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Am I the only one who finds finding something on Netflix to watch increasingly difficult, and contradictory to what they say in that piece. My experience is mo

Am I the only one who finds finding something on Netflix to watch increasingly difficult, and contradictory to what they say in that piece. My experience is mostly using Roku (a spinoff from Netflix) and Android. For example if I watch a WWII documentary, then they feel the need to recommend every one they have, for a long time. Oh and "watch" means "seen more than a second or two of", so you get all this crud even if you didn't like it. Perhaps the biggest sin is showing me stuff I have already watched, outside of the "watch again section". My home screen is mostly things I have seen, and I have to keep scrolling past to see if there is anything interesting deeper in the sections. It is especially annoying that there is no "do not show this again". My home screen is a collection of content I have already seen, or do not want to see. It makes Netflix look dumb and is very user hostile. Most amusing is that they don't provide a way of finding content that you want to watch now. For example you would like to watch something funny and light for the next half hour, or a date night movie. Sometimes those categories randomly show up on the screen, but usually not. I'd go on, but the overall vibe is a very dumb experience of recommendations that I don't want, no useful content exploration, and it feels like I watch stuff despite them, rather than because of them. Maybe I should cancel my account again.

mark_l_watson 12y ago
Huge Netflix fan, but you nailed one point: they should let us edit the "recently watched" and other lists. After I watch something, I would like to take it off of my 'recently watched' list instead of waiting a month for it to eventually disappear.
- jaredsohn 12y ago
  As of this past fall, you can remove entries from Recently Watched, at least via the web. Just click on "Recently Watched" from the homepage and click X next to something you want to remove.
  - rogerbinns 12y ago
    You can also mark content as Not Interested on the web. But these kind of things aren't possible in their other interfaces, and having to make a mental note to later go to a browser to do things is annoying.
geoelectric 12y ago
I'm not a fan of their suggestion interface either, but InstantWatcher and CanIstream.it go a long way towards fixing that. But...Roku, a spinoff? Nope. Roku's independent, founded by the guy who founded ReplayTV, which was TiVo's only real competition way back when.
- rogerbinns 12y ago
  You'll need to correct all the people who wrote about Roku being a Netflix spinoff then. Here are some to start with: http://www.fastcompany.com/3004709/inside-netflixs-project-griffin-forgotten-history-roku-under-reed-hastings http://www.fastcompany.com/3004709/inside-netflixs-project-g... http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/23/netflix-created-roku/ http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/23/netflix-created-roku/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/23/before-the-launch-of-netflix-spin-off-roku-ceo-reed-hastings-decided-it-would-be-cute-to-make-fun-of-foxconn-assembly-line-workers/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/23/before-the-launch-of-netfli...
  - geoelectric 12y ago
    Thanks for the correction! I missed that chapter somehow.
- kbutler 12y ago
  https://www.roku.com/about/company https://www.roku.com/about/company In the early days of Roku, Anthony also served as the vice president of Internet TV at Netflix, where he developed what is known today as the Roku streaming player, originally designed as the original video player for Netflix. Prior to Roku, Anthony invented the digital video recorder (DVR) and founded ReplayTV
  - geoelectric 12y ago
    Wow, OK. I'm definitely wrong then. Thanks for the correction!
vpeters25 12y ago
> Perhaps the biggest sin is showing me stuff I have already watched This please, if someone from Netflix is reading, please remove movies already watched from all but the "watch again" category. Also please put back "random picks" category: I found great hidden treasures thanks to it.
addicted44 12y ago
The Netflix experience seems to have become increasingly user hostile. No Netflix, I don't want to watch Marco Polo. Wait what? You "updated" the XBox One app and now I have to give voice commands such as "Watch Item 1" instead of "Watch Arrested Development"? How is it that everything you recommend to me these days, unlike in the past, reflects popularity more than my preferences?

mark_l_watson 12y ago

Huge Netflix fan, but you nailed one point: they should let us edit the "recently watched" and other lists. After I watch something, I would like to take it off of my 'recently watched' list instead of waiting a month for it to eventually disappear.

jaredsohn 12y ago
As of this past fall, you can remove entries from Recently Watched, at least via the web. Just click on "Recently Watched" from the homepage and click X next to something you want to remove.
- rogerbinns 12y ago
  You can also mark content as Not Interested on the web. But these kind of things aren't possible in their other interfaces, and having to make a mental note to later go to a browser to do things is annoying.

geoelectric 12y ago

I'm not a fan of their suggestion interface either, but InstantWatcher and CanIstream.it go a long way towards fixing that. But...Roku, a spinoff? Nope. Roku's independent, founded by the guy who founded ReplayTV, which was TiVo's only real competition way back when.

rogerbinns 12y ago
You'll need to correct all the people who wrote about Roku being a Netflix spinoff then. Here are some to start with: http://www.fastcompany.com/3004709/inside-netflixs-project-griffin-forgotten-history-roku-under-reed-hastings http://www.fastcompany.com/3004709/inside-netflixs-project-g... http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/23/netflix-created-roku/ http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/23/netflix-created-roku/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/23/before-the-launch-of-netflix-spin-off-roku-ceo-reed-hastings-decided-it-would-be-cute-to-make-fun-of-foxconn-assembly-line-workers/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/23/before-the-launch-of-netfli...
- geoelectric 12y ago
  Thanks for the correction! I missed that chapter somehow.
kbutler 12y ago
https://www.roku.com/about/company https://www.roku.com/about/company In the early days of Roku, Anthony also served as the vice president of Internet TV at Netflix, where he developed what is known today as the Roku streaming player, originally designed as the original video player for Netflix. Prior to Roku, Anthony invented the digital video recorder (DVR) and founded ReplayTV
- geoelectric 12y ago
  Wow, OK. I'm definitely wrong then. Thanks for the correction!

vpeters25 12y ago

> Perhaps the biggest sin is showing me stuff I have already watched This please, if someone from Netflix is reading, please remove movies already watched from all but the "watch again" category. Also please put back "random picks" category: I found great hidden treasures thanks to it.

addicted44 12y ago

The Netflix experience seems to have become increasingly user hostile. No Netflix, I don't want to watch Marco Polo. Wait what? You "updated" the XBox One app and now I have to give voice commands such as "Watch Item 1" instead of "Watch Arrested Development"? How is it that everything you recommend to me these days, unlike in the past, reflects popularity more than my preferences?