Netflix prices going up again, a lot this time

[MOVIEGEEK]

The settlement agreement now included a modified stipulation that Apple Computer agreed that it would not package, sell or distribute any physical music materials.

Samantics, there were no digital downloads in 1991 but it's still music related. Apple also got a free pass for bundling Quicktime Player and Safari with their OS whereas Microsoft got sued and lost.

Back to Netflix and their bonehead CEO.

[Seeker47]

Blockbuster is still open in my town ... 99 cents a movie ... DVD or Blueray .... 53 cents out the door on Sundays

But tell me something, because I've had no experience with Blockbuster in years: With their brick & mortar locations, all they ever seemed to have was an in-depth supply of the most well-known, most popular Major Studio CRAP. If you went in looking for foreign films, Indie titles, or most anything that was off the beaten track or under the radar, you were just SOL. They were also often loathe to carry R-rated, unrated, or a lot of controversial fare. Are things much different now, with their Online operation ? I would be surprised if they've substantially altered the nature of their library. If they have, that would be good news. If not, it's more proof that Netflix still lacks any major competitors.

[JimmyS]

The settlement agreement now included a modified stipulation that Apple Computer agreed that it would not package, sell or distribute any physical music materials.

Samantics, there were no digital downloads in 1991 but it's still music related. Apple also got a free pass for bundling Quicktime Player and Safari with their OS whereas Microsoft got sued and lost.

Back to Netflix and their bonehead CEO.

Microsoft had been already deemed a monopoly in the O.S. environment for quite a while. Those cases fell under anti-trust and anti-competitive guidelines (part of the ruling in the browser procedings showed MS's actions as a direct attempt to put Netscape out of business). Monopolies have to play by a different and much more stringent set of rules.


Now we return you to your regularly scheduled program:

Because of the pathetic state of the brick and mortar businesses in my area I signed up with Netflix a while back for their 1 disk and streaming option and thought the $10 price ($8 + $2) was quite fair. Even though as previously pointed out the streaming selection was more limited than the DVD selection, it was quite convientient and it even had a few selections not available on disc. But, to quadruple the price! My take on the increase was that of sheer greed and have since canceled it. Now I'm just waiting for them to screw up the DVD end of it.

[TBoneit]

The settlement agreement now included a modified stipulation that Apple Computer agreed that it would not package, sell or distribute any physical music materials.

Samantics, there were no digital downloads in 1991 but it's still music related. Apple also got a free pass for bundling Quicktime Player and Safari with their OS whereas Microsoft got sued and lost.

Back to Netflix and their bonehead CEO.

Microsoft had been already deemed a monopoly in the O.S. environment for quite a while. Those cases fell under anti-trust and anti-competitive guidelines (part of the ruling in the browser procedings showed MS's actions as a direct attempt to put Netscape out of business). Monopolies have to play by a different and much more stringent set of rules.


Now we return you to your regularly scheduled program:

Because of the pathetic state of the brick and mortar businesses in my area I signed up with Netflix a while back for their 1 disk and streaming option and thought the $10 price ($8 + $2) was quite fair. Even though as previously pointed out the streaming selection was more limited than the DVD selection, it was quite convientient and it even had a few selections not available on disc. But, to quadruple the price! My take on the increase was that of sheer greed and have since canceled it. Now I'm just waiting for them to screw up the DVD end of it.

I never agreed with Microsoft being a Monopoly, What about the MAC OS, Linux. Unix etc. It is that they are being punished for writing a more popular OS. More about looking to grab some money with fines.AFAICT

Quadruple the price?? You just said the price for one DVD + Streaming is now $40, sorry, I find that hard to believe. Maybe you could clarify?

Thanks

[budwzr]

Microsoft had been already deemed a monopoly in the O.S. environment for quite a while. Those cases fell under anti-trust and anti-competitive guidelines (part of the ruling in the browser procedings showed MS's actions as a direct attempt to put Netscape out of business


Microsoft's strategy has always been to win by attrition, and they appointed themselves king as evidenced by the haughty tone of Steve Ballmer, and the arrogant tone of MS customer support. They think everyone is an idiot.

Not so different from the cable companies that treated us like scum while they were the only game in town.

Thank goodness for Richard Stalman's early detection of this trend, and the resulting creation of Linux. The threat of Linux has had a tremendous impact on keeping the web and computers non-proprietary.

We The People invented the concept of WWW, not any corporation. Let those greedy bastards form their own web and leave us people the hell alone.

Actually, "Cloud Computing" is just that! A private virtual network (VPN) using www right now, but later will be "HTTP:/Google.webpage.com" instead of "www.webpage.com". Then they will own the space and not be subject to the www consortium regulations and DNS service.

This is what the banks do for online banking. They "tunnel" you into their intranet in a secure tube.

[JimmyS]

I never agreed with Microsoft being a Monopoly, What about the MAC OS, Linux. Unix etc. It is that they are being punished for writing a more popular OS. More about looking to grab some money with fines.AFAICT

MS had over 90% of the desktop market at the time. There's nothing wrong with being a monopoly, as long as you don't use your status in the marketplace to create unfair advantages against your competitors. Had MS made their browser an installable option instead of integrating it into the O.S., it probably would not have have been as problematic as it was. The browser issue was only one part of the Justice Dept's case though. MS was acting quite underhanded to a number of its other competitors.

I don't remember if the Media Player issue had much traction in the U.S., but was pretty big in Europe. Basically the E.U. said MS was using its status unfairly by having M.P. as part of the O.S., and created an unfair disadvantage to competing applications. Part of the ruling said MS had to make M.P. an installable option along with several competitors apps. Probably were some fines as well.

Quadruple the price?? You just said the price for one DVD + Streaming is now $40, sorry, I find that hard to believe. Maybe you could clarify?

Thanks

My math statement probably was a bit confusing. What I was trying to say was:

Old price - one disk + streaming = $10 ($8 + $2)
New Price = $16 ( $8 + $8) streaming price increased 4x

I canceled the streaming service.

[TBoneit]

Thanks for clarifying. I would have considered that a $6 increase. which would have been a $10 to $16.

As it happened on the plan I had at the time 8 Discs at a time it worked out cheaper as I remember it.

[lacywest]

As for my input on Blockbuster ... I use to go to Hollywood Video a lot ... but I migrated over to Blockbuster because the monthly fee for renting movies at Blockbuster was more appealing. Hollywood Video did have stuff that Blockbuster didn't have but eventually I didn't need to go to them anymore.

I found myself renting movies from Blockbuster and keeping them longer than normal and not really getting much of a deal with them.

So I switched to Netflix ... eventually samething ... keeping them for weeks and not sending them in. So I cancelled Netflix ... cool thing was ... since I didn't use their services for that whole month ... when I did cancel my subscription ... they did a refund.

My recent encounter with Blockbuster ... my wife and I had a desire to see the WWII movie ... U-571 ... and so that is why we rented a movie at Blockbuster and since it was on a Sunday ... the rental fee was 53 cents ... out the door. And it was a Blue Ray ... they didn't have the DVD version.

[edDV]

Listened to NPR on the way home. A blogger being interviewed suggested the Netflix separation of DVD vs. stream business allows the streaming side to sell user information or work with internet sites that do. He said there is a VHS/DVD rental law prohibiting selling or divulging user rental history. He also said that law doesn't apply to streaming services.

Later on NPR, there was an announcement that Facebook is going to offer Netflix streaming in some kind of deal.

[budwzr]

You can count on NPR to find a conspiracy theory. They're about as newsworthy as "Coast To Coast".

[edDV]

You can count on NPR to find a conspiracy theory. They're about as newsworthy as "Coast To Coast".

Yep, since when does NPR interview bloggers? Haven't listened in months.

[TreeTops]

You may think it is split between DVD's rentals and Streaming but it's not. Nowhere on their home page is there any info about DVD rentals. Just streaming info only. They clearly want out of the DVD rental business.

[jman98]

bobwt - Leave old threads alone. Unless what you have to say is critical information that no one has yet provided, just leave them alone.