Does anyone have an opinion on which online rental service is better. Does Netflix have the system Blockbuster does where some movies are availible now but many require a short or a long wait to recieve them?
Netflix vs. Blockbuster
I've used Blockbuster as a walk-in video store, not the best selection compared to other stores I've used. I don't know how the online version of Blockbuster is. I've been using Netflix for about 3 years now and am very satisfied with their service. A few times there were damaged dvd's and if you are set at a certain number of dvds per week then you have to send the damaged dvd back before getting a replacement. What I like best about Netflix is the huge movie and tv series selections and the ability to add movies I want to watch to my queue and saving movies to the list before they are available at Netflix. If you watch a lot of movies its a good system and pretty reliable overall.
I'm waiting for Netflix to start carrying more titles. I hope that happens soon. Maybe my taste sucks, but lately every title I search for comes up as not available.
I know they've been talking about this for a while, but splitting into two companies was news to me, hope its not old to everyone else. I can't decide what to do, it is cool that they will start offering game rentals.
Netflix setting themselves up for an epic fail?
Sep 19, 2011
Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix sent out a letter to all Netflix subscribers announcing that he will be splitting up the company. Basically, Netflix will be for the online streaming service only, and a new separate company called Qwikster (wtf) will take over the DVD/Blu-ray rental side. That’s right, Qwikster will basically be what Netflix was before it added streaming, and started charging their customers more, after they lost multiple streaming accounts, in turn charging more for less. The one positive Hastings lists is that Qwikster will offer game rentals. Although, I’m not really sure that’s a positive because it’ll cost extra. If they keep this up customers will have to spend upwards of $30.00 a month to keep all of their services.
What really bothers me is the fact that I’m going to have to go to two separate sites and pay two separate bills. Evidently Mr. Hastings doesn’t know his audience as well as he thought, because that seems like nothing more than a huge pain in my ass. Also, from the way it sounds user reviews won’t be spread across both sites either. I have been a huge supporter of Netflix from the beginning, but this news sounds like the company I know and love is headed for an epic fail. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the matter and then goto Reed’s blog post and let him know how you feel in the comments there as well.
Sep 19, 2011
Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix sent out a letter to all Netflix subscribers announcing that he will be splitting up the company. Basically, Netflix will be for the online streaming service only, and a new separate company called Qwikster (wtf) will take over the DVD/Blu-ray rental side. That’s right, Qwikster will basically be what Netflix was before it added streaming, and started charging their customers more, after they lost multiple streaming accounts, in turn charging more for less. The one positive Hastings lists is that Qwikster will offer game rentals. Although, I’m not really sure that’s a positive because it’ll cost extra. If they keep this up customers will have to spend upwards of $30.00 a month to keep all of their services.
What really bothers me is the fact that I’m going to have to go to two separate sites and pay two separate bills. Evidently Mr. Hastings doesn’t know his audience as well as he thought, because that seems like nothing more than a huge pain in my ass. Also, from the way it sounds user reviews won’t be spread across both sites either. I have been a huge supporter of Netflix from the beginning, but this news sounds like the company I know and love is headed for an epic fail. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the matter and then goto Reed’s blog post and let him know how you feel in the comments there as well.
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ugh, why do they wanna change things?? it's fine the way it is now!
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Nicolas Cage
^to be in 14 movies in the next two years^
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It's because streaming is the future of the industry and they're trying to pour as much as possible into that.
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When is this supposed to happen? I'm aggravated already.
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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!
#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!
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This is the exact email that I received, minus the personal info, and now that I've read it carefully I am fine with this, there is going to be no price change, it will be the same as I am paying now and I don't mind having to separate charges as long as it adds up to the same amount.
I messed up. I owe you an explanation.
It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.
For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.
So here is what we are doing and why.
Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.
I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.
So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.
It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.
Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.
There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.
For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you.
I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.
Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.
Respectfully yours,
-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix
It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.
For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.
So here is what we are doing and why.
Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.
I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.
So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.
It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.
Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.
There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.
For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you.
I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.
Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.
Respectfully yours,
-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix
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I am hoping that it will be included with the regular price, but the upgrade option makes me think that it won't.
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I read somewhere it will cost extra to include games. Depending on the price & selection, I may cancel my Gamefly account.
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This is the email I just got from Netflix, I don't understand, it was going to be 2 different website now it's not. So if I'm reading this right nothing at all is going to change.
It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.
This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster.
While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.
We're constantly improving our streaming selection. We've recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we've added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.
We value you as a member, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get your movies & TV shows.
Respectfully,
The Netflix Team
This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster.
While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.
We're constantly improving our streaming selection. We've recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we've added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.
We value you as a member, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get your movies & TV shows.
Respectfully,
The Netflix Team
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Dig. I "get" the other changes, but breaking the two services off seemed foolish to me, so I'm glad to see them roll it back. The shift towards streaming should be allowed to happen more organically. And it will.
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They really have been cramming a TON of streaming in lately. Good to see...
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell
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They really have been cramming a TON of streaming in lately. Good to see...
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