Netflix becoming Qwikster
- Thread starter Ravenpoe
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So try as I might, I have not been able to find out if Netflix has an appointed PR director. The website has a list of the top brass of the company, but no one's bio includes anything PR related. Of course none of this comes as a shock. This whole series has been about as ass-backwards as you could possibly make it from a PR perspective.
We're raising prices across the board. Sorry, but it's gotta happen.
Wow! That's like a 50% increase! A little much isn't it?
Suck it up, buttercup! We're talking two lattes a months here. Get over it.
Hey! I can't seem to stream Netflix on my Xbox/PS3/anything.
Yeahhhhh, sorry about that. Our bad. Working now though. Price increase is still coming.
Hey what happened to the Sony catalog?
Working on it.
And now the Starz catalog is going away too?
No it isn't.
Yes it is!
Alright... we'll call it a draw.
(2 months later)
Hey guys. I just wanted to tell you all I really handled that pretty poorly back there. I shoulda been more gentle & compassionate when I announced the price change. I'm really sorry about that. And now under the premise of full disclosure we'd like to announce that we've lost 1.5 million customers in the first billing cycle under the new price structure. Wow! Ouch! Message received. So in response we'd like to announce Quikster!! See, sounds nothing like Netflix. But they'll still have those cool red envelopes we know you guys love. Oh, and BTW, do NOT, under ANY circumstances look for @Qwikster on twitter. Nothing to see there. Move along.
We're raising prices across the board. Sorry, but it's gotta happen.
Wow! That's like a 50% increase! A little much isn't it?
Suck it up, buttercup! We're talking two lattes a months here. Get over it.
Hey! I can't seem to stream Netflix on my Xbox/PS3/anything.
Yeahhhhh, sorry about that. Our bad. Working now though. Price increase is still coming.
Hey what happened to the Sony catalog?
Working on it.
And now the Starz catalog is going away too?
No it isn't.
Yes it is!
Alright... we'll call it a draw.
(2 months later)
Hey guys. I just wanted to tell you all I really handled that pretty poorly back there. I shoulda been more gentle & compassionate when I announced the price change. I'm really sorry about that. And now under the premise of full disclosure we'd like to announce that we've lost 1.5 million customers in the first billing cycle under the new price structure. Wow! Ouch! Message received. So in response we'd like to announce Quikster!! See, sounds nothing like Netflix. But they'll still have those cool red envelopes we know you guys love. Oh, and BTW, do NOT, under ANY circumstances look for @Qwikster on twitter. Nothing to see there. Move along.
Curious if anyone has tried out a Roku box to allow your TV to connect to steaming content on the internet. I currently use my Xbox 360 to watch Netflix on my TV but I am considering the Roku as it would allow me to drop my Xbox Live sub (since all I use if for is watching Netflix). Thoughts?
I use a Roku. I think it is essential if you are serious about ditching cable and going entirely over to Web media. If you are going to stick with cable, don't worry too much about it, especially if you have an XBox because it will mostly supplement your viewing preferences.
M
makare
I miss having tv a lot more than I thought I would.
Roku is nice in that you can have a channel for Amazon movies on demand, Crackle, Epix, Hulu Plus, and even things like TED talks, YouTube, old movie archives, etc. I don't use all of those things but it really is a more well-rounded media device than my XBox.
GasBandit
Staff member
I just got a new TV. All I ever watch on it are things I downloaded from bittorrent.
M
makare
I have been trying not to dl stuff as much since my Intellectual Property prof was talking about the recent crack down on movie/tv downloading. I know the odds of me getting in trouble are low but it still worries me.
"I'm sorry on account of your illegal downloading you will not be admitted to the Bar. Good day. "But I...." " WE SAID GOOD DAY!"
"I'm sorry on account of your illegal downloading you will not be admitted to the Bar. Good day. "But I...." " WE SAID GOOD DAY!"
fade
Staff member
Like I said in another thread, I'm not quite ready to give up cable, because it would feel like I was in a walled garden with no spontaneity. That and paying for the Roku, Netflix, Huluplus, and anything "on demand" (not to mention higher cable modem bill since I won't be bundling) seems like it would raise the price right back up there to cable levels.
Roku is a flat cost. You buy the equipment and then put on all the free channels you want. If you have netflix or Hulu already, you can put those on. I pay 40 bucks a month for my cable internet and 8 bucks a month for Netflix. We could subscribe to Amazon Prime if they got their act together and put decent content up for Prime users. Hulu Plus seems to suck content-wise, at least for my interests. Even if we signed up for Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, and Netflix all at once, it would still be cheaper per month than getting a digital cable package. Since we don't have most of those, we are saving a decent chunk of change each month and I don't feel like I am wasting too much time browsing the cable channels. It is the extra time I have that really sells it for me.
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, it's true that I have a few more layers of obfuscation on me than your average end user, and I only use private trackers... so it's not exactly point-click-got it as it would need to be to be utilized by someone who doesn't think that sort of thing is fun.
I have internet through my cable company but no cable service. Because I subscribed to a sufficiently fast service, they also give me the streaming Epix service.
Tell me more about roku. How does it work how do you add channels etc?
There isn't much to tell. You buy the device, connect it to your TV, and then turn it on (really...it is that straightforward). It has some channels (like Netflix) already on the home page, which is like a film strip of boxes that you can browse through. With Netflix, you just need to connect it to your account the same as you would on your XBox. You'll need your laptop handy to complete the process. Roku has a library of other channels too, which you can browse through with your remote or do a search for. Then you select the channel you want and it adds it to the home page. Finally, there are some channels that are in development still but you can get a code and add them in. I did that for the TED channel and the YouTube channel a while back, for example.
Roku is good for media browsing. It has some games, like Angry Birds now, but it really handles video or music (Pandora on the Roku is great!) It is NOT good at browsing the internet, although I think there is a Facebook channel now. Think of it as a way of collecting a lot of the video sources you might use on your computer and displaying them on your TV with the handiness of using a remote. It simulates a cable box but using internet video content (mostly).
Roku is good for media browsing. It has some games, like Angry Birds now, but it really handles video or music (Pandora on the Roku is great!) It is NOT good at browsing the internet, although I think there is a Facebook channel now. Think of it as a way of collecting a lot of the video sources you might use on your computer and displaying them on your TV with the handiness of using a remote. It simulates a cable box but using internet video content (mostly).
Thanks for the info MD. I have heard good things about it but most agree that it's not as necessary if you are sticking with cable or Satellite. I am still considering it only because I might want to drop the Xbox live membership and want to have an outlet for streaming still. I have a friend who got a new TV that essentially has Roku built in and he has noted that they have been watching less and less of regular TV, so I am also using them as a litmus test.
That new TV I bought for mom has AllShare included, so after I install the application on the PC, I can stream all the videos stored therein to the TV.
So now I need a new box of some sort to do the same for *my* TV, which doesn't do Allshare or other DLNA stuff. The latest Samsung blu-ray players do AllShare, but are there less expensive alternatives?
So now I need a new box of some sort to do the same for *my* TV, which doesn't do Allshare or other DLNA stuff. The latest Samsung blu-ray players do AllShare, but are there less expensive alternatives?
I use an ATV2 for my Netflix and MLB.tv viewing. There's also some shows on iTunes that are as cheap if not cheaper than the DVDs so I have season passes for stuff. I also use it for the AirPlay compatibility with my iPad, makes sharing youtube videos awesome.
I could never ditch cable. Not as long as the NHL blacks out home market on their center ice package.
I could never ditch cable. Not as long as the NHL blacks out home market on their center ice package.
It looks like Netflix has finally been able to generate some good news: they've signed a deal with Dreamworks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/b...ures-streaming-deal-with-dreamworks.html?_r=2
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/b...ures-streaming-deal-with-dreamworks.html?_r=2
And... Qwikster is finished.
C
Chibibar
It never happen!!
Netflix will do DVD and Streaming again.
http://news.yahoo.com/dvds-stay-netflix-website-qwikster-name-dropped-120514851.html
I guess the company REALIZE they just botch a great thing they had. Rising prices and trying to split the company to save some bucks (license fee with the studios) So when customer leaves in droves (millions) Netflix realize they made a major boo-boo.
Now if they lower their prices and rejoin the services, I'm sure they can recover.
I wonder if future business classes will go over the Netflix debacle as what not to do if you want to stay in business. A lot of friends have dropped Netflix due to the price hike and split and will never go back (the same group swore off Blockbuster when Netflix first showed up on the scene). I'm keeping Netflix streaming option but I wonder if it's too late for Netflix to recover.
It may very well be a case of too little, too late for them, but only time will tell. I did notice that even after their announcement, their stock took another hefty dive (almost 5% today, and they're down almost 2/3rds overall since their initial announcement in July that they were raising their prices). Personally, I'm torn. I do miss some of the programming that they have available that other options don't, but at the same time I really don't want to support a company that can misjudge their customers so badly, or that completely disregards their customer base's wishes. But then it gets even more complicated, because the economy is in bad enough shape, and I'd hate to see however many people Netflix has on staff getting laid off because the CEO is a dumbass, or because the studios want an even bigger cut of the profits now that they realize that Netflix streaming is a profitable business model.
C
Chibibar
The CEO is a dumbass. I am not sure where he got his schooling from but he botch Netflix big time. I don't think they will recover unless they make some major changes. I figure the company was splitting the services to "save money" from licenses and royalties, but anyone with half a brain would know that is a bad idea. Now they are desperately trying to make up BUT still keep the prices? yeesh.
See, I'm really torn. Hulu+ just ain't doin' for me these days. I like that they have some selection of some of the old shows - the Donna Reed show was good, I kind of like the McHale's Navy series (though there's only so much of that I can stand), I still like Green Acres and Miami Vice, though sadly Mr. Ed didn't stand up to the test of time; but they don't have enough selection, and their movie selection especially suffers. Really, half of your comedy selection is from pre-1970 and your newer than 40 year old selection is built on such blockbusters as Watermelon Heist and Phat Beach, plus all of the straight to video National Lampoon's movies? Um, no thanks.
So, last night I headed back to the Netflix site - something I swore I would never do - to see if, maybe, I qualified for a free trial (they're available to all new and "some" returning customers, according to their ToS). No dice. A lot of my complaints about Netflix were about the quality of their streaming service, I had everything from audio level mismatch problems, to movies that were missing their sound track altogether, to mislabeled movies (for at least 2 months the classic Rat Pack version of The Italian Job was really the new one), to piss poor streaming performance where it would play for 20 minutes and then buffer for 5 or 10 minutes, every 20 minutes. Meanwhile, I didn't have any trouble with any other continuous connection programs (MMOs, etc.), and had gone from being able to flawlessly run both WoW and Netflix, usually while running 10 to 15 Chrome tabs at the same time to barely being able to run just Netflix.
You'd figure a company that's taken such a beating in public relations, that's lost 1.5M customers at last count, whose stock price has fallen almost 66% in 3 months (and is still falling) would want to maybe, I don't know, throw former customers who are considering coming back a bone and letting us check (for free) to see if the problems that made us leave have been fixed. No dice. And, since unlike Hulu (who refunds you for your unused subscription time as soon as you cancel) or Amazon Prime (who lets you continue using the remainder of your monthly billing cycle after you cancel), Netflix doesn't let you keep using the service and doesn't give you a refund, I'm hard pressed to pay $8 to a bunch of chuckleheads who seem to have trouble differentiating between their asses and their elbows, to see if they've managed to fix any of their tech issues or have just pissed their money down the drain for the past 3 months.
So, last night I headed back to the Netflix site - something I swore I would never do - to see if, maybe, I qualified for a free trial (they're available to all new and "some" returning customers, according to their ToS). No dice. A lot of my complaints about Netflix were about the quality of their streaming service, I had everything from audio level mismatch problems, to movies that were missing their sound track altogether, to mislabeled movies (for at least 2 months the classic Rat Pack version of The Italian Job was really the new one), to piss poor streaming performance where it would play for 20 minutes and then buffer for 5 or 10 minutes, every 20 minutes. Meanwhile, I didn't have any trouble with any other continuous connection programs (MMOs, etc.), and had gone from being able to flawlessly run both WoW and Netflix, usually while running 10 to 15 Chrome tabs at the same time to barely being able to run just Netflix.
You'd figure a company that's taken such a beating in public relations, that's lost 1.5M customers at last count, whose stock price has fallen almost 66% in 3 months (and is still falling) would want to maybe, I don't know, throw former customers who are considering coming back a bone and letting us check (for free) to see if the problems that made us leave have been fixed. No dice. And, since unlike Hulu (who refunds you for your unused subscription time as soon as you cancel) or Amazon Prime (who lets you continue using the remainder of your monthly billing cycle after you cancel), Netflix doesn't let you keep using the service and doesn't give you a refund, I'm hard pressed to pay $8 to a bunch of chuckleheads who seem to have trouble differentiating between their asses and their elbows, to see if they've managed to fix any of their tech issues or have just pissed their money down the drain for the past 3 months.
Give them a call - 1-866-716-0414 and see if they'll give you a free month anyway.
Alternately, use a different credit card and email address and get a free month that way.
We've never had the problems you describe, but that doesn't mean you won't have them again, so it's worth trying it out first.
Alternately, use a different credit card and email address and get a free month that way.
We've never had the problems you describe, but that doesn't mean you won't have them again, so it's worth trying it out first.
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