This is still going on? Sheesh - it's still fucking cheap no matter how you slice it. Yeah, FOR SOME, the percentage increase was huge but it's still fucking cheap! And if you already were doing multiple discs and streaming then it didn't change at all. And it beats the shit out of going to a video store that generally has a terrible selection.
Yeah, I'll gladly continue to pay $17 a month for two blurays at a time and streaming - beats the shit out of cable.
Shit fuck shit.

The guy that initiated the price hike basically said that everyone can suck it and he doesn't care if they lose half their customers because they will just make it back anyways. While it doesn't surprise me that a ruthless business feels this way, he should really be smart enough to keep his mouth shut about it outside closed doors. I know there are a lot of big business that don't care about me personally but they had better at least pretend to my face. In my decades of managing people I learned that when someone starts acting irreplaceable, it's time to let them go no matter how close to correct they are. Same goes for businesses if I have any say in it. It's one thing to loose some customers, it's another to talk shit to them on the way out. I imagine the comments made sure some people will not do business with them ever again. Had they been apologetic, I bet a lot of people would have left then came back.

With all my fucking and shitting I am interested to see what Apple brings to market. I'm imagining/hoping for a TV experience where you only pay for the channels you want. Though I don't even know if that would bring me back to TV at this point. When we got our new TV and reacquired the ability to watch programming as it aired we gave it a try and hated it - rather than watch Community/Parks&Rec/etc as it airs we choose to wait for it on NF. The only time I actually switch over to live TV is when there's a Blazer game being broadcast locally...and who knows when that'll happen again.
I also fear that if pick-and-choose channel shopping were ever offered they'd charge so much that it would still be what current cable rates are (or more).

Okay, scratch everything I said - I just saw that my Netflix bill went up to $23. I'M FUCKING OUTRAGED!

Yeah, when I saw you mention $17/mo, I logged in to see if it was right (as I pay $16/mo for streaming + 1 dvd). Sadly, as I thought, the $17 was outdated

Halfway through the kennedy's.. Kinda good

SF Chronicle reported today that Netflix lost over 600,000 customers in the past few months, presumably as a result of the rate increases. I'm going to hang on to my account. I wish the streaming service had more to offer, but I'm glad it's there when I'm in the mood for something they've got. My DVD rental queue is full to the max so that tells me that it's still worthwhile.

Last thing I watched was "Gordon's Great Escapes" from the UK. They only have the first season which consists of three episodes. Chef Ramsey is playing himself this time instead of the 'hole he plays on Hell's Kitchen. Season 1 takes place in India, the point being that he wants to get out of his own European-based framework and learn more about other cultures and food. Before viewing I worried that it'd be a Bourdain/Zimmern ripoff but it's really not. For once Ramsey actually seems humbled by his experiences and the series is very well made. He starts by saying that he loves curries in London but realizes that they're probably not the same as in the country of origin (he's right.) He ends up creating his own curry and actually wins some respect from the Indians for it. Looking forward to the second series in Cambodia. Hopefully Netflix will have it soon.

Read about the loss too. I hope a few more enter the market. I wouldn't go for Apple since I don't have any of their products or plan on getting any.

I'd be interested to see what they do, as well as Google who's rumored to be entering the game. If Hulu had more crap I liked I'd use their service too but there's not much there for me.

I have my laptop hooked to my TV so I just run stuff through there most the time, or Xbox/Wii for Netflix.

if you decide to stream only... its 7.99
i have dvd's ive bought that i havent watched yet... so didnt feel like having dvds in themail on my coffee table that i wont watch... however... i get home, kick on the xbox or ps3 depending what room im in, and pick something from my queue of stuff i been meaning to watch... $8 a month is easier to justify than $17-$20 a month.

Yes, we dropped the dvds and just kept the streaming. I think it's an amazing deal

$15.99 a month for 3 DVDs at a time and no streaming.
End up saving about $48/year from the old plan.

I can turn around about 30 DVDs a month so it comes out to about 60 cents a movie.
Cheaper than even Red Box. Total deal IMO.

Plus I rip everything so if I want to rewatch something from a year or two ago, I have it on hand...

I used to be able to keep up with that pace when I first got Netflix (years ago before the streaming). I did that for about a year and then I finally had to stop

That's our plan now since I tend to turn over 1 disc per week, and my most-wanted stuff is all "saved" rather than actually in my Q so what's the point. We have an amazing local video shop that's just a few miles from the house that offers just as much (if not more) for Asian & genre films that does 2-for-Tues & Weds, so we'll just continue to rely on them for discs.

i stuck streaming and that works fine for me since i love trash movies at my fingertips... surf nazis must die and class of nukem high

Watched "The Exorcist" on Netflix last night. The version they have is the pre-25th Anniversary one, so the picture is pretty muddy compared to the 25th, but at least it's not "The Version You've Never Seen" which despite a few nice added scenes also features some ridiculous CGI additions that muddled things a bit (e.g. the appearance of the "subliminal face" on the oven hood. That was silly.) I never tire of revisiting that movie and find new things to think about every time.

^^^I normally hate CGI add ins but when they 1st did the additions and re-released it to theatres I had no F'ing clue there would be additions, ate a shit-ton of hallucinogens and man did I nearly piss myself^^^

Oh yikes. I think in that state, the soundtrack would be even scarier than the visuals.

From netflix's blog tonight:



Sigh.. no more price changes, just a divorce of the two services..

Ha! I was about to post this. I got it in an email from them.

Netflix just keeps getting stupider and stupider.

But the 2 services were "divorced" with the price change, that's not news. Just a name change. Now you can't get your Pizza Hut at the Taco Bell. Is it the fact that you have to pay 2 different companies now (the exact same price, which you can set up auto payment with) the thing that's upsetting?

much to be upset about, although it's all fwp:

• no more shared queues: can't tell when a dvd becomes available for streaming without checking both sites manually
• searching returns results for each site separately
• payment info has to be updated separately
• other than at the initial split, your ratings and preferences are tallied/used separately

basically creates double the work for users when its sole function is to allow us to be more lazy. whine!

plus, @qwikster. oy vey.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

This list, basically. I like going back and forth between the dvd and instant queue on the same site and sharing the ratings et. al. I also don't get the point of downgrading the service to a new brand with zero name recognition, I can't imagine this being good for a business that's just taken some notable hits.

Kind of can't believe the company's gonna have to cut this guy a fat check: