Goodbye Netflix

by Matt | Apr 29, 2011 | Aggravation, Movies, Tech

I thought I would feel more sadness, instead I’m actually kinda pleased. As nearly a 10 year member of Netflix, it’s been my sole source for DVDs for quite some time. Unfortunately for Netflix, I have far better things to do with my money than wait 4-6 weeks for new releases only to have them arrive on crappy scratched disks with unskippable ads.

It’s clear that I’m no longer the key Netflix demographic. I don’t stream content and I don’t have my video game console in the living room. It’s also completely obvious that Netflix really doesn’t want to be in the disk shipping business anymore. That’s been plain to see since they announced deals with all the major game consoles. I have precious little video gaming time these days and odds are that when I turn on my Xbox, I’m doing it to play a game, not to watch a movie. Plus, although it’s no fault of Netflix, my 360 launch console is loud as hell, movie watching simply isn’t going to happen in the same room with it.

As for renting DVDs, the movie industry has created such turds in the past couple years that nearly all new releases are things I’m not going to watch and any movie I did enjoy I’ve purchased. Batman, The Hangover, Star Trek, Up, Tangled, etc. I purchased them all MONTHS before they were available on Netflix. Somehow Netflix got royally fucked on the release dates and movie are available for purchase, on pay-per-view, in Redbox and at Blockbuster long before making it to Netflix. After they finally do, they aren’t “retail” disks anyway, meaning that it’s the movie, in a fixed format, with unskippable ads and trailers in front of it. Ever time I received a disk from Netflix I felt like I was being punished for my choice of movie acquisition.

We had also completely ran out of things to watch. As I’ve already mentioned, New Releases were a joke, but we had worked our way through our back catalog of movies we had wanted to see over the years. We were literally watching old Jimmy Stewart movies when I canceled. We had the last disks sitting on the coffee table for almost 5 weeks.

So, no new movies, no old movies, no streaming and not retail disks. What exactly was I paying for? That’s what I thought.

For the price I was paying Netflix I can rent, in full HD, 3 movies from UVerse a month, which was about our going frequency with Netflix in the first place. I also have on-demand access to a backlog of TV shows. No, it’s not as extensive as Netflix, but it’s there if I want it. Lastly, if all else fails, I have the internet. If I really need to stream something, I can guaranty you that I can find it online in nearly the same amount of time it would take a Netflix stream to buffer.

So, there you have it. I ditched Netflix and I don’t feel sorry about it at all. Actually I took the money I would be spending and signed up for Amazon Prime, which is much more handy…  AND they just announced that they have streaming videos, lol. That wasn’t even planned.

So long Netflix! Next time trying sending me a disk without bullshit on it. Fuckers.