4 ms·

Netflix has successfully recreated the experience of going to the local video store in the late 80s/early 90s; So many videos of unknown quality, and I am unabl

Netflix has successfully recreated the experience of going to the local video store in the late 80s/early 90s; So many videos of unknown quality, and I am unable to choose.

wolverine876 5y ago
Your video store lacked a recommendation engine. IME, it completely transforms the discovery process. Look at a list of random content without a recommendation engine, and you may realize how accustomed you may have become - for me, 99% is laughably, depressingly, completely uninteresting.
- kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
  Netflix had a good recommendation algorithm for their DVD catalog. Now they hide the fact that they mostly have mediocre 2-star content by making their system more opaque.
- pempem 5y ago
  Totally agree! Yet I feel like netflix is continuously gutting its recommendation ability. -First the intersectional genres became harder to find, or create. -Then the reviews were wiped. -Then you see the same content you actually watched as recommended and often
- omgjustletme 5y ago
  The video store had a recommendation "engine". It had people that worked there! Often times they had a employee's pick section. You could talk to an employee and they could help you out. After getting to know you, they would reserve new movies for you! I know it's crazy to think that a human being can compete with an algorithm. This was the video store experience you have missed and were unaware of. Thinking that "your way" is the only way is always wrong.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
    > I know it's crazy to think that a human being can compete with an algorithm. Yes, it is crazy, in part because "the algorithm" (how i hate this term) really derives most of its power because it represents huge numbers of human beings making choices. The store clerk may have been an excellent recommendation engine for you, or they may not have been, but they almost certainly were not equally good (or bad) for most people.
    - rchaud 5y ago
      An algorithm in a Tower Records store in '99 would tell everyone to buy Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit records. It would not suggest say Spacemen 3 or The Magnetic Fields because they don't carry them in their inventory. It will however suggest a poor alternative that meets some 'nearest-neighbours' cluster threshold in a statistical model. Independent video stores are not so tightly tied to one distributor, so yes, a clerk that takes a few moments to hear what movies you like could point you in the right direction....even if that direction is to go a different store entirely.

Netflix has successfully recreated the experience of going to the local video store in the late 80s/early 90s; So many videos of unknown quality, and I am unable to choose.

wolverine876 5y ago

Your video store lacked a recommendation engine. IME, it completely transforms the discovery process. Look at a list of random content without a recommendation engine, and you may realize how accustomed you may have become - for me, 99% is laughably, depressingly, completely uninteresting.

kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
Netflix had a good recommendation algorithm for their DVD catalog. Now they hide the fact that they mostly have mediocre 2-star content by making their system more opaque.
pempem 5y ago
Totally agree! Yet I feel like netflix is continuously gutting its recommendation ability. -First the intersectional genres became harder to find, or create. -Then the reviews were wiped. -Then you see the same content you actually watched as recommended and often
omgjustletme 5y ago
The video store had a recommendation "engine". It had people that worked there! Often times they had a employee's pick section. You could talk to an employee and they could help you out. After getting to know you, they would reserve new movies for you! I know it's crazy to think that a human being can compete with an algorithm. This was the video store experience you have missed and were unaware of. Thinking that "your way" is the only way is always wrong.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  > I know it's crazy to think that a human being can compete with an algorithm. Yes, it is crazy, in part because "the algorithm" (how i hate this term) really derives most of its power because it represents huge numbers of human beings making choices. The store clerk may have been an excellent recommendation engine for you, or they may not have been, but they almost certainly were not equally good (or bad) for most people.
  - rchaud 5y ago
    An algorithm in a Tower Records store in '99 would tell everyone to buy Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit records. It would not suggest say Spacemen 3 or The Magnetic Fields because they don't carry them in their inventory. It will however suggest a poor alternative that meets some 'nearest-neighbours' cluster threshold in a statistical model. Independent video stores are not so tightly tied to one distributor, so yes, a clerk that takes a few moments to hear what movies you like could point you in the right direction....even if that direction is to go a different store entirely.