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General discussion

So this complaining about Netflix is just ridiculous.

Jan 18, 2011 11:50PM PST

I'm starting think that people are complaining just for the sake of complaining. So Netflix is taking away the abiliy to add DVDs to your queue from streaming devices.

What's the problem?

You can still add DVDs from the website and if you have a streaming device then you have an internet connection. If you have an internet connection, then there's a good chance you have a computer. I don't know of too many people who have an internet connection JUST for a streaming device.

Now, if Netflix decided to just take DVDs away period, then that would be stupid. But as it is, they've just taken away a function that, quite generally, shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Discussion is locked

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Its called "erecting barriers to entry"
Jan 19, 2011 2:48AM PST

and company worth their salt knows that the more friction you put between your customers and what they want to accomplish the less likely they will bother and the more irritated they will become with your service.

Netflix has hooked everyone with their pay once, watch anywhere approach and this backwards move fragments the experience on some, but not all devices. They should providing the same experience on as many devices as possible. Asking for the ability to search their entire library and manage one's queue on all your Netflix devices and apps is not that huge a request. Given that 90% of their titles are only available on disc, it's especially relevant.

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Except...
Jan 19, 2011 10:50PM PST

....last I checked, a good majority of devices didn't let you manage your DVD queue. I know the Xbox doesn't. Don't think any of the game consoles do. If they remove DVD queues from all streaming devices, then it's not fragmented now is it?

If you're a netflix subscriber then chances are you have a computer. And if that's the case, then you have NO problem whatsoever.

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The iPhone Netflix app lets you organize your disc queue.
Jan 20, 2011 10:49AM PST

But the iPad doesn't. This is exactly why the company should be moving in the other direction. Instead of taking functionality away they should be unifying the experience across the entire product line. Removing functions only "unifies" the product line in as much as it unifies the level of frustration customers will experience and making your customers frustrated is never good for business.

Telling someone "you've got a computer, that should be good enough for you so quit your whining" is extremely condescending and a back@sswards attitude in a time when the mobile web and connected devices are exploding. If Netflix doesn't have enough imagination to realize that movies recommendations may come at all time and anyplace then they need to hire some better usability consultants. Sometimes you are miles away from your computer and you want to add something to your queue before you forget. When 90% of your catalog is only available in disc form there's a very good chance that recommendations will be disc only.

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However....
Jan 20, 2011 2:02PM PST

...if you're "miles away from a computer" as you put it, and you come across a movie recommendation then nine times out of ten you can just pull out your smart phone or whatever and access your queue from the web. In this day and age of connectivity, there's really no excuse. And if you don't have a mobile phone or an internet connected mobile device, then what difference will it make if you're hit with a movie recommendation miles from a computer.

It's not so much of "You got a computer so stop whining", as it is "You can still access this on the web, where you usually have more control than on streaming devices anyway, so why are you complaining??"

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If web experiences were so satisfying and wonderful
Jan 20, 2011 2:49PM PST

there would be no demand for apps. And having your service behave one way on an iPhone and another on a ipad and another on a Wii and yet another on a blu-ray player is just plain BAD interface design.

If you have to tell people "well, all you have to do is X" then you have failed as a designer.

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I agree
Jan 19, 2011 6:05AM PST

Ordering in DVDs by mail is the model of the past. Why clutter their TV streaming UI with a feature that is slowly going obsolete?
They're just being minimalist and forward looking.

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Um, 90% of their catalog is still disc only.
Jan 19, 2011 10:08AM PST

unless you consider Smokey and the Bandit to be a big new release, I'm afraid the "obsolescence" of the DVD/Blu-ray past is still very much needed.

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So?
Jan 19, 2011 10:35PM PST

The majority of their catalog is disc only. It's premature to focus purely on streaming. However, you can still go on the website to get DVDs. Streaming devices are for just that. Streaming. The devices are being catered for those who have the streaming only plan. It's not like they're taking DVDs away completely.

It almost sounds like people are being lazy and self entitled or something. In this day and age of everything being on the web, are we really complaining about having to go on the web to do something? I have Netflix. I've had it for years. I have a 360 and never once did I wish I could add DVDs from there. In fact, I PREFER being able to do it from the website. Why on EARTH would I want to do it from a streaming device?

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I have a Roku
Jan 20, 2011 3:43AM PST

I don't remember ever seeing the option to add DVDs to my queue via my Roku box. Maybe I missed it, but it's never been there that I can recall.

I'd just like to see more search and categories on my streaming (Roku, et. al.) devices. Right now, it's search by name, but what if I don't know the name? What if I want Actors, or Category searches? That's what I'd like to see. I couldn't care less about adding to my DVD queue from the streaming device, since I only want to see streaming titles on that box. I don't want my streaming box to show something where I say, "Hey, there's the movie I want to see!" only to find that it's DVD-only, lol.

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The Apple TV has the ability to browse by actor, director,
Jan 20, 2011 10:54AM PST

genre, similar movies, etc. It is by far the best streaming interface I've seen for Netflix because it really drills deep into the stumble on a movie method. I also have the Netflix on the xbox 360 and my LG blu-ray player and have played with my mom's Roku interface. Again, it would be nice if they could unify these experiences and provide the same functionality.

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Exactly!
Jan 20, 2011 2:08PM PST

You're on a streaming device to stream movies. Why does it matter if you can add DVDs to your queue or not? If I do a search for something and I get results that are DVD only, then what good does that do me if I'm a streaming only subscriber?

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If you are away at a party and someone
Jan 20, 2011 2:38PM PST

tells you about a movie and you add it to your queue on your phone do you really want to be told that your only options are to add it to your DVD queue or to watch it right then with no option to add to your instant queue? (as the iPhone app does). Or when you search for a movie on the iPad app it doesn't even show up because unlike the in iPhone app, DVD queue management isn't allowed there? Or when you get done with a movie on your Apple TV and the interface recommends other things you may like it totally ignores all the DVD's that would be perfect for you?

Inconsistant user experiences breed confusion and frustration.

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Except...
Jan 21, 2011 11:48AM PST

if I just want to add a movie to my queue, I can do it just fine from the mobile web.

And to mention again, if I'm a streaming only member, I do not want DVD results to show up when I search for something. And if I'm a DVD member, then I'm perfectly fine with managing my DVD queue online. Something I've been doing for years. If I'm on a streaming device, guess what I want to do? Stream movies. Why do I want a dumbed down interface for managing my DVDs when I can do it all on the web?

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If the open web was so great on smartphones and
Jan 22, 2011 12:10AM PST

Tv's and all other internet connected devices there would be no apps in the world. When given the choice, people inevitably choose native apps over a generic web interfaces. They are faster and cleaner because they designed specifically for the interface you happen to be using whether that is a 60" screen across the room or a 4" touchscreen in your hand. The immense popularity of apps is message that customers are sending to companies When Netflix takes away functionality from an app on a connected device, or fails to maintain functional parity across all Netflix enabled devices, they show that they haven't heard the message at all.

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Well
Jan 22, 2011 5:11AM PST

A unified interface is nice. I'll give you that. Which is probably why they took DVD queue management away from streaming devices. The majority of the streaming devices out there don't have it, and don't need it. And quite frankly, if I had a choice between managing my DVD queue in a dumbed down app or a full featured webpage, I'd pick the web every time. Apps aren't everything. A good mobile web interface can be just as good as an app any day of the week.

The main point is this. There is no need to have DVD queue management on a streaming only device. Netflix probably is of the mindset that if a customer has a streaming device, then they only want to stream movies on it. That's the whole point of the device. If they have a DVD account, then there's still the website for management.

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They are not just streaming devices though. They are just
Jan 22, 2011 6:12AM PST

as much apps as the ones for Android, iOS. The fact that you can't watch DVD's on a Roku or Apple TV is inconsequential because no matter where you do your queue management,you'll always have to wait for the disc. That's true on your computer or your iphone or your connected TV. If I finish a movie and want to browse or search some more on my couch then that is where I should be able to do it. I don;t appreciate being told I've got to move to another device to access the hidden 90% of a service I'm already connected to.

The whole point of being everywhere on every platform is that it never matters where the customer is because there is always a way to accomplish whatever it is they need to get done. When one interface lets you do A,B and G, and another lets you do B, C, F and G and yet another lets you do A,E, F, and G you have produced a horribly fractured and confusing user experience. It's been this way on Netflix for quite some time too. The Playstation let you search but the Xbox didn't at first. Now Roku lets you search but not the whole streaming catalog while the iPad does let you search the whole catalog but won;'t let you add to your instant queue, etc.

If anything Netflix needs to be unifying ALL experiences not further complicating them by selectively removing features. Right now it feels like they have a bunch of development teams that aren't talking to one another.

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Well...
Jan 24, 2011 2:07AM PST

If you define "complicating" as changing the experience for a much smaller subset of people --with the majority not even aware that any streaming platform even had the queue management capability-- I guess I'd agree. I do think Netflix would benefit from having a unified API so that all features that they want to have accessible ARE accessible on any device (outside of a PC, that is).

Remember, too, that Netflix now has a streaming-only option, and would have to rejigger their apps to check to see who has what plan to present the options they need to show (such as adding DVD's/Blu-Ray's). <b>Streaming is the one constant across all plans</b>, however.

Why is it you think the Roku can't search the entire streaming catalog? I haven't heard that. My beef with the Roku is that it only searches by movie title, but I've never heard that I couldn't find every streaming movie available (if I knew the title). I don't see that being mentioned on the Roku forums. Every now and then someone will complain that their instant queue on a pc might not match the Roku, but that's usually solved by restarting the Roku or some similar measure.

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Taking care of all your customers
Jan 24, 2011 7:26AM PST

If Netflix is going to create app interfaces interface just for the streaming only people then they better do that on the website as well for consistency. And they need to do the same for people who have disc and streaming plans. It's not like they don't know who you are and what your plan is the moment you arrive. And yes, in the future we will all stream content but that day is a long ways off (the content companies are making sure of it) and in the meantime you still need to take care of your customers.

Maybe I'm confusing it with one of the 3 versions we've had on xbox. First no search, then only limited search and limited browsing. But being limited to searching only by movie title on Roku is indeed annoying. And when you want to browse instead of search you only see a limited collection of movies. Apple TV is by far the best Netflix interface I've seen. Searching and browsing are both well implemented and drilling down into movies by director, actor, or genre is very nice. The only thing missing are discs. I mean how hard would it be to color code discs, streaming and upcoming releases with red, blue, and green labeling just like they do on the web site?