6 ms·

The real loser here is netflix. 17% increase in delivery time and not a damn thing you can do about it. Ouch.

csbrooks 17y ago
Maybe that's ok, since in the future most of their customers will probably want to watch everything online (through them) anyway.
- joshfinnie 17y ago
  I agree. I think netflix has made it quite apparent that they are looking for instant streaming as the model for the future. They already have aligned their website to feature the instant streaming over their mail service, they have teamed up with the gaming consoles to enhance the instant streaming experience and it sounds as if they have made a way for the iPad to have instant streaming. This change might hurt them in the short run, but I would think Netflix would love to be a streaming only company!
  - ojbyrne 17y ago
    I think streaming is _one_ of their products for the future, but I'd bet blue ray dvds are also a significant growth area both for them and the movie studios. There's going to be a war before those studios will let netflix stream recent releases in HD.
    - steveklabnik 17y ago
      Aren't Blue Ray sales pretty much a failure by all accounts? I was under that impression, I could be wrong.
pxlpshr 17y ago
Not really, I see mail as a temporary problem. If Netflix Streaming contained all the top titles, I would use that almost exclusively. There really would be no reason for mail, it's slow and inefficient.
- bmj 17y ago
  Agreed. We tend to site on physical DVDs for awhile, but thanks to the movies available on demand, we more than make the monthly cost worth it. The other downside of physical DVDs is that often, the discs we received are scratched or damaged beyond usability.
- jrockway 17y ago
  What's nice about mailing physical media is that the movie studios don't have much control. You can buy a widget and do whatever you want with it, including mailing it around. You can't do this on the Internet, though, because computers are magical and Someone Could Copy It!1111!!
  - araneae 17y ago
    Right. It may be temporary, but how long it's temporary is something that could really hurt them. Hardly anything I want to watch on Netflix is On Demand, and I already hate Sundays.
  - funkdobiest 17y ago
    you would think they would catch on that physical media is easily copyable where the instant downloads aren't so why not do instant for everything first then DVD.
    - jrockway 17y ago
      If someone knew the answer to this question, the movie industry wouldn't be driving itself out of business.
    - roc 17y ago
      They do. But they release it to Pay-Per-View and On Demand services for more money than they get from Netflix, then they get Netflix's money anyway. They view Netflix as more of an analogue to the "TV Syndication" stage of a property's life. Until Netflix has a 'premium' club paying more for early access to new material (so that Netflix can pay more in streaming license fees), they'll continue to see it as such.
wheaties 17y ago
In 10-20 years I question whether there will be a Netflix. Already cable and tv companies are moving in with On-demand movie rentals. While the film industry will fight the decline of physical rentals tooth and nail eventually they won't have a choice.
natrius 17y ago
I honestly had no idea that mail was delivered on Saturdays until I got a Netflix subscription. I thought there must've been some sort of mistake when I saw "For Saturday: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen", but when I checked the mailbox that Saturday, there was mail in it. I still only check the mail on Saturdays when I know a movie will be waiting for me.
jonknee 17y ago
Well you could get a PO box and still have your Saturday movies. Or just use the streams, mail is on its way out.

Maybe that's ok, since in the future most of their customers will probably want to watch everything online (through them) anyway.

joshfinnie 17y ago
I agree. I think netflix has made it quite apparent that they are looking for instant streaming as the model for the future. They already have aligned their website to feature the instant streaming over their mail service, they have teamed up with the gaming consoles to enhance the instant streaming experience and it sounds as if they have made a way for the iPad to have instant streaming. This change might hurt them in the short run, but I would think Netflix would love to be a streaming only company!
- ojbyrne 17y ago
  I think streaming is _one_ of their products for the future, but I'd bet blue ray dvds are also a significant growth area both for them and the movie studios. There's going to be a war before those studios will let netflix stream recent releases in HD.
  - steveklabnik 17y ago
    Aren't Blue Ray sales pretty much a failure by all accounts? I was under that impression, I could be wrong.

pxlpshr 17y ago

Not really, I see mail as a temporary problem. If Netflix Streaming contained all the top titles, I would use that almost exclusively. There really would be no reason for mail, it's slow and inefficient.

bmj 17y ago
Agreed. We tend to site on physical DVDs for awhile, but thanks to the movies available on demand, we more than make the monthly cost worth it. The other downside of physical DVDs is that often, the discs we received are scratched or damaged beyond usability.
jrockway 17y ago
What's nice about mailing physical media is that the movie studios don't have much control. You can buy a widget and do whatever you want with it, including mailing it around. You can't do this on the Internet, though, because computers are magical and Someone Could Copy It!1111!!
- araneae 17y ago
  Right. It may be temporary, but how long it's temporary is something that could really hurt them. Hardly anything I want to watch on Netflix is On Demand, and I already hate Sundays.
- funkdobiest 17y ago
  you would think they would catch on that physical media is easily copyable where the instant downloads aren't so why not do instant for everything first then DVD.
  - jrockway 17y ago
    If someone knew the answer to this question, the movie industry wouldn't be driving itself out of business.
  - roc 17y ago
    They do. But they release it to Pay-Per-View and On Demand services for more money than they get from Netflix, then they get Netflix's money anyway. They view Netflix as more of an analogue to the "TV Syndication" stage of a property's life. Until Netflix has a 'premium' club paying more for early access to new material (so that Netflix can pay more in streaming license fees), they'll continue to see it as such.

wheaties 17y ago

In 10-20 years I question whether there will be a Netflix. Already cable and tv companies are moving in with On-demand movie rentals. While the film industry will fight the decline of physical rentals tooth and nail eventually they won't have a choice.

natrius 17y ago

I honestly had no idea that mail was delivered on Saturdays until I got a Netflix subscription. I thought there must've been some sort of mistake when I saw "For Saturday: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen", but when I checked the mailbox that Saturday, there was mail in it. I still only check the mail on Saturdays when I know a movie will be waiting for me.

jonknee 17y ago

Well you could get a PO box and still have your Saturday movies. Or just use the streams, mail is on its way out.