Qwikster « Shootin' The Shot

22Sep/11Off

Why Netflix’s Bad Decision is Bad for Indie Film

Sure, I was annoyed a few months ago just like everyone else when I heard about Netflix's 60% price hike. But when I first started using Netflix almost ten years ago, it was just to get DVDs in the mail. Several years later, I streamed the first "Watch Instantly" content on my laptop, which was an exciting new curiosity. Now I regularly stream movies and TV shows right to my TV through my internet-connected Blu-Ray player, and it's hard to imagine the future (and present) of home entertainment without having access to this feature. So, the prices have increased, but the functionality has increased as well. I was not super excited by the prospect of paying 60% more for the exact same service I've been getting, but I understand it. Netflix wants to increase its selection of streaming content (which, is undoubtedly the way of the future), and licensing more and better content will cost more. I understand that, and was willing to pay the new higher prices for a service (ONE srevice) I considered invaluable. But Netflix's new shocking announcement that it is dividing its streaming and DVD services into two separate companies ("Netflix" and "Qwikster", respectively) makes me have to reconsider whether either of these TWO services is actually worth paying for at all.