[ryannielsen]

Why?

Current Netflix DVD+streaming customers will seamlessly have Netflix+Qwikster accounts. Those who care about just DVDs or just streaming would probably have already left or already transitioned to the appropriate Netflix account option which would leave them with a Netflix or Qwikster account in the end, no action on their part.

So how would this move motivate anyone who hasn't already left to look at other services? I've seen other people on HN complain about needing to maintain two accounts, but switching to Hulu+Redbox has that same downside, removing that as a motivating factor to look at those options. Switching to just one has the downside of losing recommendations and setting up a new account. I don't see why anyone who hasn't already left Netflix after the pricing changes would leave because of this decision.

[bethling]

Because by splitting the accounts - they've removed pretty much the only piece of value that they provided over Hulu/Amazon/Redbox. There was one single place that I logged on to with my ratings, my recommendations, my queues for both streaming and DVDs.

Without that, their competitors are now almost pure drop-in replacements for their product. NetFlix had an advantage (to me) in that everything was unified. Now that they're split, that's gone - and they have to find some other way to be better than the other offerings to justify me keeping my subscription(s).

[dave1619]

I totally agree. Netflix unified gave me the added value I needed to be a subscriber. Now that DVDs and streaming is not only separate subscriptions but even separate accounts, the value of Netflix/Qwikster has plummeted to me. I might just do Amazon for streaming and Apple TV for movie rentals.

[foobarbazoo]

No, we'll be dropping our Kwikster accounts immediately and looking for an alternate streaming provider (cough Amazon cough).

Honestly, it feels like this board is being trolled by Netflix employees or paid PR, who see "no" problem with this move. I don't know a single person in meatspace who thinks these changes are good. Not one.

And people who were putting up (but unhappy) with the 60% price hike are now actively looking to switch.

Hastings is destroying shareholder and customer value at a pace only matched by HP's CEO at this point.

[elq]

I am a netflix employee.

I hold my employer to certain standards and I do not defend anything they do automatically - for instance, I thought the way the plan split/price hike was communicated was just awful. So I'm not trolling.

When I first heard this plan many months ago, my immediate reaction was to look for another job. I have, perhaps obviously, decided to stay. One of the biggest reasons I've decided to stay is that I believe Reed is one of the most honest, hungry, and intelligent CEO's around.

These changes will cause short term pain, but I honestly believe the products will be much better after the split.

[mturmon]

Just a customer here.

I'm disappointed by the remarks in this thread that don't give the Netflix team credit for understanding their customer base. The CEO gives a credible rationale for the split: two different kinds of business. DVDs for the long tail, streaming for convenience.

Given their machine learning and rating expertise, I bet their analytics gave them a good understanding of just how different the two mediums are. I'll bet people's streaming preferences are rather different than their DVD preferences. Probably so much so that there's less predictive value across mediums than some people in this thread seem to expect.

[isleyaardvark]

> I'll bet people's streaming preferences are rather different than their DVD preferences.

I'll bet they're virtually identical. Think of all their customers that have both streaming and DVD plans. What movies are going to be on their DVD queues? The ones that aren't available for streaming. Nobody puts a movie into their DVD queue because they want to wait two days before they watch it.

[mturmon]

You're right, there is a constraint for most rational customers:

  X is in streaming => X is not in DVD queue

The thing is, the set of stuff available for streaming is not very large compared to the set of stuff on DVD. So the applicability of the constraint is small.

And, I think all the constraint tells you is, don't suggest titles that are available on streaming for someone's DVD queue. I think affirmative suggestions are much more interesting.

To me, your idea that people's streaming preferences are "virtually identical" to their DVD preferences seems like you didn't mean it seriously. Hyperbole?

My own streaming habits are totally different from my DVD habits, not only due to limited availability of streaming titles, but also due to ingrained expectations. It's kind of like TV versus movies.