Netflix and Warner Brothers Reach Deal

[stj]

Most of my Netflix queue is old movies and tv sets. If there's a popular new release I try to get the Redbox on Tuesdays. Or keep checking if I don't get there in time. I rarely Netflix a new release except by adding them long before release. True Blood season 2 and Dexter season 4 are already on my queue and they don't even have DVD release dates so far.

[RoJoHen]

Hell, Chuck Season 3 is on there, and that hasn't even started airing yet!

[Professor Zoom]

Harvey wrote:

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Here's how it works. You see a title for sale in the store, and think to yourself, I want to rent that. Then you try and rent it and Netflix says it is not available. Repeat experience often enough and you're going to lose customers. Of course, it's only one studio, and the instant streaming library is a nice off-set.

Many new releases, even when available, still sometimes suffer from long waits on Netflix, so I doubt most people would even notice the 28 day wait.

[Sheep]

Harvey wrote:

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Here's how it works. You see a title for sale in the store, and think to yourself, I want to rent that. Then you try and rent it and Netflix says it is not available. Repeat experience often enough and you're going to lose customers. Of course, it's only one studio, and the instant streaming library is a nice off-set.

I think you put a little too much weight on the whole instant gratification thing. If it were a big factor in people's movie rental habits, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video would be doing just fine (and Redbox too) and Netflix would be six feet under.

I'm guessing for those who join Netflix, they're sick of paying $5 for one rental and willing to trade a short wait (while the disc is shipped) for practically unlimited rentals at a low price. Most people I know who have Netflix have dozens if not hundreds of discs in their queues, so it's not like they're stuck with nothing while waiting for that new release to come out.

[Nerys Myk]

You gotta wait at bricks and morter too. Its first come first serve. I can recall some fridays nights where every copy of the big new release was gone and stayed gone for weeks.

[RoJoHen]

Nerys Myk wrote:

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You gotta wait at bricks and morter too. Its first come first serve. I can recall some fridays nights where every copy of the big new release was gone and stayed gone for weeks.

And unlike Netflix, those stores aren't going to let you know when the movie becomes available again.

[Harvey]

Sheep wrote:

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I think you put a little too much weight on the whole instant gratification thing. If it were a big factor in people's movie rental habits, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video would be doing just fine (and Redbox too) and Netflix would be six feet under.

Perhaps. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. There are certainly many different kinds of consumers who use Netflix, and this change won't affect many of those groups. But we'll see.

[bigdaddy]

Netflix is still thinking that downloading and viewing online is the future, they don't seem to get the fact that people like owning something real and not some downloaded thing that the company can come back and delete.

[Nerys Myk]

Product that you own isn't really their niche is it? Their focus is renting. Streaming and downloading is another way of renting.

If you want own there are many places to buy online and offline.

[J. Allen]

bigdaddy wrote:

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Netflix is still thinking that downloading and viewing online is the future, they don't seem to get the fact that people like owning something real and not some downloaded thing that the company can come back and delete.

Downloading and viewing online is the future. You're attached to physical media for now, but already the children of the current generation are already getting comfortable with it. Millions of computer users play a game that only works if you play it online (World of Warcraft) and pay a monthly subscription to play a game that they already paid $40-$60 to "own" even though the discs would be useless if the servers died. Sure, other people can start a private server, but even so, you have to have a server side to play the game. 10 years ago, people would have laughed at you for making such a "foolish purchase", but today, there are 13 million gamers who disagree.

To add to that, you don't even have to have the physical media anymore. You can have it installed to your PC from Blizzard's servers. It just installs, debits the $40-$60 from your account and you play. All for roughly $15 a month. Nowhere in the transaction did you ever even touch a single CD or DVD.

[bigdaddy]

^ An online video game and a movie are completely different. There have been online only games for over 10 years now, long before talk of downloading games. Why would I spend $14 on a download when I can get a real copy for $15?

[RoJoHen]

bigdaddy wrote:

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Netflix is still thinking that downloading and viewing online is the future, they don't seem to get the fact that people like owning something real and not some downloaded thing that the company can come back and delete.

Um, Netflix is for RENTING movies. Who needs a physical DVD when you just have to give it back a few days later? An online rental can be watched whenever you want.

[J. Allen]

bigdaddy wrote:

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^ An online video game and a movie are completely different. There have been online only games for over 10 years now, long before talk of downloading games. Why would I spend $14 on a download when I can get a real copy for $15?

No, they're not. They're both digital, they both require a server side, they both require an account stored on the server, and they can be viewed at any time and require no physical media. They are very similar. There were no online only games at the level of WoW in 2000. Everquest had just came out and a lot has changed since then.

Also, I'm talking about what's coming. The future. The future is online streaming. We're seeing the first steps now, but the future is online streaming. I'm repeating myself because I have already said this, and you're still talking about paying $15 for something right now. The future is online streaming.

RoJoHen wrote:

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Um, Netflix is for RENTING movies. Who needs a physical DVD when you just have to give it back a few days later? An online rental can be watched whenever you want.

Exactly. Why should I need to buy a movie when I can watch it on Netflix for a low cost monthly subscription? On my Roku box I have hundreds of movies I can queue up in seconds, and they look better than DVD (on my connection anyway). I save space, I save time, no DVDs to accidentally break or lose, and I can watch them right now. It's extremely convenient. Just think: in the near future, there will be a much larger selection, and still just one monthly subscription.


I made a video to show just what you can do with Netflix, a Roku Box and a little time:

[bigdaddy]

Netflix believes all movies, even for buying, will become digital. Sure for renting downloading might be OK, but cable internet companies are putting caps on how much you can download, so what happens then?

In the short term, which is all I care about, this deal sucks.

[Professor Zoom]

bigdaddy wrote:

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Netflix believes all movies, even for buying, will become digital. Sure for renting downloading might be OK, but cable internet companies are putting caps on how much you can download, so what happens then?

In the short term, which is all I care about, this deal sucks.

In the short term, I get access to a ton more movies for streaming at no additional cost, this deal is awesome.