Sony Movies Pulled From Netflix Streams; Because Customers Just Love That Kind Of Thing
from the contract-disputes dept
Apparently, Sony Pictures films have been pulled from Netflix. Netflix claims that it's a temporary issue due to a contract dispute between Sony and Starz (a Netflix partner from which it gets many of its streaming movies). Other reports, however, say that there's no contract dispute, but that Starz just pulled the plug on those films. Either way, this kind of thing is never a good idea, because it's treating consumers as pawns. One of the reasons why Netflix has been so damn successful all these years is its focus on making the customer experience top notch. Removing content like this is never a good idea. These companies have to realize that they're still fighting to convince people that these services are worth paying for and that jerking them around by removing content isn't going to convince the people who were on the fence.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Way to go Sony!
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i wonder if they are using the newspaper industry for inspiration.
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Kudos to you Sony, total win at failing.
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No Sony movies... gasp
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first it was music stores
second the videostores
third the book stores fourth the retail small stores as no one goes out but clicks on amazon or they go to the MALL.
here in downtown portland maine if you live here just watch over time and see how 9 out of 10 times when a store closes a restaurant or coffee shop will open.it appears that the idea or trend will be to open a business doing something you can not get on the Internet or by clicking on some TV screen.
It is a shame not for me but for the many folk who now are on the dole.
Die Netflix Die.The sooner you go the happier I will be.
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Actually you have to realize how backwards your perspective is. He spent 18 years working in a video store. Next time someone comes crying about this, tell them they can always go work in a mail room for the next 18 years.
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You're lucky your job lasted this long. All the privately owned video stores in this area closed at least a decade ago due to competition from the big chain video stores like Blockbuster.
Why don't you hate the movie industry? If it wasn't for their obsessive hated of new technology, your friend could have adapted and opened up a site offering streaming video rentals, just like Netflix. Of course the movie industry would never allow this. They never even liked physical rental stores.
Die Netflix Die.The sooner you go the happier I will be.
The genie is never going back in the bottle. You might as well wish for the return of 8-track tapes, laserdiscs and Atari cartridges.
It sucks that you lost your job, but people have been getting laid off due to their businesses becoming obsolete ever since people started inventing new technology. Scribes didn't like the introduction of the printing press because it put them out of a job. Should we go back to the days of hand-copied books? Should we remove the buttons from all modern elevators so that elevator operators can have their jobs back?
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Laserdiscs still exist, they call them CD's and DVD's .... oh wait, never mind :)
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Video stores still exist. They're just called Netflix, Redbox, Lovefilm, YouTube, etc. Those who depend on just lining a shelf with boxes and waiting for people to come and collect them are going the way of the dodo. Nothing fundamentally wrong with that.
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And that's a bad thing how?
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I was myself very saddened by all the music and video stores closing down, because as a kid I spent countless hours in these stores just browsing, with the added bonus of actual physical social interaction with other real human beings.
But as these shops were failing, I realized that - unfortunately - this was absolutely necessary. The old must die to make way for the new.
Just like Blockbuster put a lot of mom and pop video stores out of business; now the new digital age is putting Blockbuster out of business as well, and eventually someone else will put Netflix out of business the moment they put their guard down, and the cycle will go on, and on, and on, and just like the Universe's expansion, the cycle will only Accelerate with time.
Its nothing more than memetic evolution taking hold.
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You weren't. You were laid off because your employer failed to compete with Netflix. A big difference. Netflix didn't move into your area and cause your store to close like a WalMart might have done. People simply preferred to use Netflix instead of your employer's service. Whether that was due to a poor business model, an outdated product people didn't want or the surly jackass behind the counter, I can't rightly say.
"i also have medical issues."
So what? So does a guy working at my office who can hardly walk without a stick. Doesn't stop him from working - why is a store the only work you can do?
"the good people who try and make a living owning a store of some kind"
Won't somebody PLEASE think of the buggy whip makers, the music hall owners, the sheet music printers and the portrait painters! If ONLY the car, cinema, recorded music and photography were not here, they would still have jobs!
Bottom line: if someone is trying to run a store that offers an unpopular product, they will go out of business. DVDs that you have to collect yourself in person are currently an unpopular product. Deal with it.
"see how 9 out of 10 times when a store closes a restaurant or coffee shop will open"
So, you live in an area where coffee shops are more popular than video stores. Sorry, but your opinion clearly does not match that of your peers. Maybe it's time to move, or accept that you are in such a small minority that it doesn't allow your chosen industry to thrive. Again, deal with it.
"third the book stores fourth the retail small stores as no one goes out but clicks on amazon or they go to the MALL."
OMG! Shut down all the malls! Then people will just go to the small stores. If you believe that, I have some Nigerian money you might be interested in.
"The sooner you go the happier I will be."
But what about all those good people employed at Netflix, people employed by the ISPs who deal with their increased traffic, the mail sorters and carriers who have jobs purely because Amazon and Netflix's volumes make it necessary? Why is your job worth more than theirs?
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1) Become a niche market
DVDs can still be great for collections. Something that Netflix isn't really competing with. If you can muster it, I would highly suggest highly collectible items that people will love to pay for, depending on the area.
2) Internet presence
You HAVE to be on the internet and accessible to millions. Just start small.
3) Community features
Sure, it's small, but find some way to build up a presence and implement CwF + RtB.
Just a few things I can think of that may make the transition to digital media a lot easier. :)
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I agree with your solutions though. I can only guess as to how the store in question was really run, but if he was just watching the store crumble around him instead of altering to compete, then he only has himself and/or his employer to blame.
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if it weren't for electricity the internet would not have been possible and there would have been no netflix, so it would seem the real reason you lost your job is because of the water wheel.
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Had a conversation with a co-worker today...
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Local Jobs Created By The Internet.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090713/1916365532.shtml#c105
sewers are the primal public utility, the Alpha and Omega of public utilities. When the dust settles, the sewer districts will wind up owning all the telecommunications subscriber loops, and the state highway department will own the trunk lines. Construction and operation of essential public infrastructure is too important to be left to the stock market.
In the second place, physical objects ordered over the internet have to be delivered. The Post Office will do some of the delivering, especially to the places where UPS and FedEx don't want to go. The Post Office is the carrier of last resort. Incidentally, I find that many things I buy from Amazon, especially non-book items, are not extraordinarily cheap, once delivery charges are included. Amazon makes sense for these items mostly because I don't drive, and finding them on Amazon is less bother than going on a shopping expedition, visiting multiple stores to find things. What it comes down to is that I choose to spend money on mail carriers instead of store clerks.
So the internet creates jobs for street construction crews and for postal carriers. They are all better paid than nearly all retail workers.
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People will just watch other things
No loss to us. Only a loss to them.
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Sony and Netflix
There may be very good reasons for what they did. Until you know WHY, you should limit your comments more than you do.
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Re: Sony and Netflix
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Sony - Netflix = Crackle
What does Crackle do? It streams films and TV episodes to your mobile device.
Hold on...Doesn't Netflix do that too?
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Maybe I don't need Sony movies
Sony sues Playstation owner for daring to restore advertised functionality.
Sony fails to apply reasonable security recautions to Playstation network data.
I'm not very impressed with Sony right now. Maybe I don't need their movies.
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