5 ms·

So what? Netflix included with all the other tv bloat channels? More tv content on Netflix? Better licensing deals for Netflix? Maybe Netflix and other coopera

by RenRav 7y ago

So what? Netflix included with all the other tv bloat channels? More tv content on Netflix? Better licensing deals for Netflix? Maybe Netflix and other cooperating services will jack their prices to $20 so I can finally unsubscribe. 95% of these Made by Netflix titles suck and haven't justified the price hikes.

RandomThrow01 7y ago
I actually think the Netflix originals are close to the only good content left in their library. Whether or not that justifies the price is another matter.
- the_af 7y ago
  Netflix originals are hit or miss. They make (or take over) some good stuff, like Stranger Things season 1 or Bonus Family, but they also make some embarrassing, awfully bad things, like Bright or Bird Box. Even within the same show they are hit or miss, like when they took over The Killing or Black Mirror. I find there's no correlation between "made by Netflix" and quality.
  - orf 7y ago
    I thought bird box was actually quite good, apart from the atrocious, inoffensive “made for America” ending.
  - Kye 7y ago
    Bright was decent as an action movie, but terrible as the social commentary it tried to be.
    - Nightshaxx 7y ago
      I had to stop like 10 minutes in a never got to the action. It was so heavy-handed in it's political commentary that it just came off as cringy.
      - AlexB138 7y ago
        This is the problem I have with a lot of Netflix content. It plays as social commentary written by a college freshman. Painfully cliche and heavy handed. Most of it is awful quality and would've died on the vine on a network channel, and their bar is pretty low. The rest of the library is getting pretty thin as well. I don't think Netflix has a very bright future and will probably be remembered like Myspace, one of the first big players in a space they will cease to be relevant in.
    - noirbot 7y ago
      I can't remember where I heard it originally, but it suffers from the "This racism is a metaphor for racism" problem that a lot of sci-fi tends to get close to. The issue ends up becoming that by making the discriminated party/group a literal different species, or a robot, or an alien, you dilute the core moral argument about treating all humans the same in the real world. What should be about racism becomes closer to an animal rights argument in-universe about how to treat things that aren't human, but aren't completely inert, which is a much more nuanced argument. In short, metaphor is hard, especially when you're applying it to complex issues.
  - SomeOldThrow 7y ago
    They’re trying to reach a wider demographic than just your taste, and I must say I put them on par with any other studio (eg HBO, Showtime) for entertainment value because netflix has more variety and content I’m interested in despite HBO arguably having higher cinematic quality. And honestly the idea of studio quality is kind of stupid—my favorite show of all time in terms of cinematic quality, The Knick, was done by Cinemax (skinemax?) and virtually nobody has heard of it. The best shows can come from anywhere, and everyone puts out shit content.
    - the_af 7y ago
      True about the wider demographic, but that has an unarguable correlation with lower quality. A show, book or movie which has something to say (artistically, socially or whatever) will upset someone; by definition the only way to reach a wider demographic is to make something blander or with less to say, so that you minimize the risk of upsetting/disappointing your audience. This doesn't even apply to arguably good shows like The Killing, whose later Netflix-produced season is so awful it's embarrassing, not because it appealed to a wider demographic -- it was pretty niche -- but simply because it was terrible, badly acted and worse plotted. I've no explanation in this case. I'm surprised by what people are saying about Bright. I disliked it because it was a bland knockoff of Shadowrun and similar scifi-with-orks-and-elves settings, with weak SFX and an even weaker plot. The commentary about racism -- whether well or badly done -- didn't even factor in my dislike. Bright is indeed a by-the-numbers urban fantasy made to appeal to a wide demographic, with nothing interesting to say about scifi, fantasy or even action. It was quite accurately described by the press as "a movie done with an algorithm". So of course it will likely have a sequel! I really hope bland shows aren't the future of Netflix, but I fear they will be because they make business sense.
reaperducer 7y ago
If $20/month is the pain point which causes you to leave Netflix, you're not the kind of customer it wants anyway.
- tracer4201 7y ago
  What kind of customer does Netflix want? Someone who will pay them whatever amount each month? Serious question.
  - JaRail 7y ago
    I think they just want everyone. * high-end accounts that allow multiple streams and 4k * mid-tier with limited streams and max 1080p * free-tier for password sharers, they don't go after account sharing afaik They'd rather you watch netflix for free than anything else for free. It helps build a long-term market for their content.
- vesinisa 7y ago
  To stay current with television entertainment one would need to subscribe to at least Netflix, HBO, Amazon and, soon, Disney. If you live in the non-anglophone part of the planet you might want to add a few on-demand providers in your local language as well. If each charge $20 / mon that's close to $2,000 / year just for content to your television - a full payslip for many low-income people. Such prices might be justifiable to enthusiasts but not really for the general public.
  - hombre_fatal 7y ago
    > To stay current with television entertainment You lost me here. That's like tasking yourself with staying current with your Warhammer 40k or Magic The Gathering card collection and complaining that it's expensive. Yet you suggested TV as if it's some self-evident thing everyone wants to maximize.
    - ergothus 7y ago
      I'm a cord cutter and have been for over a decade. When I initially made the switch, I didnt use an antenna (my complaint is about commercials, not (just) the cable company). I discovered that I lost the ability to participate in a lot of water cooler talk. Even now, I didnt wat bird box, or game of thrones (at least not yet) and I was missing references to them all over the place. Socially, groups use such references to indicate belonging. This is true in communities of varying sizes. Ergo, not participating DOES have repercussions. I'm not saying it makes sense to break the bank, but I am saying there are social and therefore economic and other consequences.
ForHackernews 7y ago
...you know you can already unsubscribe, right?

by RenRav 7y ago

RandomThrow01 7y ago

I actually think the Netflix originals are close to the only good content left in their library. Whether or not that justifies the price is another matter.

the_af 7y ago
Netflix originals are hit or miss. They make (or take over) some good stuff, like Stranger Things season 1 or Bonus Family, but they also make some embarrassing, awfully bad things, like Bright or Bird Box. Even within the same show they are hit or miss, like when they took over The Killing or Black Mirror. I find there's no correlation between "made by Netflix" and quality.
- orf 7y ago
  I thought bird box was actually quite good, apart from the atrocious, inoffensive “made for America” ending.
- Kye 7y ago
  Bright was decent as an action movie, but terrible as the social commentary it tried to be.
  - Nightshaxx 7y ago
    I had to stop like 10 minutes in a never got to the action. It was so heavy-handed in it's political commentary that it just came off as cringy.
    - AlexB138 7y ago
      This is the problem I have with a lot of Netflix content. It plays as social commentary written by a college freshman. Painfully cliche and heavy handed. Most of it is awful quality and would've died on the vine on a network channel, and their bar is pretty low. The rest of the library is getting pretty thin as well. I don't think Netflix has a very bright future and will probably be remembered like Myspace, one of the first big players in a space they will cease to be relevant in.
  - noirbot 7y ago
    I can't remember where I heard it originally, but it suffers from the "This racism is a metaphor for racism" problem that a lot of sci-fi tends to get close to. The issue ends up becoming that by making the discriminated party/group a literal different species, or a robot, or an alien, you dilute the core moral argument about treating all humans the same in the real world. What should be about racism becomes closer to an animal rights argument in-universe about how to treat things that aren't human, but aren't completely inert, which is a much more nuanced argument. In short, metaphor is hard, especially when you're applying it to complex issues.
- SomeOldThrow 7y ago
  They’re trying to reach a wider demographic than just your taste, and I must say I put them on par with any other studio (eg HBO, Showtime) for entertainment value because netflix has more variety and content I’m interested in despite HBO arguably having higher cinematic quality. And honestly the idea of studio quality is kind of stupid—my favorite show of all time in terms of cinematic quality, The Knick, was done by Cinemax (skinemax?) and virtually nobody has heard of it. The best shows can come from anywhere, and everyone puts out shit content.
  - the_af 7y ago
    True about the wider demographic, but that has an unarguable correlation with lower quality. A show, book or movie which has something to say (artistically, socially or whatever) will upset someone; by definition the only way to reach a wider demographic is to make something blander or with less to say, so that you minimize the risk of upsetting/disappointing your audience. This doesn't even apply to arguably good shows like The Killing, whose later Netflix-produced season is so awful it's embarrassing, not because it appealed to a wider demographic -- it was pretty niche -- but simply because it was terrible, badly acted and worse plotted. I've no explanation in this case. I'm surprised by what people are saying about Bright. I disliked it because it was a bland knockoff of Shadowrun and similar scifi-with-orks-and-elves settings, with weak SFX and an even weaker plot. The commentary about racism -- whether well or badly done -- didn't even factor in my dislike. Bright is indeed a by-the-numbers urban fantasy made to appeal to a wide demographic, with nothing interesting to say about scifi, fantasy or even action. It was quite accurately described by the press as "a movie done with an algorithm". So of course it will likely have a sequel! I really hope bland shows aren't the future of Netflix, but I fear they will be because they make business sense.

reaperducer 7y ago

If $20/month is the pain point which causes you to leave Netflix, you're not the kind of customer it wants anyway.

tracer4201 7y ago
What kind of customer does Netflix want? Someone who will pay them whatever amount each month? Serious question.
- JaRail 7y ago
  I think they just want everyone. * high-end accounts that allow multiple streams and 4k * mid-tier with limited streams and max 1080p * free-tier for password sharers, they don't go after account sharing afaik They'd rather you watch netflix for free than anything else for free. It helps build a long-term market for their content.
vesinisa 7y ago
To stay current with television entertainment one would need to subscribe to at least Netflix, HBO, Amazon and, soon, Disney. If you live in the non-anglophone part of the planet you might want to add a few on-demand providers in your local language as well. If each charge $20 / mon that's close to $2,000 / year just for content to your television - a full payslip for many low-income people. Such prices might be justifiable to enthusiasts but not really for the general public.
- hombre_fatal 7y ago
  > To stay current with television entertainment You lost me here. That's like tasking yourself with staying current with your Warhammer 40k or Magic The Gathering card collection and complaining that it's expensive. Yet you suggested TV as if it's some self-evident thing everyone wants to maximize.
  - ergothus 7y ago
    I'm a cord cutter and have been for over a decade. When I initially made the switch, I didnt use an antenna (my complaint is about commercials, not (just) the cable company). I discovered that I lost the ability to participate in a lot of water cooler talk. Even now, I didnt wat bird box, or game of thrones (at least not yet) and I was missing references to them all over the place. Socially, groups use such references to indicate belonging. This is true in communities of varying sizes. Ergo, not participating DOES have repercussions. I'm not saying it makes sense to break the bank, but I am saying there are social and therefore economic and other consequences.

ForHackernews 7y ago

...you know you can already unsubscribe, right?