I’m someone who still gets discs from Netflix. I like getting movies that aren’t available for streaming, but aren’t high enough on my list to purchase at the store. I can justify it, but I know a lot of folks can’t. I also never let the movies sit too long when they do come, trying to maximize how many I get compared to the price I pay. Netflix is now putting a wrench in those plans of course. From Engadget:
When weekend mail delivery came close to ending last year (various government committees have opted to keep it going), an AP article noted that it could actually save Netflix money by reducing the number of deliveries for heavy users — because of its flat rate, they’re actually less profitable. Now that competitors like Blockbuster are out of the way, there aren’t many other options which is probably also a factor.
Now this is disappointing as a user, but It isn’t upsetting. It actually makes a lot of sense from the cost point, something one can only hope helps out on the streaming end of things.
Is it a bungle the likes of Qwikster? No way. But a lot of folks over at the Netflix community would have you thinking otherwise.
Not wanting to miss out on an opportunity to increase profits by 15%, Netflix has gone ahead and ended Saturday deliveries on their own. I did not learn of this change from the media. I did not learn of this change through an email from Netflix. I learned of this change while speaking to Netflix Customer Service about a problem with their website. They told me that Saturday deliveries were discontinued.
Cutting Saturday deliveries is more than a 17% reduction in service since the majority of Postal Holidays fall on Mondays. That amounts to a very large price increase and I am disappointed not only that Netflix is cutting service but choice to do it very quietly. (via)
I don’t feel this news signals that DVDs will be going away anytime soon, and others have noted that rights agreements are tricky little things that need to be worked out before streaming can really take off at its full potential.
It does represent a grander change on how we get our media. Physical media could sadly be coming to an end and folks like me are justifiably nervous because you at least have a little control with how you can watch what you have purchased. I love streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime, but it doesn’t beat having the movie when the Internet is down.
(Via Engadget / Netflix Community / AP / Bloomberg)