Netflix is following FB tracks it seems, 1st degrade the user experience, then poor company ethics surface. Soon we'll need food like "humane" labels in tech..
[edit : user not customer]
What did the user experience used to be like, if the current version is 'degraded'? We only just got Netflix but it seems pretty slick and well-thought-out.
I don't know what it was like before, but when I signed up for it after Netflix went international in 2016, and my first reaction is: this is it?
Using Netflix feels like giving up control, over both the viewing experience and the recommendation system. The recommendation system that Netflix poured millions into developing, with hyperoptimizations down to the thumbnails you see? I can't get it to stop recommending me shows I don't want to see. I can't pick the genres I want to show up on the homepage. The automated genre generation/clustering algorithm occasionally generates hilariously poor results. I can't leave my mouse over any thumbnail for a few seconds to read the synopsis because the trailer will automatically start playing.
Another example: No control over stream quality. I'm fine with waiting 30 seconds for the higher quality version to buffer, but Netflix forces me to watch the first 30 seconds in glorious 360p with sharp edges and features on actor's faces smudged out of existence. There's no way to change this setting, which exists on every video player I've seen since before YouTube existed.
Auto play video trailers.
Star ratings are almost invisible. The currrnt Betflix percentage ratings have almost no association with reality and once again seem to exist to promote Netflix shows.
It’s harder to find an episode that I stopped watching midway the previous night, because Netflix is promoting its own shows.
Non Netflix catalog is buried deep. I’m not sure if this is because they simply don’t have much Non Netfkix content anymore.
Movies are hard to find. Again, this could be a content issue.
The UI is slick. It’s also simply geared towards making you zombie watch Netfkix branded shows.
Those who have been subscribed for a long time know that the content selection is abysmal compared to what it was in the past. A long time ago, I remember feeling surprised when they didn't have something specific I wanted to see; now I am surprised when they DO have something specific I want to see.
That and there were things that, yes, might've taken a little time to maintain, but at least gave it a 'face' outside of normal corporate BS such as being able to share stuff with friends on there. Also, star ratings going away, I think reviews are gone now too, as well as the ability to dismiss things you aren't interested in the past (I think that disappeared a few years ago).
The UI and findability sucks if you're on a PC but is fine if you're on a big screen tv (which is the direction I assume it's been aimed in, as well as big buttons for touch screen or visibility). When I was subscribed, I would use a third party website like instantwatcher to easily sort and search what so I could browse quickly.
Recommendations and the whatever algorithms they're using now aren't very useful (maybe coming full circle on the limited content leading to limited choice).
FB has been accused of poor ethics since the start. They were barely three years old when they launched Beacon[1], to much criticism and even lawsuits.