The best of both worlds for me would be a limited DVD by mail service plus the streaming. I don’t watch that many that way anyway, so the random times I want to watch an old movie that’s not available streaming, I can rent it that way.

Netflix does offer a limited DVD by mail service, and it offers limited streaming. So here’s a solution: I create two NETFLIX accounts. One for the limited DVD by mail service (and limited streaming (does anyone know, is the iPad considered “Mac or PC”?)), and one for unlimited streaming. If I did that, I’d save a couple bucks a month.

Hi John,
This sentence, “If this was a plan by Netflix to accelerate the demise of its DVD-by-mail service, it’s going to work nicely, but also damage the customer relationship in several ways mentioned above,” is in the conditional; It begins with an “If.” “Was” is not used with “if.” Rather, “were” is correct as in, “If this were a plan….” But other things too.

The sentence correctly written would look like this:

“If this were a plan by Netflix to accelerate the demise of its DVD-by-mail service, it’s going to work nicely, but (it would) also damage the customer relationship in several ways mentioned above.”

Netflix’s problem is that it must bring its revenues in line with its cost structure.  Netflix has some very expensive deals with the media companies, and those companies keep jacking up the price on each negotiation, so Netflix probably had to raise its subscription rates, which started out too low, to compensate.  We’ve had the bait; now, Netflix must make the switch. 

The problem for Netflix, as John points out, supra, is that it engaged in low pricing that customers have come to expect and believe that they have a right to; customers couldn’t care less about Netflix’s negotiations with the media companies.  Apple was much smarter to start with a realistic cost structure based on the deals it could do and on the costs of running iTunes and then charge a price that reflected those costs.  While it costs Apple some customers in the short run, it now make them price competitive with Netflix’s streaming service, while Apple has the advantages of its Macs, iOS devices, and iTunes, which it can and is designing into a home entertainment system, something which Netflix can’t do. 

And Netflix’s DVD service almost certainly costs more than its streaming service, as the latter simply costs less, so Netflix discriminates against it, as it must, in pricing.  Also, physical media is, I think, going away for several reasons.  For distributors, like Netflix, it costs more to handle physical media, and physical media involves the delay of delivery.  And for the media companies, physical media is not only more expensive, it exposes their films to copying, while streaming provides a stronger, if not perfect, DRM security model.  Also, by going to streaming, the media companies will most likely be able to finish off Redbox, which is something that they haven’t been able to do in court.

This is all very good for Apple with its Macs and iOS devices and its Maiden, NC data center.

Hi John,
Regarding the subjunctive/conditional, yes.

I’m not even blinking at the increase. And if I do, it will be eye my cable bill warily and wonder if it’s time to cut back there.

As far as Apple, they simply don’t offer the kind of movie/tv service that I want. And, to add insult to injury, the few times that I have spring for a season pass via iTunes, they have not only been unable to consistently post shows in a timely manner but the provider of the content (BBC in this case) provides bonus material at the beginning of the season that they fail to provide throughout the season. Apple should make providers specify the actual contents of season offerings, because right now it’s a crapshoot as to what you get.

The bottom line is that I’ve been underwhelmed by iTunes and over-served by Netflix. As a result, I’m more likely to spend $5 more a month at the latter than the former.

Although I’m sure that this won’t be the first Dear John letter that you’ve received, I find it ironic that Netflix chooses to send this Dear John letter for what is essentially a “it’s not working out” “it’s not you, it’s me” letter.

As I wander the Internet reading stories about the Netflix changes, I just scratch my head.

For our family, subscription services to movies works very well.  We feel comfortable nibbling at a movie, and perhaps giving up and trying another, knowing that it won’t cost more.  For that reason, pay per movie doesn’t work for us very well.

I like the streaming convenience of Netflix—so much so that I bought and installed an Apple TV just last week for the improved Netflix experience over the Netflix app on our Tivo.  I am equally frustrated by how few items at Netflix have 5.1 surround sound.  I didn’t spend all this money on a decent home theatre setup just to hear Aliens in stereo!  Thus, I still regularly want discs (Bluray or DVD) until such time that the streaming libraries keep up.

Like many, I suppose, I’ll complain, but end up paying in the end.  What I might do is drop the discs from Netflix (they seem to be shunning them anyway) and continue to use the discs by mail service from Blockbuster that I’ve been using for years.  It is a couple of dollars more per month that the Netflix plan, but I find their movie availability, and their web interface superior to Netflix.

https://www.blockbuster.com/signup/m/plan

Luckily I still have local options for DVD and Blu-Ray, so I will probably go to just streaming for Netflix. I’ve kept the one-dvd-at-a-time option because Netflix doesn’t have a lot of the BBC shows I like to watch via stream as well as some old TV shows and things I catch for nostalgia’s sake. But, I’ll be getting an increase of about $5-$6 a month—my local store rents at $0.99 each. Except for being able to keep them as long as I want, it’s now the better deal.

This also puts into question if I really need Netflix streaming. Much of what they offer is available on other streaming services. In fact, a lot of the movies are available on free services like Crackle and others. what am I paying for if they don’t get new content up in a timely manner? And, captions would be nice—that’s very spotty across Netflix’s service. I’m not deaf (yet), but use the captions for when I must keep the volume very low (at work, at home late while people sleep) or just can’t seem to hear what they’re saying (badly mixed audio, I’m looking at you!).

The price change doesn’t seem exorbitant, but it definitely requires taking another look at what is being offered and how it relates to my personal usage.

Well, I’m not falling for a 60% price increase, which is what it would be for me to keep DVD and streaming service that was $9.99.  I’ll go streaming only.  Sorry, Netflix, it may be only $6.00 more a month, but you’re not getting it from me.

We discussed this yesterday. We are going with the streaming only option. We may turn on the DVD option for the 2-3 long month winters here in Maine. Or we may just buy a few DVD’s. One thing for sure is we are going to give iTunes a try. Haven’t yet rented a movie through iTunes.

Dropped Streaming, keeping the 2-at-a-time DVD and no blu-ray.  Which is a shame as I finally upgraded the house’s internet connection from DSL to Verizon FIOS.  However, I haven’t used streaming other than to test how it is for quality, and it’s okay but not DVD quality and their selection seems to be shrinking rather than growing and is nowhere near their DVD inventory.  I use NetFlix not for new releases but back catalog titles - TV shows we want to watch again, movies somehow not in our extensive DVD library - and in that capacity I’m okay with $11.99 per month.  The additional $7.00 for streaming, now that it’s separate from DVD’s, isn’t worth it to me for now.

I think you’re missing the point. They want to stop sending out those DVDs. The want to move forward. I don’t think this was a bad move on their part.

Think floppy-disk and serial ports. (Oh wait, you did, and you still didn’t get it? I guess that’s the definition of a gored sacred ox!)

I think they’ll be fine.