Netflix, as most people know, is a DVD rental service that delivers DVD’s directly to your mailbox. If you have a modern video game console or computer, you can also get it to play certain movies or TV shows directly on to your TV or computer, all for $9 a month. This was a godsend for those with busy schedules, as they could take five minutes to place an order for a movie on DVD, or come home and play a movie on their computers. At least this is what Netflix used to be until July 12, 2011 when Netflix announced they were to separate the DVD and Streaming services. Cries for justice were being heard across the nation as people were cancelling subscriptions and calling for blood.
Why would Netflix ruin a perfect balance of $9 a month for both DVD’s and streaming content you ask? Well, when Netflix started its unlimited streaming plan, they felt that the DVD plan was tacked on as an extra two dollars a month. Also, what if you do a lot of work on your computer? You wouldn’t be able to view the movie. Additionally, what if you didn’t own a modern video game console? They decided that they should split the services into either paying $7.99 a month for either streaming or DVD services, or $15 for both at the same time. Originally, they were going to keep streaming on Netflix and have DVD capabilities on a different site called Qwikster.com, but because this would make things more complicated, they decided to keep both on Netflix.
As a company who has one of the largest selections of movies and TV anywhere for rent, this at first seems like a ploy to get more money. When you start to think about how the economy is going, it kind of makes sense that they raised the price for a combo package. While I think that it is a good idea to split the services, I think this should have been an option that the price of the combo package to be raised to about $10 a month instead of $15. There is also the problem of which service to pick because there are hefty divides in the services. For example, The Office is only available on Netflix’s streaming service and can’t be mailed to your house. However, what if you like a ton of movies you can’t get on streaming? Which one would you choose to be conveniently mailed to you?
Overall, while I do understand why Netflix decided to split up the services, I think it could have been handled in a much better way. Do I recommend Netflix? Yes, but I would do research to see which plan that would better suit your needs.