Netflix to raise prices by 13% to 18%
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I’ve had it on appleTV for several years. It used to be really easy to browse and find content.
But they’ve completely changed the app and now I feel you either need to know what to specifically look for, or happen to find something in the random “suggestions since you’ve watched X” on the main menu which are a fairly random set of X’s.
They even (as far as I can tell) got rid of the helpful list of alternate suggestions when you select a specific movie.
I don’t understand the need for insane UI’s, do companies feel they must make major UI changes so it looks like they’re not stagnating?
Another theory someone said about their complicated UI is that they perhaps massively reduced the size of the available library, and a convoluted UI hides this fact.
I think about putting on a film but then I think about the constant barrage of trailers and the difficulty of finding something good (recommendations are useless), so usually I end up dropping the idea.
Just need to finish Altered Carbon and I'll be dropping it.
You've watched 12 horror movies so, guess what, we're recommending this crock of ___ because it is also a horror movie...
Seems to be the sophistication of it?
There are movies which are really great, there are movies that aren't but are still worth watching, there are movies that aren't great and aren't really worth watching, and then there's the movies with Adam Sandler or Amy Schumer in them...
And reasons for liking a film could be that I liked the cinematography, or the script, or maybe just one actor, and not just that it was a horror movie.
Take for example Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010). It's weird, the story wasn't all that for me, the ending is weak. But I loved the way the director shoot it as an 80's sci-fi film, really capturing the look and feel of those films. And well, I love slightly weird movies. So overall it's a movie I really enjoyed watching, and will likely watch again a few times. So just how would Netflix interpret my thumbs up for this movie?
I've rated literally hundreds of movies in Netflix. I still get 90+% match recommendations that I can tell just from the poster and blurb that I'll hate (and my control for this are the movies I've watched elsewhere and hated). I've found some of the sub-50% match movies to be great, and really enjoyed watching them.
I know Netflix had this machine learning contest a few years back, looking for winners who made better recommendations than their own algorithm. But IMO it's just gotten worse and worse.
I'm keeping my subscription only for my parents, and they also don't use it much, maybe two/three times a week.
Or their metrics say people who watch their content don't close their accounts.
I'm actually still, uh, using alternative sources for some Netflix shows just because it means that I don't have to deal with their interfaces.
I hope that eventually we get a "Spotify for TV" but we're not there yet. What a mess.
That's inevitable when you have resident designers who must make things different to justify their tenure. Once you have reached a local optimum, they can make only things worse.
They're also deteriorating in terms of product quality.
Tried to watch Bandersnatch last night, and it says "your device is not compatible. Try using a smartphone or a newer laptop"
But I was on a brand new laptop (Windows 10, 7700HQ, Radeon RX480). Netflix is telling people to use laptops, but they forgot to update their own laptop app to support their own movies.
I work in multimedia and interactive video, we have teams of just three or four people who support everything themselves (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Web, etc). I don't understand how Netflix, with it's millions of dollars, can't do the same. Netflix's marketing claims they "only hire the best of the best" (and they probably do), but their actual product just feels so lazy, it's hard to reconcile the two. Why do you need the best people, if you don't want to build a good product?
And I can't understand what's all the fuss about Netflix's hundreds of microservices. I mean, not that I know it that well, but basically on Netflix you pay a subscription and then stream whatever you want, right? What are those services doing, exactly? There's illegal streaming websites that don't look much different, aside from the payments.
Probably generating logs about themselves.
I think some browsers don't play nice with the Bandersnatch script (browsers with SilverLight being one example)
I wasn't. I was in Netflix's own official app. (I think they shell out to EDGE or Chromium underneath, but I don't know for sure.)
Edit: Your first point stands, how haven't they updated their official app for one of their premier releases?
There's your problem.
I had the option to watch without interactivity, is that worth it or does that miss 90% of the experience?
I've contemplated canceling only because the Apple TV interface and the auto play is frustrating. The web interface isn't any better and is worse then it was 5 or more years ago even. Not even their content is making up for it.
But then I remember, I'm not paying for it since another person in the household is paying for it. I only turn it on to either have something on in the background when I'm home alone or for background noise anyway.
This is the one thing about Netflix that I do find flat-out infuriating.
And that's precisely why you occasionally have to work for it, scrolling through other new content in between.
Apparently shoving other content beats the relatively small amount of criticism they get for those few extra user interactions.
Then again, my patterns are probably not normal...
- the supposedly intelligent AI-powered thumbnail/preview generator seems to not understand me in the slightest, often turning me off completely until I look them up on IMDB.
- replacing the 5 star rating system with a thumbs up/down... what about mediocre? Their library (in Europe) contains a huge amount of mediocre stuff.
- some Original Netflix content is only available in the US.
- the selection in Europe is very disparaging.
- after watching some movies e.g. Bandersnatch, you have 5 seconds to full-screen again before it auto-plays some other completely unrelated movie (instead of letting me enjoy the credits and accompanying music). In general I find auto-play only useful with series... although even then some series e.g. Black Mirror I really just want to listen to the great music played during the credits, and I have to scramble to find my keyboard within 5 seconds after watching a sometimes very emotional experience.
- it seems like they are primarily focused on adding series (Recently Added section is 90% series)... they seem to be opting to just fill their library with series as it gets people to keep coming back, but I actually prefer movies most of the time instead of getting sucked into another series.
- no way to disable/pause autoplay of spoiler/trailers when you initially log in, first thing I do after logging in is scroll down until it stops playing.
- sometimes they show an unavoidable/unpausable spoiler/trailer/advertisement right in the middle of the lists as you scroll down.
- why can I only create 4 profiles (and 1 kids profile)?
- I have been vocal lately and clicking the "?" button while watching a movie to leave feedback. I have yet to receive even a notification that they have at least read it, or preferably, that they might be working on any of the bugs/issues I've complained about.
- if you pause a show/movie for > 15 minutes (eg to go make popcorn, etc) and come back to it, your HD (720p of course because it's Firefox) version is replaced with a 240p/360p version, requiring a page refresh.
- no option to change resolution, my LTE modem has bad latency so Netflix auto-selects 360p for me for the first 3-5 minutes... the only solution is to refresh a few times until Netflix detects that my connection is actually sufficient to stream 720p. I was using the ctrl+alt+shift+s to manually set the resolution but they seem to have removed this a few months ago.
- native Netflix app for Windows 10 is horrendously slow and completely unusable.
- 1080p on Edge browser is not much better.
- after watching something from "My List" (where I have about 50 things saved), I have to manually go back to "My List" and find it to remove it... a button to remove it after watching would save me some trouble
- removing an item from "My List" causes the entire page to refresh and the position of everything is apparently random every time
I could definitely go on... it's a mess and it seems to be getting worse. I wonder if I'm an edge case for a lot of these issues... perhaps the general populous isn't bothered by a lot of these things? Otherwise I can't explain how they have so many top-payed engineers and how half of this shit is acceptable.
On the other hand, at least it's not as bad as Amazon Prime Video, which is an utter joke...
I feel like this is related to the amount of content they have now. When I signed up, I was hunting for stuff to watch, and today, I can't keep up with all the stuff I'm interested in watching. There's too much coming too fast, and the UI just can't handle the volume.
In fairness to Netflix, the iOS App store had the same problem once there was an explosion in the number of apps. It got to the point where I could only use the App store if I knew the name of the app I was looking for.
I don't know if there's an easy UI solution for finding and discovering the right content in rapidly growing libraries, but that seems to be the dilemma for companies like Netflix, Apple, etc.
With respect to pricing, I can live with the hike because I feel like I'm still getting value for my money, especially considering how much I was paying for cable before I cut the cord.
I've noticed this on more than Netflix. The entire lifecycle of the Xbox 360 I think they made maybe two major UI overhauls. In the year since I've bought my Xbox One the UI has had major changes at least four times. Every couple of months I have to relearn how to find things and it's aggravating.
Speaking of interfaces, it seems the "tile" interface changes are oriented towards those touchscreen/TV formats.
Basically, I think they're enticing people with (some of) their "Netflix Originals". And they have a (now, very) few new or new-to-them A-list films circulating through.
For the rest, they just hope you'll click on something that sounds or looks (from the tile) like it could be good, and then be satisfied -- or at least put up with -- what you get.
That said, other people still seem pretty positive about their streaming offer. When they offer details from their viewing, I just don't agree.
A huge chunk of international content are original stand ups because they're easy to make. The amount of licensed content available in my country is pretty negligible.
It seems to me there is an explosion of content that will be able to be monetized far beyond just subscription lock-in. I wonder what the method of monetization will be after the gold-rush of building subscriber bases?
Netflix's original proposition and value was one of convenience (and price), but I wonder how long that will last. Will households juggle 4+ subscriptions of $15/mo? I'm not sure that is why cord-cutters originally cancelled their cable subscriptions.
My off-the-top-of-my-head list of current and coming soon subscription services (that also produce content) is: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO, YouTube, CBS, Disney/Fox, NBC, Apple. Technologically, it seems like there are some serious hurdles to "bundling" these together.
I wonder if the future "bundle" will actually be a service that manages subscriptions for you, with things like highlighting newly available shows since the last time you subscribed.
Because streaming services tend to retain their catalogs, you don't necessarily need to have all of them all the time. Especially if you can disconnect yourself from the need to watch "the latest episode" of something that comes out every week. I'm the only one in my family that has, really, but it's worth it if you can cultivate the mindset.
You also sometimes get the "Waaaaah! We want you back!" deals, too, which makes it even cheaper. I'm doing what I do for other reasons, but, hey, you want to do that for me, whatevs.
The end result is that not only are you generally at like $20/month, you frequently have something you're excited to watch as a new service rotates in that you've not had for a year, in a way that you don't if you just have all of them all the time.
As long as the content providers continue to make it so difficult, piracy will win, if nothing else when it comes to convenience.
I guess we got the ability to watch whenever we want, including all seasons being available right away.
But consumers have spoken and season pass is a failure.
I fired Plex back up a few days ago, and I suspect I'll kill off at least one streaming subscription soon (probably hulu). I'm also really enjoying watching stuff without MASSIVE ARTIFACTS EVERYWHERE in dark scenes (all streaming services are pretty affected by this, its damn near unavoidable).
This is great and all, but I don't actually want to or enjoy having to run plex, manage storage space, and spend the time/money acquiring + ripping used blurays or otherwise obtaining high quality content. I want to pay for a single streaming provider on a subscription model and have access to everything, and I'd probably pay what it cost, but that's not really an option anymore....
A current gen remote has dedicated buttons (with logos) for Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and CBS All Access.
I saw an older one recently, and it had buttons for Netflix and Blockbuster. I had forgotten that Blockbuster ever had a streaming service.
Correction: Netflix, Sling, Hulu, and CBS All Access. No Amazon button.
I agree that the Netflix content can be hit-or-miss.. usually more miss.. but it does have some movies and shows on there I find myself coming back to and re-watching. It also keeps my kids entertained with their selection of cartoons/animated shows so that is a plus.
We don't watch many TV shows, but we do have a Hulu (commercial free subscription) which again is quite affordable.
All in all, I still feel that I have a better alternative to cable/satellite TV. If prices continue to climb to the point where they are closer in cost, I may re-evaluate this again.
Dish/DirecTV packages that run over $100 certainly don't include internet.
That said, for me Amazon Prime is $10, Netflix HD is $13, and HBO is $15. I can't get get BBC in the US, so let's swap in Hulu for $8/month.
Total that's $46 per month for 4 of the largest streaming video services. Whereas the average cable bill is now $107[1].
The other advantage is that you can pick and choose exactly what you want to subscribe to. Don't watch Netflix originals? You can drop it and subscribe to Disney's new service. Or Acorn TV, CBS All Access, DirecTV Now, ESPN+, FilmStruck, etc.
[1] https://www.leichtmanresearch.com/78-of-tv-households-subscr...
Have you ever even used cable? Online streaming is vastly superior.
You get to choose what you want to watch instead of watching whatever is on.
You can watch it on a much wider variety of devices than just your tv.
It’s much cheaper than cable.
There are no ads.
It's just modern version of TV with extra steps.
>You get to choose what you want to watch instead of watching whatever is on.
Unless something is no available in your country in any of 10 streaming providers.
>You can watch it on a much wider variety of devices than just your tv.
In 2001 I had a TV card in my computer and was able to watch forward TV stream to panasonic digital camera screen by some wired yellow cable.
>It’s much cheaper than cable.
Not in every country, my parents pay ~$4/mth for cable TV. Netflix is almost 4x that.
>There are no ads.
But that's modern version of TV, you have targeted content and user profiling instead of ads
I fail to see this as a cynical attempt to squeeze more money out of consumers. Netflix is cheap. Really, really cheap. They're putting a ton of money into original content. The streaming quality is fantastic.
No, it's not all amazing content. How much f'n content do you need? Get off the damn couch, go outside, get some work done, whatever.
Edit: To clarify, the above is advice for execs and marketing types. Alternatively, as a listener, don't believe any marketing you read.
??? Netflix is quite limited. It doesn't even have Seinfeld, which my Plex Media Server does.
What if I want the same service I originally signed up for and not this bait and switch crap. I didn't ask them to make their own shows and get rid of good ones. Why should I have to pay extra for it?
> Get off the damn couch, go outside, get some work done, whatever.
Cancel Netflix. Great idea.
You can't see how this could be annoying? "Do something else" isn't a replacement entertainment service for when people have finished their work and been outside already.
That's not why I got Netflix. I got Netflix so I could binge watch every episode of TNG. Now do I enjoy some Netflix originals? Absolutely. But I would rather just have a massive back catalogue of old TV to watch.
That's highly dependent on your computer's operating system, web browser, HDMI cable, monitor HDCP version, whether your CPU was made by Intel or AMD, which generation of Intel CPU you have, and probably some other factors which I haven't ran into.
For now they’re content to suck the life out of the networks. But generations of Americans have shown a willingness to pay $99/mo or more for their entertainment, which Netflix is pleased to provide.
We are the frogs in their pot, slowly being boiled. But, oh my, is it ever a nice hot tub.
Boiled frogs?
Cable services are not known for being able to watch what you want:
* Basic gives you 10 channels you don't want
* Enhanced gives you 2 channels you want and 38 you don't want
* Deluxe gives you 5 channels you want and 105 you don't want
* Sports gives you ESPN, and 20 other obscure sports channels
Like Netflix, you get a bunch of stuff you don't want and a little bit of stuff you do want. This makes it broadly desirable to more people.
If it were not for this option I would be exclusive to amazon by now.