Linked, Engadget regarding Netflix ceasing Saturday optical media deliveries:
A few customers have noticed it’ no longer processing shipments on Saturdays, opting for a five day schedule instead. Company spokesman Joris Evers tells Engadget that it’s been transitioning in that direction over the past year and ended Saturday processing (usually a low volume day) entirely in early June.
Every Netflix streaming customer I’ve ever spoken to tells me the library available is pretty bad. I’ve been invited to someone’s house and watched as they painfully spent 30 minutes trying to find something to watch or “I added [title] to my queue last month and it’s gone.” Content deals, Netflix just being cheap and licensing restrictions make the streaming product a pile of crap. If you’re a big fan of Sharknado or only watching TV shows, maybe there’s something there for you.
I was a Netflix streaming customer for a month. That was 3 years ago. Prior to that, I was a customer of their DVD / Blu-Ray program and loved it. My queue was full of unreleased movies that would be sent out the week of release and I enjoyed the flexibility of the mailers and free return shipping. The latest blockbusters aren’t Netflix or might show up in a year for 2 weeks before they go away again. If you hate channel surfing like me, chances are you’ll hate Netflix.
I’m not even going to go into the fact that compression quality for Netflix is bad and only getting worse as ISPs fight the big-red over how much traffic can be spent during primetime hours. Verizon and Comcast are fighting Netflix daily over data caps.
Despite dropping video quality and a terrible online selection, the Netflix Streaming customer base is very strong with only a tiny number of customers still doing Blu-Ray optical media (we don’t count the DVD people anymore because if your’e content with 640×480 resolution picture, that’s just depressing).
Why is Netflix so popular?
Well, it’s good enough. It’s cheaper than renting new movies on iTunes or Amazon or flat-out buying them. It’s easier and more legal than pirating films or TV shows and furthermore, it’s easy.
People don’t care about video quality and people just don’t care about having access to all of the latest films. Most of us are content to pay $8 a month to Netflix and another $8 to Hulu and call it a day. I haven’t used Hulu in years but I imagine they’re still putting ads in all of the TV shows. That’s why I stopped using them and won’t return.
Netflix is entertainment but if you’re truly passionate about a certain film, the chances are very low you won’t find it there. Look at the IMDB top 100. How many of those are on Netflix?
Look at the new movies added to Netflix in May and the subsequent comments – http://thebestofnetflix.com/list-of-new-movies-on-netflix-for-may-2014/
Customers hate the selection but don’t really want to do anything about it. The streaming options from Comcast are no better. If you want content now, you have to pay for it or be a computer wizard and break the law to pirate it. I rent a lot of films on iTunes. The quality is just OK, not perfect and the price is pretty good. My rule about iTunes rentals is that I rent movies I plan on watching that night, not tomorrow….then I put all of my devices away and just watch that movie with no interruptions or distractions.
I do that because I just spent .99 – $2.99 on a film that will expire in 48 hours. The monetary amount is small but the commitment it forces me to have is paramount. The local movie rental store just closed or I’d give them my business instead.
You can crap on Blu-Ray all you want but the sound and visual experience of Blu-Ray over online rental or (gasp) Netflix is just incredible. I may have access to less content than you but I don’t spend all day trying to find something to watch only to have it buffer and pixelate during primetime hours.
But again, ‘good enough’ is perfectly fine for people these days.