On September 19th all Netflix users received an e-mail from the Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix explaining that they would be charging separately for DVD shipping and streaming. This angered many Netflix users. Another thing that was really annoying was that Netflix would no longer ship out the DVD's, another company called Quickster would. This would mean a new password and login id. For Facebook-Twitter-Hotmail-Netflix-Vimeo users like myself, that's all I need is another login and password!
I was considering getting rid of the dvd program from my account altogether, if only there was a little bit more consistency with the updating of content on the site. I guess it is hard to please everyone, and I watch a lot of movies, but after all they did sell me on "unlimited streaming."
As of today, October 10, 2011, Netflix has announced that Quickster will not be used. "This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster." The letter goes on to mention that Netflix is now "done with price changes." I really hope that the price will not increase. I understand Netflix is a business and that businesses are in business to make a profit, okay, but are they making a second promise that they can't keep?
The fact is that companies like Netflix sell themselves purely based off of intellectual property rights. They do not own the movies that they stream, the studios and television stations do. They are giving us a rate based off of how many movies they can rent relative to how much profit they can make off of streaming and distributing them. What happens when our current contract runs out? The price, inevitably, has to go up if Netflix wants to keep up their service. Studios want to make more money as Netflix makes more money. The fact remains that Netflix does not own the product that they sell.
Another question is at what point will there be so much content on Netflix that they again can't pay the bills? I don't understand how Netflix can make the claim that their prices aren't going up. I just really hope that however much the current contracts cost that we are in them for the long term!
Another question is at what point will there be so much content on Netflix that they again can't pay the bills? I don't understand how Netflix can make the claim that their prices aren't going up. I just really hope that however much the current contracts cost that we are in them for the long term!
For now, I am staying with Netflix. I really love the idea of their company. Say what you want about them, they offer a great service that provides an economic alternative to watching movies. They are fast and reliable with sending out their dvd's. I don't want them to fail, but If I know anything, I know that movies are expensive. That's why the one's with the best of everything cost 100+ million dollars. I just miss the good ol' days of $9.99 per month unlimited streaming!
Yea, I canceled the dvd service altogether...
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