Netflix has decided to increase my plan price by 60%

[lschiavo]

I love the streaming netflix. I barely ever watch cable anymore. It's just for news, sports and kid's shows. We had the one dvd plan which we will now drop. I hope any price increases will get some more streaming selections. I like the documentary category best. Talk about slow turnaround in that area plus at least half a dozen pot documentaries

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I do agree, though - the grand iTunes experiment has shown that people are willing to frequently pay a nominal fee (adding up to big $$ in the end) for the specific content they want. But, that's different from the Netflix model.

Oh, and the Amazon Prime thing won't really take off unless (until?) they figure out how to do the streaming through Wiis and xBoxes and all that. I'm not dumping cable to watch TV at the computer. I'm pretty sure you can buy separate boxes to stream via Amazon, but that's making my life more complicated than I want it.

I dunno that it is so much a different business model. I mean, yes, I paid a flat fee for the service and that is still feasible, I think. yet, ala carte I think is more profitable for the production studios (which is what will really drive content avilability).

As for the devices, the service is the same whether it's NetFlix, Amazon Prime, VuDu, or BlockBuster VOD. Most devices that offer the service now are reconfigurable through a USB update. Question is, are the device manufacturers going to make good? Or are they just going to expect us to buy the next new device?

However, yes, there are devices (Roku) that can connect to just about any TV to add IPTV connectivity for a small expense.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I had Netflix years ago and once I saw Hulu, I switch instantly and never looked back.

HULU (www.hulu.com) is free (~90 sec ads during the commercial breaks) and is streamed in 480P.

For something comparable to Netflix (more selection, less advertising), their service is $7/mo and is streamed in HD, and is then available on your phone, Ipad, etc.

Hulu is a great resource for series programming. Hulu Plus does sweeten the deal by offering more but, from what I have seen, the Movie selections aren't any better than what Netflix offers through the stream catalogue.

 

[lschiavo]

Hulu is a great resource for series programming. Hulu Plus does sweeten the deal by offering more but, from what I have seen, the Movie selections aren't any better than what Netflix offers through the stream catalogue.

I agree, I had 3 months free Hulu with my new TV and a Netflix account. I didn't watch much Hulu.

 

[Shooter]

I think what they are slowing trying to do is get everyone off the DVD plans.

Yeah, I wish they could stream everything they have in their catalog (at BD quality). I'd pay $20 for a streaming only service in that case. I don't need the disc.

Agreed, not sure I'm going to stick with streaming only, 90% of what I search for just isn't there. I might have to drop the DVD portion and give it a few months to see if streaming only works out.

 

[Airborneguy]

Damn, glad you guys pointed this out. Gonna talk to my wife and see what she wants to do. I'd rather stick with the DVD's for now honestly. Most movies I look for aren't on the streaming list yet.

 

[Clann]

My dad just got the price change email. He wasn't happy about it.

 

[weirdboy]

The problem I have with streaming only is that I will start watching a TV series and then get a couple of seasons in and find out they don't have the rest available for streaming, when there are like 6 seasons of a TV show and they only have the first 3 and it's still airing on TV, what am I supposed to do to catch up? Before I would get those other seasons on DVD and then be caught up.

So for that reason alone I am dropping Netflix if they really stick to their guns on this new plan. I can find plenty of places that will let me stream the same TV shows for cheaper or even free; no sense paying Netflix for that privilege if they don't offer any differentiator.

 

[bucfanmike]

Finally got my email. I'll end up dropping the DVD side. I rarely send them back fast enough to get more than 8 per month. I can just get things I really want thru redbox for the extra that Netflix wants. I maybe ina different boat than others as I built a Htpc and everything is either ota or streaming. I use both Netflix and hulu plus

 

[DeafSmith]

I just cancelled my NetFlix account a few days ago because I wasn't using it (I've had it suspended since the first of the year). I never used the streaming because I'm hard of hearing and need the closed captions, which the streaming didn't have, except for subtitled foreign language movies. I don't know if they have found a way to stream with the CC, but if not, discontinuing the DVD's, or making them too expensive will lock out a bunch of us with hearing problems. Besides, I've got my DTV DVR 90% full of stuff I want to watch and haven't had time for.

 

[weirdboy]

FYI they have added subtitles to the streaming for a bunch of stuff.

Not everything, but way more than they used to have. We always use subtitles too and it was frustrating not having it.

 

[malkore]

Well its still a fraction of what Cable TV wants to charge me for the same content.
Honestly I didn't expect the $8.99 plan to last long...it seemed like an intro price that just wasn't called an intro price.

Hopefully with all of you gone I'll get even more stable HD streams on my Roku.

/cheers!

 

[Pivzavod]

Yeah, I agree, but it's the principle of such a large percentage increase.

I'll cancel in protest, but probably sign back up anyway later after they ask me back with a discount.

I enjoy access to old classics cause Hollywood is just turning out garbage today. No creativity and surely not worth the price of a ticket.

Sneaky bastard

Here is my take on it. I have been Netflix user for 5+ years and within the last year I downgraded from 3 BD at a time to 1 + included free streaming. In my opinion a lot of the BD content I wanted to get, especially some new titles took 2+ months to get. Last season of Lost on BD took me 3-4 months after it was out on BD. I went and lowered my service to 1 BD at a time and now there is a lot of content to watch on streaming. I dont mind the increase because I think Netflix made a mistake in the beginning of streaming. When they introduced streaming for free they made a mistake. They should have kept both services separate and charge accordingly. Netflix saw a huge spike in streaming traffic and it was offered dirt cheap when you got it without DVD plan. Netflix has to deal with upcoming studios contract renewal which is expected to cost a lot more and I hope its their goal to slowly kill the DVD / BD sections.

What Netflix is trying to do is this:

They will have all the people who dont stream (think of all the rural people in bumblefunk who cant even get DSL) switch to DVD only plan (no change for Netflix).

There will be people who will stream only (best option) and those will stream and DVD / BD. BD option is a few dollars per month extra and I think DVD will be dead within 5 years.

Netflix is crazy to give streaming + DVD for so low. They got themselves in this mess and now this is the only way out. I know that it sucks that prices went up but Netflix offers such much value to you for $10 now and will still be dirt cheap for $15. The amount of available, on demand content you get for $15 is more than $50+ cable package offers, minus all the commercials.

 

[EdWort]

Netflix is already feeling the wrath of unhappy customers.

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/12/7069809-thousands-threaten-to-quit-netflix

 

[dweaver]

Netflix has something like 25+million users, I dont think a few thousand are really going to make a different, especially considering there big arguments are against the dvd portion of Netflix and it seems that netflix is pushing toward an all streaming service

 

[dwarven_stout]

Don't be surprised if you see Netflix starting to pay some kind of hefty taxes or fees to ISPs here soon too. They currently use a huge portion of the US bandwidth, and a lot of providers aren't happy about that.

Personally, we'll cancel our subscription at the end of the month, and send them an email when we do.

 

[nefarious_1_]

Don't be surprised if you see Netflix starting to pay some kind of hefty taxes or fees to ISPs here soon too. They currently use a huge portion of the US bandwidth, and a lot of providers aren't happy about that.

Personally, we'll cancel our subscription at the end of the month, and send them an email when we do.

Why not ride it out through August since the rates don't go up until September?

 

[passedpawn]

I was a member since 1999. Back then, you had to return movies within 7 days. You could also tell them (online) that you'd sent the movie and they would send the next one. Honor system.

I just cancelled. They never had the Instant Watch movies I wanted to see.

 

[weirdboy]

It will be interesting to see if Netflix is able to secure better content for streaming as a result of this move. I find it hard to believe that people are satisfied with what's available for streaming on their service now. I think they do have a lot of content, but so much of it is cruft, and like I said before, it really pisses me off when I start watching one of the TV series on streaming and then find out the last 3 years are only on DVD.

 

[madbaldman]

I was considering canceling my account because I mostly watched documentaries and I've pretty much gone through all the ones I want to see. The price increase sealed the deal for me - I canceled this morning. I just wasn't using it enough to justify the cost.

 

[Bobby_M]

It will be interesting to see if Netflix is able to secure better content for streaming as a result of this move. I find it hard to believe that people are satisfied with what's available for streaming on their service now. I think they do have a lot of content, but so much of it is cruft, and like I said before, it really pisses me off when I start watching one of the TV series on streaming and then find out the last 3 years are only on DVD.

The only time I really experienced this is when I got into Dexter. Season 1 and 2 were on streaming and then I struggled to get seasons 3 and 4 via bluray because there were only a few episodes per disc and there was always some level of wait time. I would have been better off buying the box set used and then reselling when I was done.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Why cancel now if you still get the present plan until September?

Anyway, I would be happy to drop the DVDs and go streaming only, but the streaming experience is so underwhelming. Only about a quarter of the films in my DVD queue are available to stream, and most of those are toward the bottom of my queue. The picture quality is sometimes sucky, because most don't stream in HD. Most don't have subtitles, and special features are nonexistent (although on DVDs they have gotten more and more sparse over the past few years, too). Movies and shows come and go randomly instead of being permanently available. Finally, ISPs are getting more and more stingy over data usage.

Unlike most people, I'll probably go to a DVD-only plan over this until their streaming portfolio and quality increase.

 

[dwarven_stout]

I'm going to cancel now because:
1) the streaming selection sucks and the streaming sucks
2) the website redesign sucks
3) we only watch 3-4 DVDs a month, so Redbox is a cheaper option
4) so that when I send them an email, I can be one more of thousands piling on

 

[malkore]

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/180149/20110714/netflix-price-increase.htm

A very good read for the 'haters'.

 

[JJL]

I'm actually doing the opposite of a lot of you guys. If I keep anything, it will be the DVD side. I personally think Netflix streaming is terrible. Their catalog is pathetic. I mean I suppose I could watch 12 seasons of some obscure BBC show that went off the air 10 years ago, but occasionally I have the audacity to search for something more recent and relevant.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of streaming. If netflix had the same catalog in streaming video that they do in DVD, I'd have dumped the DVD's long ago.

 

[the_bird]

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of streaming. If netflix had the same catalog in streaming video that they do in DVD, I'd have dumped the DVD's long ago.

If Netflix could stream everything they have in the DVD catalogue, they'd be charging a helluva lot more than $8 a month! Certainly the demand would be there, but they'd also be paying a lot more in fees to the content owners.

I'm more than happy with streaming, but a lot come down to expectations. I don't go looking for a specific title to stream, I sit down and look for something (among the limited offerings) that looks interesting. I've watched a ton of movies, some excellent, some terrible, that I never would have watched otherwise. I mean, ****, it's not like I'm going to go LOOKING for documentaries about polka musicians who run Ponzi schemes.

For $8 a month, it's not going to replace your $100/month cable.

I still think/hope that Netflix ultimately evolves into a tiered service. Keep a very basic service at about the current price point, but offer an "enhanced" service that includes more recent offerings and a better overall selection.

 

[cheezydemon3]

my price is the same.

The unlimited Streaming is a STEAL at $7.99.

Drop the disk.

The streaming is so awesome, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

 

[Germelli1]

It is all how you approch the streaming...of course if you go in looking for specific titles you will be disappointed. I like just browsing the streaming library with nothing particular in mind. More times than not I end up being blown away by a movie I never would have even heard of otherwise. (or get to see some hot foreign chick or independant accress nude...either way I am happy)

If there is a DVD title I want to see that bad, then I will either buy it or go other avenues I shall not openly discuss (which I don't feel bad about now that movie tickets are $15-20)

 

[Homercidal]

I don't get the hate. They entered into contracts with the studios a long time ago and based their price plans accordingly.

Now the studios are seeing how much Netflix is making and JACKING up their prices (also because there are competitors coming into the fold and they want THEIR money too!

So Netflix HAS to raise prices in order to stay in business. The DVD portion is less profitable, obviously, so it would only make sense that they would rather provide the streaming service.

IMO the streaming is great. We are currently enjoying Dr. Who series, both the newer ones and the old ones. We get hooked on series that we may have missed when it was new and they usually have them. Sometimes we have to use DVD because they are not always available streaming.

We rarely order DVDs anymore.

For new movies, I'll just rent a BlueRay in town or buy it if it's a favorite or must-have.

 

[cheezydemon3]

It is all how you approch the streaming... More times than not I end up being blown away by a movie I never would have even heard of otherwise.

EXACTLY.

From KICK ASS to JESUS CHRIST VAMPIRE HUNTER, I am so much more happy to see something unusual than the latest piece of crap hollywood has produced.

I no longer go to the theater because of how often I am disapointed, and how much I LOVE netflix streaming.