Netfux

[garbon]

Netflix's unforgiveable mistake was to give existing customers of their mail delivery business the streaming side for free.  If they had announce that they were introducing a new streaming service that was going to end up costing as much as mail, but you had the great good fortune to get a X month free trial subscription, they would not be in the jam they are now.

Well according to wiki, they first limited hours of content you could watch depending on how much you paid a month.

But I don't know if what you said is true.  I mean even today the streaming side is pretty weak as far as catalog - so I don't see how they could have ever justified charging for the streaming when they started it up.

[DGuller]

The streaming side today actually seems even weaker than it was in the past.  It might be just subjective and anecdotal experience, but I used to look for some movie, and often find it streamable.  Things like the first two Dexter seasons, etc.  These days I inevitably don't find what I need.  It's possible that I just collected all the low-hanging fruit at first, and am now looking for more rare movies, but I doubt it.

[garbon]

The streaming side today actually seems even weaker than it was in the past.  It might be just subjective and anecdotal experience, but I used to look for some movie, and often find it streamable.  Things like the first two Dexter seasons, etc.  These days I inevitably don't find what I need.  It's possible that I just collected all the low-hanging fruit at first, and am now looking for more rare movies, but I doubt it.

I think it is probably the case. I don't see it getting weaker and in the past year Netflix has been making deals to get more stuff on it.

[Capetan Mihali]

I'm lucky enough to have a good independent video store 3 blocks away.  The prices seem high, but if you buy a prepaid 20 rental card, each 5-day is about $2.25.  And they have the VHS copies of things that haven't been put on DVD yet.  And cut me a deal on late fees since I come in a lot.  I think I'll just keep the streaming Netflix so I have something at my fingertips, though.

[DGuller]

The streaming side today actually seems even weaker than it was in the past.  It might be just subjective and anecdotal experience, but I used to look for some movie, and often find it streamable.  Things like the first two Dexter seasons, etc.  These days I inevitably don't find what I need.  It's possible that I just collected all the low-hanging fruit at first, and am now looking for more rare movies, but I doubt it.

I think it is probably the case. I don't see it getting weaker and in the past year Netflix has been making deals to get more stuff on it.

The thing is that it also loses stuff.  Dexter is no longer streamable, and neither are many movies that I already watched, and wanted to see again.

[garbon]

The streaming side today actually seems even weaker than it was in the past.  It might be just subjective and anecdotal experience, but I used to look for some movie, and often find it streamable.  Things like the first two Dexter seasons, etc.  These days I inevitably don't find what I need.  It's possible that I just collected all the low-hanging fruit at first, and am now looking for more rare movies, but I doubt it.

I think it is probably the case. I don't see it getting weaker and in the past year Netflix has been making deals to get more stuff on it.

The thing is that it also loses stuff.  Dexter is no longer streamable, and neither are many movies that I already watched, and wanted to see again.

Of course, the networks are fickle. Happens to all streaming stuff.

[CountDeMoney]

Netflix walks fine line with apology
Some experts say it came too late; others say it's not enough
By Robert Channick and Corilyn Shropshire  Tribune reporters

11:33 p.m. EDT, September 19, 2011

Netflix subscribers long have been used to receiving movies and television shows from the world's largest provider of DVD and streaming video rentals. On Sunday, they received something unexpected — an emailed apology from a contrite and seemingly humbled CEO.

Taken to task for splitting the formerly unlimited DVD and streaming options into two categories and bumping the price by 60 percent, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings offered a very public mea culpa in a missive to nearly 25 million subscribers and with an open letter on the company's website.

With thousands of members taking to the blogosphere in outrage, the stock price tanking and third-quarter guidance revised downward by 1 million subscribers, Hastings apologized for his "arrogance" in fumbling communication of the plan when it was announced in July.

"I messed up," Hastings said. "I owe everyone an explanation."

In the lengthy letter, Hastings expressed fear that Netflix would be headed for the corporate graveyard if it were unable to make the complete leap from DVDs to streaming. Splitting the services, he said, would improve the chances of a successful transition to digital. He also used the opportunity to announce the rebranding of the DVD business as Qwikster, replete with its own site.

The apology seemed to do little to assuage many subscribers or investors. By late Monday night, Hastings' blog post had nearly 20,000 comments, most of them negative, and the stock had dropped more than 7 percent for the day.

Corporate public apologies make headlines because they don't come every day and represent a striking about-face for companies that tend their positive images so aggressively. They also seem noteworthy because admitting fault potentially opens the doors to litigation.

But in an age when social media can swamp the reputation of a company overnight, experts say owning up to a problem publicly and promptly may be the only way to defuse a crisis.

"The digital era both amplifies the need for corporate confessionals and makes new apology modes possible," said Adam Hanft, a New York-based brand strategy consultant.

Hanft said he thought the Netflix email was an effective way to personalize the message.

"Because it shows up in your inbox right next to your Aunt Mary, there is a curiously believable part to the personal communication (from Hastings). I think he used the intimacy of email in a good way," he said.

But more than the medium, the message ultimately is what counts.

"There's sometimes too much focus on the apology itself," said Daniel Diermeier, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and author of "Reputation Rules," a corporate primer on damage control in the digital age. "The real point is that people want to see an authentic effort to set things right and to restore trust."

Diermeier, a Netflix subscriber who received the email, said it "doesn't do anything for the customers" and makes things more difficult by splitting the brand into two websites. He also faulted the company for waiting two months before issuing the apology.

"If it takes too long, the people always believe it's calculated," he said. "When it's calculated, then it's worse than not apologizing at all."

He said the company may have been its own worst enemy because it did such a great job cultivating a fanatical following among customers. When things go wrong, the flip side of that attachment is the customer feels betrayed.

A company can emerge from a firestorm if it is well-prepared. That means knowing that a crisis could come at any moment and having a plan in place to deal with it. In the absence of communication, rumor and innuendo fill the gap, said Jonathan Bernstein, a Sierra Madre, Calif.-based crisis management consultant.

"In the age of the Internet, you need to be ready to communicate instantaneously," Bernstein said.

Putting out the fire, however, is no easy task.

The irreverent tone struck by Chicago-based Groupon in a Super Bowl ad in February proved to be tone-deaf. What started out sounding like a heartfelt public service announcement about the plight of the endangered Tibetan people ended with narrator/actor Timothy Hutton sitting in a restaurant, extolling their ability to "still whip up an amazing fish curry."

After the commercial was universally panned by the post-Super Bowl ad critics, Groupon CEO Andrew Mason posted an explanation on his blog the next day, defending the commercial's intended humor and the company's long-standing commitment to social activism.

Unable to quell the growing criticism, Mason went a step further Feb. 10, posting an unequivocal apology and vowing to remove the ads from the airwaves.

"We hate that we offended people, and we're very sorry that we did — it's the last thing we wanted," he wrote.

Skeptics would say the Netflix apology was meant as damage control after the company said last week that it had lost 600,000 subscribers in the week of its price increase. Netflix stock tumbled as a result.

But despite the uproar, some analysts said the move by the company to split its services and raise prices is necessary and beneficial long term, assuming its customer base isn't permanently alienated.

That's where something more than an apology could help.

Bernstein suggested Netflix appease subscribers with a few free rentals.

"They need to make amends, not just apologize. There's a difference," he said.

[CountDeMoney]

I still haven't decided whether to cancel or not.  I'll have to see how this impacts my monthly statement I don't pay attention to.

[DontSayBanana]

The whole "Qwikster" naming thing has inspired me to open an Internet delivery service for ham sandwiches.  I'll call it Hamster.

[The Brain]

The whole "Qwikster" naming thing has inspired me to open an Internet delivery service for ham sandwiches.  I'll call it Hamster.

Go on.

[MadImmortalMan]

I'll have a pastrami on rye with spicy mustard.

[MadImmortalMan]

[Habbaku]

So, time to buy?

[derspiess]

Of course, the networks are fickle. Happens to all streaming stuff.

Losing Starz kinda hurts, but then again that content always looked horrible, like it was streaming from a VHS tape or something.

[garbon]

Of course, the networks are fickle. Happens to all streaming stuff.

Losing Starz kinda hurts, but then again that content always looked horrible, like it was streaming from a VHS tape or something.

It was very crappy looking.