Well, maybe not exactly in so many words. Let me backtrack a little bit.
Earlier this year, Netflix customers were in a rage when they found out Netflix raised their streaming+DVD service fees up by 60%. Many have fled the service altogether. Many commented they were disgusted by the move. In short, everyone was not happy. Most didn’t understand why, neither.
Today, Netflix customers (including myself) have received another news from the CEO saying they’ve screwed up and offered an explain why. While reading, I said to myself, “Oh good, maybe they’ll bring back the free lunch.” Instead, Netflix decided to spin off their DVD subscription business to a new one called Qwikster.
I immediately raised an eyebrow and said, “HUH?!” I’m sure the others did the same. Maybe it was the shock of the name “Qwikster”, or the fact t Netflix hasn’t really fixed anything to make their customers happier.
But then I remembered a few things. I remembered Netflix put their priority on streaming. I remembered the content providers have a new revenue source in the streaming media.1 The future is in streaming: It’s convenient and quick.
So obviously: Netflix is trying to kill off the DVD business!
My thoughts were confirmed from this article on The Atlantic. Mailing DVDs is not a sustainable business model. It’s great for customers, but costly for Netflix. DVD itself is old tech, some of us have already graduated to Blu-ray for HD 1080p content. Mailing out Blu-ray discs will prove to be a more expensive iteration.
In so many words, reading between the lines, I believe Netflix is saying DVD is dead! Time to move on. I just wish Netflix make it a qwik death.
UPDATE: GigaOm offered a good explanation why this split was necessary: reduced subscribers means lower content licensing cost. It makes sense. Unfortunately, people are really leaving both services, which I’m sure not what Netflix intended.
Photo Credit: Kill Taupe
- Additionally, they tried to make everyone pay for playing movies on my iPhone or Tablet. [↩]
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Clearly they (Netflix) want to kill physical media… The problem is that for those of us who actually care about film– Blu ray is the only way to watch a quality movie. I use their streaming service— IT IS NOT because I prefer streaming. It is simply something to allow me to get my $$ worth while I wait for them to send me my “real” movies.
Until my internet connection can affordably do a steady 48 mbps (at the top end) and all the streams give losless audio while cutting the compression to the point that I REQUIRE a steady 28 (min.) to 48 mbps connection— streaming is a sad substitute for so many films.
In too many ways, we are (too often – happily) going backwards technologically. We used to be able to fly from NY to Paris in 3.5 hours. Now, it is closer to 8 hours. We used to listen to high quality audio on discs instead of rubbish MP3 and its ilk. We used to prefer to watch movies with high quality audio and video instead of the comparatively poor quality of so called “HD” streams. We used to have a vehicle that could take us to space and return on a runway… Sad really.
Hey Bembo,
I know what you’re saying. Same thing with TV sizes, the small ones 42″ or lower, are selling much better because they’re cheaper. So that’s what everyone wants: slightly less quality but more affordable.
I also think everyone has this notion of being “environment friendly”. Sending DVDs over mail is a waste of paper and fuel. We’ll do anything to save it, so there goes all of those previous niceties, in favor of something better. Hopefully.
I understand why they did this, and i have read recent articles, that suggest that they are way ahead of the curve. I just hope that the service doesn’t go away I really like netflix and with the recent loss in subscriptions it seems likely they are in a bit of trouble.
While I don’t think that DVD’s are dead I do understand why they changed things up a bit. I have heard on commercials that you can store your bought movies on Flickster which is the company that was created by Netflix for the distribution of DVD’s. I stream most everything anyway so the change hasn’t affected me at all.