It’s difficult to find a positive comment about Netflix’s recent decision to separate its DVD and streaming plans; in fact, the official announcement spawned over ten thousand mostly-negative comments. Most comments were the typical complaints, rantings, and death threats that go hand in hand with with internet commenting, but the shear number was overwhelming. I find myself amidst the crowd that plans to cancel as soon as the price changes take effect, but I don’t harbor the animosity that most so openly display. In truth, Netflix has long offered an unbelievable service for an incredibly tiny fee. When I first started using Netflix, the streaming service was a nice touch, but nothing that I would consider paying extra for. As the company expanded, the streaming service did as well, offering more titles and increased performance. The Netflix mobile apps are nothing short of spectacular and make the streaming service stand on its own. I often find myself forgetting to mail back the DVDs and resort to the limitless smorgasbord that can be consumed at any table. Unfortunately, quite a large chunk of the “superior” movie content available on instant streaming vanished and was replaced by such award winners as National Lampoon’s Pledge This featuring Paris Hilton. I lived with this because the amount to consume was still massive regardless of its quality, and deals with companies such as FOX brought full seasons of some pretty awesome T.V. shows into the mix. Ignoring some obvious references concerning cake, these lucrative deals came at a price in the form of 28 day delays of new films from certain companies. The first of these films was Avatar, and the move was part of an effort to increase DVD sales. So now, not only did I have to wait for two days to see a film that I wanted to watch now, I had to wait an additional 28 days for it to reach the doors of Netflix. But it was only $8.99…until it was $9.99.

The dollar price hike was irrelevant on a large scale, but it spawned an interesting question in my mind; how much am I willing to pay for a limited selection of online content and DVDs with gimped release dates? I’ve discovered that the answer to that question is somewhere between $9.99 and $15.98. It’s all simple math really; Netflix disks have an average turn around time of three days for me, one for Netflix to send the disk, one for me to watch it, and one to send it back. This equates to ten watchable disks per month, or around 80 cents per disk with the new $7.99 plan. This doesn’t take into account the long periods of forgotten DVDs, Sundays, or the times when I forget to update my queue and receive a DVD that I don’t wish to see. The alternative to this is to pay 99 cents at my local video store to rent new releases on the day of release. If I don’t feel like seeing a movie then I don’t have to pay, and I won’t ever find myself with a film that I have no desire to see. It may require more hunting, but the rewards are instant gratification and cash. Netflix is no longer the best alternative to traditional DVD rentals. So what about streaming?

When I heard of the price hike, I immediately thought that the best thing to do would be to switch to the streaming only plan. What else could satiate my craving for twelve-hour Hoarders marathons? The new plan price is $7.99, which allows me to view an unlimited amount of mediocre content, and it’s unreasonable to think that this amount of content could be found anywhere else for less. Like the Walmart $5 DVD bin, Netflix Instant is about quantity and price rather than quality.

We compete for a very specific and small part of the pie. We don’t have everything, but we have a great bargain. That’s what we want the brand proposition to be … Apple and Amazon are very good at being comprehensive.

via Mashable

The more I think about this, the more it seems that Netflix is merely a cheap time sync, not awesome enough to be satisfying, but just enough to keep me hooked. Instead of waisting the money and time on something that is hardly entertaining, I’m going to put it towards doing something awesome, or at least something that’s truly fun. I want movies to be epic again, not just a way to pass the time. I can remember the first time that I saw films like Donnie Darko, Fight Club, and Stranger Than Fiction. It was a time when the movie had to be sought, and although technology is convenient, the shear bombardment of media can be numbing, and it takes more and more content to achieve even a hint of the deep first-time satisfaction. I want interesting films in my queue, and if that takes more effort, or even more cash then so be it.

Besides that, there are much cooler things that can be done with much less than $7.99.

  • Learn the foundations of Buddhism.
  • Learn how to write the Great American Novel.
  • Watch Christian Bale fight an oppressive dystopia.
  • Journey down the rabbit hole.

Netflix is a business like any other, and they maintain the right to profit, just as we maintain the right to choose. It’s this balance that determines business success or failure. If enough people truly feel that the change is unacceptable (if $6 really breaks the bank) then Netflix will either change or die. I’ve got a strong suspicion that they’ll be just fine: the %60 price hike is enough to sustain the company, even considering a mass exodus.

Guys, Netflix is a business; they’re not your Mom.

Merlin Mann