This is an incredibly true statement, and it applies very much to the current firestorm over Netflix. Recently, Netflix has been making some foolish business decisions, no doubt, splitting it’s dvd-by-mail service into a separate company, and a somewhat large price hike recently. But more striking than Netflix’s shortsightedness is the over-the-top negativity of the customer base and the public as a whole. Stock prices plummeting, vitriolic letters to CEO Reed Hastings, people threatening to cancel their service in indignant outrage!
Let’s put things in a bit of perspective. Sure, people have to pay more that before, by now paying for 2 separate plans, while before, we were getting streaming practically for free. The price of the DVD-only plan will now be $11.99 / month, unlimited, 2 out at a time. However, in 2006, when I first joined Netflix, I had to pay $14.99 / month, unlimited, 2 out at a time, and there was no streaming at that time. So, people are actually bitching about the price of something that’s actually significantly cheaper now than it was, 5 years ago. Does that seem a little ridiculous to you?
Streaming itself is still incredible value. I don’t think people realize how good they have it now. When I first graduated from college in 2006, being a TV junkie, I might have wanted to spend a month watching season 4 of King of the Hill, Firefly: The Complete Series, and 1 movie on each Friday night. If I wanted to do this legally, I’d have to get the 3-at-a-time deal or buy the box sets and DVD’s from Amazon,which would be pretty expensive. Now I can do that for $8 a month. Oh, and watch any episode of Futurama, Arrested Development, LOST, The Office, etc, etc.
Is having 2 plans inconvenient? Yes. But let’s flash back to 1995. I wanted to watch a movie, I might first call the library to see if a movie is available. Probably not. So then, I’d have to get my parents to drive to Blockbuster, and hope the movie was there, and if not, then I’d have to choose something else. Then I’d have to wait in line. Then my dad would complain about having to pay $5 for a rental. Then we’d drive back. Then, after watching, I’d have to put it in my to-do list to make another trip to Blockbuster to return the DVD by the return deadline. My point is, let’s stop gnashing our teeth for 5 minutes, stop fucking whining, and think about how goddamn ridiculously good we have things nowadays.
I don’t even think this is that a bad idea; just an idea that was jumped on too soon before streaming had the chance to become so widespread. If we’re going to blame somebody, why not the dinosaur content providers that have been making it difficult for Netflix to secure reasonable deals?
Criticism of corporate policies is all well and good, but this seems more than that. The outrage is more our own sense of spoiled self-entitlement, how much we hate change in general, and our expectation that the whole world bends to our whims and desires.
