Oh boy, here we go.
Very curious to see how stringent they are going to be in enforcing this. This is going to disrupt a lot of multi-generational families who share an account but don't all live under the same roof.
Very curious to see how stringent they are going to be in enforcing this. This is going to disrupt a lot of multi-generational families who share an account but don't all live under the same roof.
I would have no problem with paying a little fee to allow a second primary location.
But I don't suspect my parents will go through the hassle to create and pay for a separate Netflix account.
Secondly, I don't know if I could justify paying for a Netflix account just for myself.
Now, that is separate from the argument that because they didn't strictly enforce their ToS, that people now feel entitled to something and may drive some people away from the service.
They definitely did the latter.
It reminds me of the West Wing series where President Bartlett is mad that his wife expects him to hold to the promise of talking to her before he makes the decision to run again. He says: "Damn it Abbey! That was 4 years ago!", as if a promise expires because it's old.
Now, Netflix didn't make a promise, but they did set consumer expectations about their service. And that expectation doesn't expire just because it's old.
I mean, they obviously have every right to change their behavior, but it's totally reasonable to point out that this is a change in their behavior, and a change in the agreement between them and the consumer (maybe not a literal change in the TOS, but a change in the practical agreement that we had).
I don't see why that's "obvious". Not only is that the way many other plans work (see: cell phone plans), it's literally how Netflix itself marketed the service for years.
Here's a tweet from netflix itself about how great it is to share accounts: https://twitter.com/netflix/status/840276073040371712
E2A: From their own marketing of their subscriptions:
>Watch on 4 different devices at the same time with Premium, 2 with Standard and 1 with Basic.
Answer: nothing!
Their 4k plan wording: "Watch on 4 supported devices at a time"
OK - I pay them, we use up to 4 supported devices at a time. End of story!
What's next, you can't get a 4-line cell phone plan unless all 4 lines are "under the same roof"? Makes just about the same amount of sense!
The "live together" limitation is being added for "business" reasons to charge more for the same service. There's no way to get 4K without paying for 4 simultaneous screens, but they're making a new limitation so you have to pay for 8 simultaneous screens to still get 4k if there's a second roof involved.
Give me a 1 stream, 4K plan for $10/month and I'll be happy to pay for a second plan for my in-laws (who watch 1 or 2 episode a week)!
They've changed the terms, and people on the wrong end of that change are unhappy with the change, with good reason. It's not gaslighting to have situations where you pay for something under terms of a contract, and the contract changes.
Why are you all for Netflix's term change? It seems like it's worse for consumers, and I fall into the "consumer" bucket, so I dislike it. Are you suggesting consumers suck it up, keep their mouths shut, and submit to corporate overlords? Or are we allowed to complain that the terms of the agreement have been altered, and we'd like them to please not alter them further.
And I'm not saying they can't make the change. Just that it is clearly worse for me. If it's enforced, the change in value proposition will be significant enough that I will opt out of it. We're a family without kids, but with in-laws. Why should kids living at home with lots of screens be favored by Netflix over a family like mine? Either way, I pay for the number of simultaneous screens, as per the previous version of the agreement. Ah yes - they want to squeeze more money out of my particular family arrangement. I feel entitled to complain about it, and take this change in contract as an opportunity to end it.
Of course the new enforcement is worse for everybody who was exploiting it this way. Any enforcement would be worse for somebody.
Hey, it's me. A person that reasonably believed that 4 simultaneous screens meant 4 simultaneous screens. Not 4 simultaneous screens on the same household.
I guess, Ask me anything?
If any of these make a difference, why does Netflix care where your walls and roof are, or what the layout of your home is, or who's living with who?