September 19, 2011, 11:38 AM —
First, Netflix announced they are charging separately for their video streaming and DVDs by mail services. Now they announced Qwikster, the new name for the DVD by mail service. Shouldn't they have announced Qwikster first, then introduced the price change?
Streaming will still be handled by Netflix, and the DVD mailing envelopes will still be red, but have the new logo. But the name "Qwikster" sounds more like quick access to streamed content than Netflix. Wrapped up in here somewhere is an apology from Netflix (and Qwikster) CEO Reed Hastings for bungling the price change announcement, although he also says he just wasn't clear enough.
Reports say Qwikster will be a separate company (owned by Netflix), and will be accessed by a different website and have separate billing processes. So Netfix now doubles their customer contact portals and billing processes, and thinks that will help clear up our confusion? No wonder so many comments question whether the real Netflix mistake starts now.
Stupid move
Stupid move. When I think of movies — either disc or streaming, I think “Netflix.” No longer. Wow, what a misjudgement of consumer preference.
Dennis D. McDonald on gigaom.com
I think Reed Hastings wants to go for the record on how fast to squander to good will of their customers with extremely poor executive decisions.
Jeff Kibuule on allthingsd.com
Tell me that my ratings will no longer carry over from one to the other, and that I can no longer see which movies in my DVD queue are now available to stream? FAIL. Both services are now less valuable, because the DVD served to shore up delayed release windows or limited offerings in streaming, while streaming led the way in convenience. They added to and complimented each other.
Oluseyi_S on allthingsd.com
Shouldn't it be called Slowster if it focuses on DVD mail rentals? Just sayin.
Damien Basile on techcrunch.com
Genius move
I think the separation only confirms what many Netflix customers thought: That Netflix wanted to dump its DVD customers and get them to quit. So I guess it got its wish.
vertical2010 on allthingd.com
Smart in a new way
Qwikflix would have been a more logical name choice if they insist on this misguided split.
Jeffery Hagedon on gigaom.com
Wild conspiracy theory: Netflix is preparing to sell its streaming business to Apple. At present, Netflix is the only paid streaming service featured prominently on the latter company’s Apple TV devices that competes directly with Apple’s iTunes rental service.
Jason T. Calhoun on gigaom.com
Tonight, I was watching Breaking Bad on the basement computer, my kids were watching Pucca on their laptops, and my wife was watching some british comedy. This was on one Netflix subscription. You cannot beat that value.
Listman on allthingsd.com
But hey, its good for investors. Or the shareholders. Or the CEOs. Or basically anyone but the people who actually pay for the service itself, I guess.
Arron Washington on techcrunch.com
Did you follow through on your threat to cancel Netflix when they upped the price? No? How about now?
