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Netflix is an interesting example of a substandard product becoming mainstream just because of some kind of a social momentum (it certainly is not the right ter

Netflix is an interesting example of a substandard product becoming mainstream just because of some kind of a social momentum (it certainly is not the right term; so whatever that is called) it received. I don't know who is the target audience. I do see younger generations i.e mine - the 30s and 20s considering this as some sort of entertainment utility and they must have a connection err subscription. It has probably the most insipid content and what many even fail to notice and hence do not acknowledge that it has probably one of the shallow most catalogues, yes even after including its really pathetic quality N-formula content. It is so user hostile and their intentional dark-pattern interface is not the only problem and yet apparently they are doing well. The interface is literally an ad dashboard. Still people spend more and more time on there Why is that? I don't even think it's like Apple's growth who actually do few things right and offer better hardware and a streamline non-all-over-your-face software. So what is Netflix's secret? Just being the first game in the town? Or good old addiction? Or both, or all of it little by little?

wodenokoto 3y ago
I mean if you think marvel is the high end of quality then I guess Disney is better. I find the variety of Netflix programs much more interesting than Disney. But that only explains their global strength (where normal user wants to see Korean and local dramas)
- Capricorn2481 3y ago
  That's funny because I don't think Netflix is that different from Disney in terms of content and preventing their creators from going outside the box.
  - wodenokoto 3y ago
    Maybe not for American/western content. I think they have some of the best anime and their Korean dramas are totally a guilty pleasure of mine. But more to my point, many of my friends from places like Thailand or Philipines swear to Netflix exactly because it has high(ish) quality local programming and American and Korean shows. They also have a lot of Bollywood outside western markets (so does Amazon) and these are things that seem completely overlooked on HBO/Disney/Apple. So yes, if you’re into American content, Netflix is a so-so contender, but internationally it just seems way stronger to me than any other (unless you mainly consume local content)
OhioMan2943 3y ago
If I can be cynical for a moment I think it's not only culturally relevant, it feels like one of the main indicators of what culture is. If it's represented on Netflix, it's culture. It's a part of peoples identities more than anything else.
ofcourseyoudo 3y ago
I don't love Netflix, but what do you mean "the interface is literally an ad dashboard"? The thumbnails you click on take you to the show. The fact that they A/B test the images doesn't make them ads. By this logic, a dictionary is chockfull of ads for words.
janalsncm 3y ago
This is a pretty unfair take. Netflix has some gems and some trash just like pretty much everywhere else. Right now they have The Imitation Game A Beautiful Mind Arrival Breaking Bad Better Call Saul American Beauty The Big Short The Wolf of Wall Street Maybe these aren’t your cup of tea but they’re hardly “insipid”. Even if those were the only things available it would still be worth the price imo.
lotsofpulp 3y ago
“Substandard” media was very popular on TV before Netflix, see the popularity of “reality” tv shows. And there were copious ads on TV too. I assume the large population that put up with that stuff on TV channels doesn’t mind on streaming either.
- add-sub-mul-div 3y ago
  With a DVR you've had full control of the video stream on TV for over 20 years and as a result there are no unskippable commercials to put up with, if you don't want to. Streaming ads are worse, they have the tech to make them unskippable. Spotify (the last time I was on there) doesn't even credit you with an ad listen if you mute your speakers.
  - davkan 3y ago
    It took just as much time and more effort to fast forward through network commercials recorded on a DVD RW than to ignore or skip YouTube ads.
autoexec 3y ago
> Netflix is an interesting example of a substandard product becoming mainstream just because of some kind of a social momentum (it certainly is not the right term; so whatever that is called) it received. When netflix started, it wasn't a substandard product. It was like $5 a month and you got movies mailed to your house! For basically a late fine at blockbuster you could watch your movies for as long as you wanted and never had to drive to the video store. It was an amazing product! There was nothing else like it. When they added streaming, their DVD library was still king. It had everything. Even weird stuff that could be hard to find elsewhere. Gradually though, the streaming offerings improved enough that people started mailing out DVDs less frequently. Until the TV/cable networks took their content back and started their own streaming services netflix was a really good deal. Tons of great content, low prices, mostly ad free (no third party ads until recently, but ad creep has always been a problem for netflix), and you could watch shows on your own schedule. The rise of netflix originals was a reaction to everyone else pulling their content from the platform and that necessitated higher fees but even that wasn't too terrible. It wasn't just some kind of social momentum that made them popular. They were once a pretty good service. Very few dark patterns. Customer service always sucked though which was a lot more understandable when they were small. It's just been going downhill for a long time. At this point, they're just being greedy, which is a bad look when so many people are genuinely struggling. I suspect that momentum is what's mostly keeping users around now though.
- shiroiuma 3y ago
  Like so many big-tech companies, they've become completely enshittified.
- IIsi50MHz 3y ago
  I agree with all of this except the part about customer service always being bad. Until about two years ago, I always had timely service, including accident'ly discovering that their table app, when attempting to connect to chat after 23:00, would make a VOIP call to a live person who answered in three rings. I've only sought support once since then, and although I could still find service codes sprinkled around, I couldn't find any way to contact support except something like "Did this page solve youi issue?". Which I used to report that some page directed me to click some link that took me back to the top of the support section instead of promised content. I think I had been looking for how to find the promised and announced "Add an extra member" feature…which it turned out didn't arrive in my accounts UI until maybe two months later.

wodenokoto 3y ago

I mean if you think marvel is the high end of quality then I guess Disney is better. I find the variety of Netflix programs much more interesting than Disney. But that only explains their global strength (where normal user wants to see Korean and local dramas)

Capricorn2481 3y ago
That's funny because I don't think Netflix is that different from Disney in terms of content and preventing their creators from going outside the box.
- wodenokoto 3y ago
  Maybe not for American/western content. I think they have some of the best anime and their Korean dramas are totally a guilty pleasure of mine. But more to my point, many of my friends from places like Thailand or Philipines swear to Netflix exactly because it has high(ish) quality local programming and American and Korean shows. They also have a lot of Bollywood outside western markets (so does Amazon) and these are things that seem completely overlooked on HBO/Disney/Apple. So yes, if you’re into American content, Netflix is a so-so contender, but internationally it just seems way stronger to me than any other (unless you mainly consume local content)

OhioMan2943 3y ago

If I can be cynical for a moment I think it's not only culturally relevant, it feels like one of the main indicators of what culture is. If it's represented on Netflix, it's culture. It's a part of peoples identities more than anything else.

ofcourseyoudo 3y ago

I don't love Netflix, but what do you mean "the interface is literally an ad dashboard"? The thumbnails you click on take you to the show. The fact that they A/B test the images doesn't make them ads. By this logic, a dictionary is chockfull of ads for words.

janalsncm 3y ago

This is a pretty unfair take. Netflix has some gems and some trash just like pretty much everywhere else. Right now they have The Imitation Game A Beautiful Mind Arrival Breaking Bad Better Call Saul American Beauty The Big Short The Wolf of Wall Street Maybe these aren’t your cup of tea but they’re hardly “insipid”. Even if those were the only things available it would still be worth the price imo.

lotsofpulp 3y ago

“Substandard” media was very popular on TV before Netflix, see the popularity of “reality” tv shows. And there were copious ads on TV too. I assume the large population that put up with that stuff on TV channels doesn’t mind on streaming either.

add-sub-mul-div 3y ago
With a DVR you've had full control of the video stream on TV for over 20 years and as a result there are no unskippable commercials to put up with, if you don't want to. Streaming ads are worse, they have the tech to make them unskippable. Spotify (the last time I was on there) doesn't even credit you with an ad listen if you mute your speakers.
- davkan 3y ago
  It took just as much time and more effort to fast forward through network commercials recorded on a DVD RW than to ignore or skip YouTube ads.

autoexec 3y ago

> Netflix is an interesting example of a substandard product becoming mainstream just because of some kind of a social momentum (it certainly is not the right term; so whatever that is called) it received. When netflix started, it wasn't a substandard product. It was like $5 a month and you got movies mailed to your house! For basically a late fine at blockbuster you could watch your movies for as long as you wanted and never had to drive to the video store. It was an amazing product! There was nothing else like it. When they added streaming, their DVD library was still king. It had everything. Even weird stuff that could be hard to find elsewhere. Gradually though, the streaming offerings improved enough that people started mailing out DVDs less frequently. Until the TV/cable networks took their content back and started their own streaming services netflix was a really good deal. Tons of great content, low prices, mostly ad free (no third party ads until recently, but ad creep has always been a problem for netflix), and you could watch shows on your own schedule. The rise of netflix originals was a reaction to everyone else pulling their content from the platform and that necessitated higher fees but even that wasn't too terrible. It wasn't just some kind of social momentum that made them popular. They were once a pretty good service. Very few dark patterns. Customer service always sucked though which was a lot more understandable when they were small. It's just been going downhill for a long time. At this point, they're just being greedy, which is a bad look when so many people are genuinely struggling. I suspect that momentum is what's mostly keeping users around now though.

shiroiuma 3y ago
Like so many big-tech companies, they've become completely enshittified.
IIsi50MHz 3y ago
I agree with all of this except the part about customer service always being bad. Until about two years ago, I always had timely service, including accident'ly discovering that their table app, when attempting to connect to chat after 23:00, would make a VOIP call to a live person who answered in three rings. I've only sought support once since then, and although I could still find service codes sprinkled around, I couldn't find any way to contact support except something like "Did this page solve youi issue?". Which I used to report that some page directed me to click some link that took me back to the top of the support section instead of promised content. I think I had been looking for how to find the promised and announced "Add an extra member" feature…which it turned out didn't arrive in my accounts UI until maybe two months later.