SLee and Topher

Two Guys on Gaming, Tech, and the World

Downloading TV Shows and Movies on Netflix

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Netflix Download and Go

Netflix announced today that it will allow downloading of movies and TV shows for offline viewing. According to their help page about the update:

You can download select TV shows and movies to watch without an Internet connection from the Netflix app on your iOS or Android device.

To download titles from Netflix on your mobile device, you will need:

The change comes shortly on the heels of Amazon Video announcing the same functionality.

Why Amazon Prime Is Better Than Netflix

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Amazon Prime is better than Netflix

Netflix has dominated the video streaming space for several years. It seems that everyone in this generation is coughing up the $7.99 per month membership fee for what now has become, for many, more essential than cable. But Netflix is no longer the only streaming service fighting to get into your living room. Let’s consider the possibility that Amazon Prime is better than Netflix (and cheaper, too). [Read more…]

Yet Another Netflix Announcement: No More Qwikster

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DVDs will be staying at netflix.com

Netflix DVDNetflix customers were greeted today with an email announcing yet another change in Netflix’s plans for the future.

A few weeks ago, Netflix announced a split in the company. Online video streaming would continue under the Netflix brand, and a subsidiary named Qwikster would take over the DVD side of the business. Each brand would have distinct operations and a separate website.

In a rare case of a big company actually listening to its customers, Netflix’s announcement today was in direct response to customer complaints about Netflix’s proposed plan. Two distinct services with two distinct websites would not be user-friendly for customers of both brands.

Thankfully, Netflix relented of its awful plan. In case you didn’t receive it, here is a copy of the email:

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster.

While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.

We’re constantly improving our streaming selection. We’ve recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we’ve added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.

We value you as a member, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get your movies & TV shows.

Respectfully,

The Netflix Team

Will this change in Netflix’s plans have an effect on your subscription? Is Netflix’s quick about-face the sign of a company dedicated to customer satisfaction? Or is it the sign of a lack of clear direction and leadership — a lack of confidence? Leave your comments below.

Too Little Too Late? Netflix Apologizes and Splits

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Netflix and Qwikster

The last few months have been pretty rough for Netflix. After an announcement about a price increase, news broke concerning the end of their contract with Starz, and a technical glitch created rumors that they were changing their rules mid-stream.

That’s quite a bit of trouble in a very short time frame.

Realizing that their customer’s were becoming less enthusiastic, if not out-right disgruntled, Netflix published an apology from their CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings.

The apology, which was emailed to customers and made available on the Netflix blog, expresses Netflix’s concern over the recent downturn in customer morale. Hastings does a good job of taking ownership of the lack of clear communication concerning the changes in the Netflix business model.

Hastings goes on to explain that the change in the pricing structure is about more than the money. He sees Netflix’s growth in DVD delivery versus its growth in streaming as two separate entities. And while this bifurcated development may have developed naturally at first, Netflix is now intentionally dividing the two.

Netflix will remain the name of the streaming service, but the DVD delivery service is being renamed Qwikster. Hastings is quick to point out, though, that your DVD’s will still arrive in their signature, red envelopes (seriously, Reed?).

The websites for the two services will also be separated, which commenters on the blog post have quickly pointed out as a terrible idea for subscribers of both services. Without integration of the two sites, there won’t be an easy way to see if the movies in your Qwikster queue are available for streaming on Netflix or not.

The only positive piece of this announcement that I can see is the addition of video games to the Qwikster service. It’s an add-on, of course, but it will allow subscribers to have video games mailed out, similar to GameFly. (I wonder what their take on this is.)

To read the official announcement and the long and growing comment discussion, take a look at the Netflix blog post.

[Update] Bill Gurley has some interesting insights over at AboveTheCrowd.com.