demand section is so pathetic it may as well not even exist. It consists mostly of promotional cast interviews and trailers (seriously, Blockbuster? You're featuring trailers?). But if you're considering the by-mail option on Netflix, and you live near a Blockbuster, it may be worth it to spend an additional $50 a year for the added convenience.

PROS: Huge selection of physical DVDs and Blu-Rays; comes with video games; brick-and-mortar rentals and returns included (while brick-and-mortar stores still exist).

CONS: Still more expensive than Netflix; awful, practically non-existent streaming service.

WRAP-UP

There is no service quite like Netflix, which is perhaps why the company felt comfortable raising its prices. But if you're a current Netflix patron, you are going to have to consider where your movie-watching priorities lie. Really think about your watching habits: Are you a habitual streamer or do you like your movies on DVD? How much time do you spend on Netflix every month? Do you consume enough DVDs and streaming programs to justify the leap to the more expensive combo pricing plan? Or can you just go to Redbox and pop in a dollar bill for your weekly movie night fix?

I coined the term "Netflixodus" above, and it will certainly be interesting to see just how much effect this price hike has on the company's users. Whether any of the above options prove more enticing, or a new service takes the torch, is yet to be seen. I also wonder whether illegal streaming sites like Tudou.com or the use of torrents will increase -- if they do, Hollywood will likely go begging Netflix to shave a couple of bucks off the combo deal.

I got a panicked email from my mother this morning informing me that she and my father certainly didn't need both streaming AND DVDs, and that they would not be paying $16 for both. They will be opting for Streaming-Only -- so there's two dollars per month down the drain for Netflix already. I assume several of you sent or received similar emails in the past 24 hours as well, as Netflix holds its breath and hopes that it is still attractive at its new price points.

Let the Netflixodus begin, folks, to whatever Promised Land you will.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/1 ... =FullStory

Netflix

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