This is partly what makes Redbox is so infuriatingly frustrating. Netflix DVDs are in awful shape and waits for the "long tail" disks are insane.
I really can't get behind the online rentals because they feel like Blockbuster-style ripoffs. At the same time that I can rent a new release from Redbox for $1.50, streaming wants to charging $4 for the exact same show.
Public library inter-library requests are becoming the only answer anymore but it's so much freaking friction. And the local public library late fee policies here would make 90's Blockbuster look like saints...
And I'm getting really, really tired of the Netflix streaming new releases being exactly the same movies that are concurrently playing free on the HDTV subchannel broadcasts (ThisTV, BounceTV, etc) or on Crackle. Netflix doesn't have commercials, whoopee, I guess. That's only an issue because stupid streaming sites don't allow ad fastforwards (which a DVR handles wonderfully)
And while I'm ranting, who at Sony thought that anyone pushing the eject button on a Bluray player wants to stand around twiddling their thumbs while the player mines a bitcoin block or whatever it's doing before spitting out the tray? Sorry, I digress.
"No ads" is huge for many of us. I'll pay $7/mo to not have my time wasted & wallet seduced & continuity unbroken. Children in particular I want not exposed to ads, as they suddenly & passionately want something stupid (PopTarts? A teddy bear with a fishbowl for a belly? SpongeBob anything? Borderline R-rated trailers? WTH? keep that crap away from my under-7yo kids).
Redbox at $1.50 vs. iTunes at ~$4 is a fine tradeoff per: cheap & max data rate but travel time & unpredictable availability vs. right now & always available vs. marginally more expensive & lower data rate.
As for buttons, why does the "Play" button not do anything when "Play" is selected on the disc menu? on _every_ disc player out there?!?
Agree about "no ads" being important. But comparing Netflix to DVR OTA is a very different proposition than comparing it with the abomination of ad-straight-jacketed streaming apps.
Streaming apps don't let you skip and play the same damn apps all the time. On DVR it's just a fast-forward and it's not so difficult (caveat I use a TiVo for this and I know they have a warchest of patents so I have no idea whether it is worse on competing DVRs).
With respect to kids programming, honestly the Netflix kids section is basically a huge toy product ad. It's full of the product crap. Bratz this, Ponies that, Shortcake that, Legos this, Star Wars that, Barbie this, Tikerbell that, Disney fad-coms etc and Netflix doesn't let you blacklist any of that shit. Even rating it low, they'll still shove all the related shit in front of your kids. The best we can find are European imports and PBS shows. But you can get PBS shows without ads already.
Basically, for us Netflix streaming is becoming useful only for it's kids programming but we've started building a local streaming media library because we are so unsatisfied with the entire experience vs what it could and should be.
There is very little interesting to watch on Netflix. With Netflix DVD you at least used to (lately it's only true on paper, not in execution) have access to quality programming in addition to the crap. There was a time when Netflix content was broader than local rental options. Now the local rental options have disappeared and Netflix only cares about serving the 90% of the idiots of the world.
I'm missing the old Netflix DVD service. I still use it but a lot of films have dropped off my queue and my perception is that the bad disk count has gone up as well. It's tolerable given the lack of alternatives and the fact that my film tastes are relatively conventional, but it's still unfortunate.
I really can't get behind the online rentals because they feel like Blockbuster-style ripoffs. At the same time that I can rent a new release from Redbox for $1.50, streaming wants to charging $4 for the exact same show.
Public library inter-library requests are becoming the only answer anymore but it's so much freaking friction. And the local public library late fee policies here would make 90's Blockbuster look like saints...
And I'm getting really, really tired of the Netflix streaming new releases being exactly the same movies that are concurrently playing free on the HDTV subchannel broadcasts (ThisTV, BounceTV, etc) or on Crackle. Netflix doesn't have commercials, whoopee, I guess. That's only an issue because stupid streaming sites don't allow ad fastforwards (which a DVR handles wonderfully)
And while I'm ranting, who at Sony thought that anyone pushing the eject button on a Bluray player wants to stand around twiddling their thumbs while the player mines a bitcoin block or whatever it's doing before spitting out the tray? Sorry, I digress.