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They just sent me an email begging me to sign up again. I quit the streaming service because I ran out of interesting things to watch. (Of course the email is

They just sent me an email begging me to sign up again. I quit the streaming service because I ran out of interesting things to watch. (Of course the email is a "no reply" - we want to talk at you, not hear from you - and gives no indication that there is any new worthwhile content.)

rdtsc 14y ago
I see that happening to me. I have about 30 movies in the streaming selection that I've been meaning to watch. That rate of me watching them is currently faster than the rate I've seen new movies being released that I would like watching. So I'll reach a point where I might quit it, or just put it on hold for half a year maybe. Then there is also the selection aspect. Streaming movies, on average, seem sub-par to the dvd selection. I know Netflix is between a rock and hard place. Content owners probably want too much money in order to enable streaming, but if Netflix start charging more, customers will drop it. What if they had streaming tiers - basic/premium/ultimate. And charge more for some movies so that content owners would accept streaming as an option. Maybe I would pay the same or even more than I pay for DVDs just to have the convenience of not having to deal with physical discs, mailing them, waiting for them.
- rogerbinns 14y ago
  What you are getting at is that Netflix doesn't even provide you with the option. For example if you want to watch a Keanu Reeves film (that isn't one of the 6 lame ones they list) then tough. They provide absolutely no way to view them, or even indicate an interest in wanting to do so.
dionidium 14y ago
I might suggest that either you have already watched a lot of movies or your definition of interesting is rather narrow. I have hundreds of films in my instant queue. The number of critically acclaimed TV shows is pretty large, too. Have you seen all of Mad Men? Battlestar Galactica? Breaking Bad? Arrested Development or Louie? It would take a while just to get through those. There are, of course, many more. Lots of documentaries and smaller films you might not yet have heard of, but that you might like a lot. It's hard for me to understand why anybody would think there's nothing interesting to see there.
- rogerbinns 14y ago
  I have 400 laserdiscs and 700 DVD cases (some are TV shows with multiple discs or films and their sequels). I stopped buying DVDs many years ago, but then again Netflix hasn't been acquiring recent films either - one example article http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/02/02/netflixs-lousy-selection-of-movies/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/02/02/netfli... I also haven't had TV service since 2003 and don't torrent or similar - all my viewing has been by buying DVDs, seeing things at the cinema/on planes etc or on Hulu. And once I did sign up for Netflix I did catch up TV shows (eg the new series of Futurama). Out of your examples I already own BSG on DVD. The others don't really interest me as I'm not a particular big fan of them. (I'm British and have lived in the US for over a decade, but my tastes don't really go for the things you list.) To be clear there is a heck of a lot of stuff I did want to watch. When I first signed up for Netflix I spent several weeks typing things into their search engine only to get responses along the lines of available for mail order only, or doesn't exist. Following recommendations etc did mean I ended up with a queue, but it is mediocre stuff. So I gave up and read more books instead. Two random content examples for you. Try to find "Northern Exposure" (TV series) or marvel at how Netflix thinks Keanu Reeves has only ever done 6 films.

rdtsc 14y ago

I see that happening to me. I have about 30 movies in the streaming selection that I've been meaning to watch. That rate of me watching them is currently faster than the rate I've seen new movies being released that I would like watching. So I'll reach a point where I might quit it, or just put it on hold for half a year maybe. Then there is also the selection aspect. Streaming movies, on average, seem sub-par to the dvd selection. I know Netflix is between a rock and hard place. Content owners probably want too much money in order to enable streaming, but if Netflix start charging more, customers will drop it. What if they had streaming tiers - basic/premium/ultimate. And charge more for some movies so that content owners would accept streaming as an option. Maybe I would pay the same or even more than I pay for DVDs just to have the convenience of not having to deal with physical discs, mailing them, waiting for them.

rogerbinns 14y ago
What you are getting at is that Netflix doesn't even provide you with the option. For example if you want to watch a Keanu Reeves film (that isn't one of the 6 lame ones they list) then tough. They provide absolutely no way to view them, or even indicate an interest in wanting to do so.

dionidium 14y ago

I might suggest that either you have already watched a lot of movies or your definition of interesting is rather narrow. I have hundreds of films in my instant queue. The number of critically acclaimed TV shows is pretty large, too. Have you seen all of Mad Men? Battlestar Galactica? Breaking Bad? Arrested Development or Louie? It would take a while just to get through those. There are, of course, many more. Lots of documentaries and smaller films you might not yet have heard of, but that you might like a lot. It's hard for me to understand why anybody would think there's nothing interesting to see there.

rogerbinns 14y ago
I have 400 laserdiscs and 700 DVD cases (some are TV shows with multiple discs or films and their sequels). I stopped buying DVDs many years ago, but then again Netflix hasn't been acquiring recent films either - one example article http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/02/02/netflixs-lousy-selection-of-movies/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/02/02/netfli... I also haven't had TV service since 2003 and don't torrent or similar - all my viewing has been by buying DVDs, seeing things at the cinema/on planes etc or on Hulu. And once I did sign up for Netflix I did catch up TV shows (eg the new series of Futurama). Out of your examples I already own BSG on DVD. The others don't really interest me as I'm not a particular big fan of them. (I'm British and have lived in the US for over a decade, but my tastes don't really go for the things you list.) To be clear there is a heck of a lot of stuff I did want to watch. When I first signed up for Netflix I spent several weeks typing things into their search engine only to get responses along the lines of available for mail order only, or doesn't exist. Following recommendations etc did mean I ended up with a queue, but it is mediocre stuff. So I gave up and read more books instead. Two random content examples for you. Try to find "Northern Exposure" (TV series) or marvel at how Netflix thinks Keanu Reeves has only ever done 6 films.