![Movies Movies](http://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/movies_64.png)
![Media Media](http://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/media_64.png)
Netflix Reduces Physical-Disc Processing, Keeps Prices the Same 354
Nom du Keyboard writes: After seeing a drop in my DVD service from Netflix I got a customer service representative tonight to confirm that Netflix has ceased processing DVD returns on Saturdays nationwide. And that they did this without notifying their customers, or reducing prices to compensate for the reduced service. Given that the DVD selection still far outstrips their streaming selection, this may be news to others like myself who don't find streaming an adequate replacement for plastic discs. My experience up until recently, unlike Netflix's promise of a 1-3 day turnaround at their end which gives them lots of wiggle room to degrade service even further, had been of mailing in a DVD on day one, having them receive it and mail out my next selection on day two, and receiving it on day three. Now with them only working 5 days and many U.S. Post Office holidays, they're still getting the same money for significantly less.
The Netflix shipping FAQ confirms the change, and a spokesperson said, "Saturdays have been low volume ship days for us."
Time will tell (Score:5, Insightful)
call them (Score:5, Insightful)
netflix listened to customer feedback when they tried to spin off their disc rentals to another company. so call them and give them feedback. they are easy to reach by phone. if you dont complain to them please dont whine on slashdot
Re:call them (Score:4, Insightful)
netflix listened to customer feedback when they tried to spin off their disc rentals to another company. so call them and give them feedback. they are easy to reach by phone. if you dont complain to them please dont whine on slashdot
The difference here is that very very few people will care. We're talking about mailing in a DVD on Friday, and getting the next on Tuesday instead of Monday.
Most of us have jobs and lives during the week. Most DVD watching is concentrated to Fri/Sat/Sun.
Re: (Score:3)
I think you have that backward. M-Th is when you go to work then come home and want to just watch TV for the night. F/S/S is when you go out and do something because you don't have to be home early.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
The difference here is that very very few people will care. We're talking about mailing in a DVD on Friday, and getting the next on Tuesday instead of Monday.
My solution to this is, don't make Saturday a day when you expect Netflix to be doing anything. My watching days (barring postal holidays) are Tuesday and Friday. I watch the new movie Friday evening, get it to the mailbox before Saturday morning pickup. That leaves Saturday in the hands of the US Postal Service; Netflix gets it on Monday and sends out a new one that I get Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday-Saturday also works -- they send it out Friday, you get it Saturday (with the added bonus of having Sunday
Re: (Score:2)
Whining about whining. It's not likely that Netflix is announcing this degradation in service with a great deal of fanfare or customer notification, so at least a portion of those customer service phone calls will not happen without said Netflix customer reading about this chan
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, well they were right on that one. Streaming is the future, Discs are the past for the company. That's where their future lies, that's where their priorites will be going forward. Their challange is to wind down the disc based service as quietly as possible to minimize consumer outrage, which would cause them to choose a different streaming service.
Re:call them (Score:5, Insightful)
On the other hand, every stream is considered a new copy. That means that Netflix must negotiate with the studios for every stream they provide. This means that if Netflix starts making too much money, the studios can start striping away their profits. Another streaming service can strip away Netflix's ability to stream movies and TV shows by making an exclusive deal with the studio. Companies like Disney can play the 'Disney Vault' game. We already see this with Netflix's streaming library. The reason the selection is so much worse than the disc selection is because Netflix can't legally stream many movies and shows.
The DVD rental business is Netflix's only wedge against the force that the studios can bring down to crush Netflix. Clearly Netflix doesn't understand this, as this isn't the first degradation in service that they have used to encourage the wind down of their DVD business. I noticed about two years ago, they stopped stocking a lot of movies. The long tail is a major way that they drove out the local rental stores. Buy servicing the entire nation, they were able to offer a selection that a local shop simply couldn't compete against. Now, even widely available movies just are not available from them. I sat with 'Conan the Barbarian' in my queue for 2 years, and Star Wars Episode 1 in my queue for 18 months. I gave up. I used to love their service, but if they don't want my money, who am I to try and force them to take it?
Re: (Score:3)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sa... [forbes.com]
Netflix is choosing to fight back over rights fees, with original content, not disks.
There is often a disconnect between what makes sense to an informed individual, and what makes sense to people who bet with their money. Money is saying disks are dead, and rewarding streaming.
Re: (Score:3)
Netflix streaming is nearly-worthless - there's just no content.
Hulu streaming is totally worthless garbage. Fuck commercials.
Amazon has the wrong model. PPV isn't where it's at.
There's no question Netflix is gradually ending their disc service (selection is falling rapidly), and that really sucks. The ~$1.50 price to watch a disc was right for me, and it's sad to see it die. There's so very much great stuff from the 20th century that seems doomed to vanish with the death of physical media (and the comp
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm a customer... I don't care.. I'm getting ready to stop the mail side of my subscription anyway.
Re:Time will tell (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, I'm about to cancel as well. What's left on my list isn't awesome, and I can get a lot from the local libraries if I care that much.
Re:Time will tell (Score:4, Funny)
I had forgotten NetFlix still mailed DVDs.
Re: (Score:2)
Of course. For anyone who watches even a medium amount of TV shows, Netflix is probably a pretty good deal. For me, I watch a very small amount and the value stopped being "worth it" a couple years ago when their streaming selection dried up. Forget any major Hollywood movies, I couldn't even get my favorite genre of documentaries anymore. My family at that time switched back from streaming to DVDs, and then the DVD selection got a little thin too. Items I'd put on my Queue were removed without warning and
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Time will tell (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Time will tell (Score:5, Insightful)
You are right that licensing fees by the studios are a major cause of this problem, but those problems only apply to streaming. In the US, you can rent any disc you legally own. Netflix is creating their own problem by trying to move to a streaming only business plan. Somehow they havent seem to have figured out that those licensing problems are only going to get worse without the ability to fall back to DVD rentals.
Alternate view (Score:5, Insightful)
Alternately, you could claim that they cut Saturday processing instead of raising prices. I'm hardly outraged about this.
Re:Alternate view (Score:5, Insightful)
This is Slashdot. We'll take any excuse we can to get outraged.
Re:Alternate view (Score:5, Funny)
This is Slashdot. We'll take any excuse we can to get outraged.
I am highly offended by your outrageous comment!
Re: (Score:2)
Your attitude is plainly offensive
I am outraged.
Re: (Score:2)
I just saw over the wire that they announced a $1/month subscription increase. It was discussed during their earning conference call last night, so it looks like they're cutting service and raising prices.
Re: (Score:3)
Netflix raised prices back in May; existing customers are grandfathered in for a while (when prices went up in Ireland, customers were grandfathered for two years). More at http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthe... [buzzfeed.com]
Given that this was done in Q2, and the earnings call was about Q2, I believe Reed was talking about that particular raise (which, again, happened two months ago), not a new raise. There's no new raise.
(I work at Netflix, but I just play with computers).
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Correct. This is called stealth price inflation.
This guy is so bothered by this, he came to slashdot and wrote up a story? Who cares. If you want to have the same experience, supplement with a redbox once every two months when you would actually be affected by this policy change. What is that, 50 cents per month more?
If you love physical disc netflix so much, why wouldn't you be supportive of this move that clearly makes physical disc processing viable for another x months? People who whine like this do not
Re:Alternate view (Score:4, Informative)
You could say that if we lived in an inflationary economy. Since we don't, that explanation doesn't hold water.
You could say that if there were no inflation, but since there is, that response doesn't hold water.
On top of that, they got those fast lane fees to cover.
I doubt most people care (Score:5, Interesting)
Most of the Netflix subscribers I know (including myself) are paying that monthly fee mainly for the privilege of having that red mailer sit on the shelf next to the TV and gather dust.
In any case, I doubt the typical Netflix subscriber will think this change impacts them in any significant way.
Re: (Score:2)
There is no way I'm going to drop the DVD p
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
It's weird that you haven't dropped it yet, if you've already come to that conclusion. It sounds like you are like me -- a person who doesn't watch enough TV to justify even the relatively low cost of Netflix. You may also find that, like me, you don't miss it when it's gone.
For anyone who loves TV and watches a bunch of it, Netflix is probably still a pretty good value, with or without Saturday processing.
Re:I doubt most people care (Score:5, Insightful)
I get one, or at most two, movies from Netflix every month. It's really not a good deal for me. One of these days I'm going to drop it entirely. I don't have any problem with the service (with or without Saturday turnaround), I just don't watch enough movies to justify it.
It's $8 a month for those two movies. That's $4 a movie. How much did blockbuster charge? How much more time was it to go to blockbuster and back home? It seems we keep wanting more and more for our dollar. Most of the time we get it, but then later when we fall a little short of more and more we're annoyed. Goes to show that you give someone a much better value and they adapt and take it for granted, then reduce their value by a little bit and it's the sky falling. (That last comment was more about the OP, not you specifically--it was your invocation of 2 movies a month being a bad deal that got me to comment in the first place.)
Re: (Score:2)
How much more time was it to go to blockbuster and back home?
The locally-owned video store I used to go to was 25 minutes away from my home on foot or 7 minutes away during bicycle season. It's been replaced by a Redbox machine. So depending on the weather, it could be 50 minutes round trip.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
There is a point at which media competing for your attention reaches saturation. After that, you can keep buying into services, but the time you spend on any one goes down and the overall value is diluted (unless you have some specific need from each serv
Re: (Score:2)
one movie a month, dump netflix and rent via itunes or vudu once a month
Two words (Score:2)
Red box
Re: (Score:3)
Actually, as the proper name they chose for their company it's only one word.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
worse than Blockbuster had it, for that matter. Blockbuster had more room to keep the old stuff around and sometimes knew their customers well enough to cater to their tastes for the obscure.
Oh no (Score:2)
What? (Score:2)
Summary doesn't make sense to me.
Is the submitter saying that even though they stopped processing disks on Saturday they are still within their defined window of 1-3 days processing?
If so, then what are you complaining about? They promised something and they are still delivering. Maybe they started with Saturday processing just to keep the service level and now the number of disks is not so overwhelming anymore that they are able to cut that day while still meeting their promise.
Re:What? (Score:4, Insightful)
What is in Netflix's FAQ about their delivery times is only relevant when faced with a court of law. From a consumer's perspective, what you get for your money is what matters. When I go into a restaurant, they don't promise to bring my food hot, or in a timely manner. No where do they make that promise. If they have been doing a great job of bringing me my food hot and in a timely fashion for a decade, I will be a happy customer. If they make a decision to cut staff so that my food comes out cold and I have to sit for an hour waiting for it, then I will complain about the business. I will stop being a customer, and I will recommend others avoid the business as well. It doesn't matter whether what they promised.
First world problems.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It's just a factor in the marginal utility of a popular service. For some people who paid $8, a 25% increase to $10 was too much. For some people who got 2 simultaneous streams, the 50% reduction to 1 stream was too much. For some people who enjoyed 6-days-a-week processing, the 18% decrease to 5-days-a-week is too much. For some people who enjoyed the huge former library, the substantial reduction in titles was too much.
Add it up: Netflix now delivers less than half the value it used to. Surely some people
Re: (Score:2)
2 simultaneous streams for $7.99 a month or 4 streams for $11.99 {I just checked my account I have 2 for $7.99}
Re: (Score:2)
No, a flat tire is a reasonable issue about which to complain. It becomes a meme-worthy "First World Problem" when you complain that you have to use the keyboard on your smartphone to find a nearby auto shop because Siri doesn't understand what an auto shop is.
This is news? (Score:2)
So a business found a way to cut costs and thereby increase profits? For shame!
Wow (Score:2)
"...getting the same money for significantly less" (Score:2)
"Now with them only working 5 days and many U.S. Post Office holidays, they're still getting the same money for significantly less."
Depends on your definition of the term "significantly less". If peoples' lives were hanging in the balance based on the arrival time of your DVDs, then yes, service is significantly less. If your income relied on Netflix DVD arrival times, then yes, "significantly less". But if the only value coming from the DVDs arriving per the previous expected schedule is that you can get t
I'm shocked... shocked I say... (Score:2)
that people still prefer a physical disk!
I pray every night that god will smite the physical disk huggers... so that Netflix can shift their business to all streaming and actually improve the availability of streaming titles. It hasn't happened yet, but I keep praying.
OP is probably still pissed about the loss of his local Blockbuster Video too.
Re: (Score:2)
You should pray every night that god will smite the rights-holders, for they are the cause of people preferring physical discs. They hug their discs because they have a film that's worth watching on it that's not available for streaming because the rights-holders fear that if they allow streaming then it might be ripped and hosted up on the Pirate Bay and by not offering streaming they are remaining safe in their rights.
Re: (Score:2)
You have the horse and cart backwards. Because of the first-sale doctrine, Netflix can offer a lot more movies on DVD than via Streaming. They would probably kill the DVD service if they could offer their full collection over Streaming. But the Movie Industry refuses to grant them
Re: (Score:2)
You presume that I refer to the consumer when I say "disk huggers" when in fact I mean anyone who thinks that disks are the perfect medium, including the rights holders. If they would let go of their belief that disk distribution is a good thing... then we can all move towards a world where streaming distribution is normal, easy and cheap.
Re: (Score:3)
Google "First Sale Doctrine". You own a copy. Software is tricky because it comes bundled with a license to install it/run it. But the actual disks that contain the installer? Yours.
Yeah, but that won't happen. In fact, the studios are pushing for per-device fees, separating TV/Computer/Mobile rights,
Re: (Score:2)
Hopefully, I won't be smited (smit?, smote?) any time soon. However, I guess I'm a physical disc hugger.
I'd love to give up my physical discs in favor of streaming only (I have both today), but it simply is not a viable option now. Netflix needs to make the first move and dramatically improve their streaming portfolio rather than having me make the first move and voluntarily give up my disc sub in favor of well, nothing really since there isn't much of a viable alternative. I guess I could "rent" movies
Netflix isn't worth it anymore (Score:2)
Netflix was good, especially when it was reasonable to have both streaming and discs - but when the price went up dramatically to have both, it became less and less appealing. I finally ended disc service because my queue was loaded up with discs that showed "short wait", then "long wait", then "unavailable" without ever becoming available. Things were disappearing completely from the queue as well. Having only streaming became less and less worth it because when they did their purges in the past, I alway
Blame Comcast/Verizon? (Score:2)
Kind of surprised to not see anyone at all here blaming Comcast, Verizon, and the other extortion artists trying to get an extra buck out for Netflix' rising costs and ever decreasing service level. This is the very start of what we all predicted with the decline of Net Neutrality, no?
Cost reductions take many forms (Score:2)
This is clearly a cost reduction move on Netflix's part, but that doesn't mean they can pass along the reduction. This reduction may better serve to counter increases in cost elsewhere in the chain, preventing them from having to raise the subscription fee. Manufacturers and service providers can't increases costs constantly, so they have to off-set occasional spikes with reductions. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.
Netflix is really two companies (Score:2)
I agreed with the company split they tried to implement before.
For all the people who never or barely use the mail side, there are also tens of thousands of rural low-bandwidth customers. Virtually everyone I visit around my in-laws (rural South Dakota, only internet access is via cellular or satellite, either way capped at 3-5GB/month) gets red envelopes.
You're still getting what you were promised (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't have any issue with this. Netflix did the smart thing and under promised and over delivered. They said it would be between 1 and 3 days and strived to always be 1 day. Now, there will be a limited time when it will be more than 1 day (really, this only affects if they get a disc on Saturday as they would have went out on Monday and now will go out on Tuesday). This is still within the limits they promised. Sure, it's not ideal, but I just don't see any reason to get outraged over a change that will only affect 1 day out of 6 and still keeps them within their promised timelines.
Re: (Score:2)
When I canceled my disc service a about 18 months ago, it was nowhere close to that fast a turn-around anymore. For many years, if I watched a movie right away and sent it back the next day, most weeks I'd have two different movies. 7-9 movies a month. By the end, if they got the returned disc on a thursday, it would be tuesday or wednesday of the following week before I got a new one. It was down to 4-5 a month, at higher cost. And I'm not in a rural area, I'm in a major metropolis
with a NetFlix distri
Re: (Score:2)
I don't have any issue with this. Netflix did the smart thing and under promised and over delivered. They said it would be between 1 and 3 days and strived to always be 1 day. Now, there will be a limited time when it will be more than 1 day (really, this only affects if they get a disc on Saturday as they would have went out on Monday and now will go out on Tuesday). This is still within the limits they promised. Sure, it's not ideal, but I just don't see any reason to get outraged over a change that will only affect 1 day out of 6 and still keeps them within their promised timelines.
I had a Netflix account back in the day when discs by mail was the ONLY option. Under promising and over delivering was NOT in their business model after your initial few months back then. If they declared you a heavy user (i.e. you asked for what they promised) your account was "throttled." I was lucky to have new envelopes in a week. They would intentionally sit on returned discs for 2 or 3 days before sending out the new ones. I dumped them and returned to Family Video. It was a shame to lose the s
Netflix has the same GOAL as any company out there (Score:2)
If you as a customer keeps purchasing their products, why should they bother to lower their prices? If they increase their prices - and you STILL keep buying, they WILL INCREASE THE PRICE until customers is starting to fall off the bandwagon.
Here's a fine example from Sweden. Our government dropped the VAT tax on restaurant food/Service to 1/2. This essentially means that the food should be cheaper for the customers, bring more customers AND more importantly - get them
Typical stupid Netflix Executives.... (Score:2)
Instead of announcing they will stop processing on saturday to increase profits. they would have announce it as, "here at netflix we love our employees so starting now we will be giving all of them saturdays off. It's because netflix is an honest company that loves it's employees."
We all know it's as far from the truth as possible, but it's all fluffy and feely that makes people smile..
Re: (Score:2)
I hear ya, Nom du Keyboard (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I would like to know what people watch who love the streaming from Netflix because there sure are plenty of them.
Mainly TV and netflix-only productions. e.g. Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Breaking Bad, Battlestar Galactica, Orange is the New Black,
House of Cards, Doctor Who
Evil Corporations... (Score:2)
So, the Evil Corporation decides to not make its employees work Saturdays?
And you're complaining about this?
I gather that this means that it's only evil if a corporation makes YOU work Saturdays, but if they make the people who provide you services work Saturdays, that's just fine?
Saturday Processing (Score:2)
It's only been the last couple of years that NF has been doing processing on Saturday anyway, and they didn't increase pricing when they started doing it.
I'll miss it a little, but really it's not a big deal.
Re: (Score:3)
Why would anybody want to wait for a day or two for a piece of plastic when they can access the data instantly online?
Nobody would, except perhaps for those with inadequate Internet bandwidth.
However, for a large number of movies you can't currently "access the data instantly online" (at least, not via Netflix). Netflix's primary focus should be on getting their streaming catalog to match their DVD catalog.
Re: (Score:3)
buffering...
Movies still unreleased on DVD (Score:2)
Unless the movie you wanted wasn't available on the streaming service, ONLY on a physical disc.
What do you do if the movie you want to watch hasn't been released on DVD either? Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987) and Little Men (1998) are among them.
Besides, if I'm not in a huge hurry to watch something, with a disk I can get extras easily
Studios have been providing bare-bones editions to rental stores, where selecting anything from the extras menu instead shows an error message that the rental disc contains only the main feature, along with an ad for buying the full version.
Re: (Score:2)
> What do you do if the movie you want to watch hasn't been released on DVD either?
A much much MUCH smaller problem.
Your own remarkably obscure examples demonstrate this.
Streaming requires permission from the relevant publisher THIS SECOND. That permission can be REVOKED an hour from now.
On the other hand, what's available on physical media represents everything that was consented to EVER. That consent can NEVER be revoked. We can trade old copies of that media until the publishers get blue in the face.
"
Re: (Score:2)
That consent can NEVER be revoked.
It can get revoked once all copies owned by Netflix are lost or damaged and the studio isn't authorizing a new pressing. Netflix DVD subscribers have been noticing this problem as titles just disappear from their queues. Or should Netflix be going out to Amazon and eBay to buy used copies as replacements?
Re: (Score:2)
> Netflix's primary focus should be on getting their streaming catalog to match their DVD catalog.
In which case the streaming service would cost at least $50/month.
People expect FAR too much from what is an $8/month streaming service. The DVD service is cheap because you can only get a handful of DVDs at a time, but with streaming, you could watch 24/7... 12 movies a day, 360 movies a month.
The way to look at Netflix streaming is, as if it were a channel, not an archive. With a channel, you look at the
Re: (Score:2)
Or those that wants to watch a movie that is not on the streaming side. well over 50% of what I want to watch is not on netflix streaming OR hulu plus.
First World Problems (Score:5, Insightful)
I wouldn't live in a place with inadequate bandwidth for a simple video stream.
I think that is the very definition of a First World Problem.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
this entire story is the very definition of a first world problem.
"the service that i pay for that sends movies to me through the mail for less than the cost of a movie per month... is slightly slower. My outrage is palpable at this slight."
Re: (Score:2)
I wouldn't live in a place with inadequate bandwidth for a simple video stream.
Wow. You're quite picky.
I live in one of the nicest neighborhoods in my city, with good neighbors, great schools, and near one of the best fine arts districts in the world. My house is a three-story colonial, with a finished basement, which costs me around $900/month.
Now, the house is old enough that the phone company's disconnect is in the middle of that finished basement, so replacing the wiring to support a faster connection isn't really an option, there's no cable service on the little side street, and
Re: (Score:2)
I wouldn't live in a place with inadequate bandwidth for a simple video stream.
Wow. You're quite picky.
How is that picky at all? Over 70% of homes in the US have broadband access, so he is not picking a rare factor when choosing a home. And for someone who uses the Internet regularly, having broadband speeds is a very important consideration.
I know I would never live in a home without access to non-satellite broadband. I also wouldn't live in an area with bad schools, high crime, excessive road noise, and those with a number of other undesirable factors. That still leaves me with quite a few options.
The scen
Re: (Score:2)
I wouldn't live in a place with inadequate bandwidth for a simple video stream.
I also wouldn't use a service that does not provide a library at least on par with The Pirate Bay.
That's a pretty ridiculous bar to set.
I really get people that don't like the way movies/movies/entertainment gets the sausage factory treatment, and don't want to to endorse that. But the appropriate reaction is to not to partake of it.
Re:Why do you want pieces of plastic (Score:4, Insightful)
I also wouldn't use a service that does not provide a library at least on par with The Pirate Bay.
That's a pretty ridiculous bar to set.
I think it's a very reasonable bar to set. TPB proves that there is no technical reason why we can't provide everyone with near-instant, free access to basically every last bit of media on Earth. It's up to the pro-copyright faction to justify withholding that access to suit their own material interests.
Re: (Score:3)
Is there any service with a library on par with TPB, streamed or otherwise?
Re:Why do you want pieces of plastic (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
That is not netflix's fault. It's the content providers.
Re: (Score:2)
You mean because of the torrent option? Can't speak for others but personally I don't fall into the hyperactive content consumer category. With a little priming of the queue, it's easy to plan to ahead and just get the disk instead of messing with a seedbox or other vpn option. And if I mess up and don't get a disk for Friday night, there always seems to be something worth watching via streaming for an hour or two.
So for less than $20 a month including the streaming option it's a pretty good deal for acc
Because... (Score:5, Informative)
For something that is after all, only data? Why would anybody want to wait for a day or two for a piece of plastic when they can access the data instantly online?
Because some things aren't available online (legally).
Because you don't have enough bandwidth to get it online.
Because you lack the equipment to stream movies to your TV
Because some DVDs have features not available to streaming versions.
Because you may not have an internet connection at point of viewing
Because Netflix's streaming catalog has more holes than shotgunned swiss cheese.
They may not apply to you but there are reasons why someone might prefer a DVD in some cases.
Re: (Score:2)
Two words: New Releases
Netflix streaming is effectively a replacement for all of those channels on cable that are dominated by reruns and old movies. Netflix streaming is great for that kind of stuff. For anything else, it's pants.
For new releases, you will simply have to go someplace else.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, screw all those farmers and ranchers and small town folks! They only provide all our food and stuff, why do they need movies?
News flash: Internet speeds more than a few miles from urban development usually suck donkey balls.
Re: (Score:2)
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a USPS van full of Blu-ray discs...
Movies on The Pirate Bay don't appeal to me, because of the low quality of the rips. The idiots that put them together don't even know they should strictly stick to picture dimension that are multiples of 16, let alone selecting the best perceptual encoding options, making a good trade-off of efficiency and compatibilit
Re: (Score:2)
Newbies (Score:2)
So slashdot has officially just become a general complaint department then?
You must be new here...
Re: (Score:2)
There were probably 20-30 movies at this year's Seattle International Film Festival I could see myself watching over the year. Trouble is, they're not available at Netflix, or Hulu. There's plenty out there worth watching but most media companies cater to the lowest-common-denominator customer.
Re: (Score:3)
OMG, people want to get paid for their work
Re: (Score:2)
OMG, people want to get paid for their work
Yes, they do. They should be paid for their work. There's a market opportunity to stream quality films to people for reasonable rates that's untapped. Having a service that solely catered to that market probably wouldn't support itself due to infrastructure costs but it's an area where on of the existing companies could expand and increase their market share. I wish they would.
And become the next Jammie Thomas (Score:4, Informative)
Did you check Pirate Bay? Their prices are better too.
Statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work isn't "better".
Re: (Score:2)
For mail-delivered DVDs that would be greencine.com, which has a much larger selection (or did back when I watched a lot of films).
Re: (Score:2)
It looks like greencine.com is pretty much in a neglected state now, unfortunately. From the home page: "GreenCine Hot 15 Hottest Titles Jan-Feb '13". If they haven't updated their home page in a year and a half, I wonder...
Let's scan it for Heartbleed. It's still vulnerable to what is arguably the most publicized vulnerability in the history of the internet over three months since the story broke. Whether they still operate or not, I cannot say, but I'm not going to find out by giving them my credit card.