NetFlix: What more could you ask for?
Last month I signed up for a Netflix account. It wasn’t the dvd rental part of their service that interested me, but more the streaming aspect. It was recommended by a friend and after thinking about for a few days I decided to try it out. They had a thirty-day free offer … so hey, what do you have to lose? You can watch just about any movie, documentary, TV or anything else ever put on film … instantly, and on just about any device that connects to the internet. As a matter of fact you can connect up to six devices at once if you so desire!
In general, I don’t watch much television besides the news and that’s not for more than ten minutes a day or until I get pissed off by political bullshit or the repetition of three or four news stories that the prime new stations insist on repeating over and over and over until you begin to believe that it’s important. Why they do that I’ll never understand, there’s so much happening in the world that could be reported on.
Actually, I hate to even get started on this topic because I really feel like our “news (if you can still call it that), is so heavily censored that I might as well be watching Sponge Bob. Not censored in the sense of the conspiracy minded, or our government (although that’s certainly possible), but censored by the news programs and stations themselves simply by covering so few items a day, and by injecting so much opinion.
Yeah, I know, … I was talking about NetFlix … let’s leave “news broadcasting” for another discussion before I get really carried away. Besides, the telly is often on in our house. Our pets (cats and dog) seem to be attracted to it, and certainly Alberic enjoys his occasional show and video games, and Sher watches a few Soap Operas …
NetFlix seems to be offering a pretty good deal if you’re a watcher, or even if you just occasionally watch something.
There are several different levels of accounts to choose from. The main difference between them is the number of DVD’s you can get mailed to your house each month. There’s no time limit to how long you can hold on to the DVD, but as soon as you return it (pre-paid mailer included), your next choice on the list is on the way.
The accounts work in two ways:
1.) You can keep a running list of DVD’s to be mailed to you.
2.)You can simply stream the movie over the internet to your computer or TV.
You get access to both.
It pretty darn simple to do (you don’t need to be a computer geek) and their website is very easy to use. As for variety of things to watch … it’s almost endless. The genres are extensive … even the Foreign Film and Classic categories are packed with lot’s of choices.
So, next time you feel like watching a movie or some television show without commercial interuption (although you can always hit the pause button while you make the popcorn), try it out. Great if you have kids too!
I do wonder though … will there ever be advertising added? For those of you who remember the history of television goes like this.
At first we had simple broadcast television, they sold advertising to make money and stay in business … that makes sense … right?
Then along came Cable TV, their big initial selling point was that there would be no advertising because if you paid for the service, that fee would be enough to keep them going and growing. Not sure how long that lasted but it wasn’t very long.
Cable TV has now degraded to the point that it’s worse (for the viewer), then it’s predecessor … the very thing it was originally trying to conquer. Nothing but the very lowest budget reality shows, info-mercials, and News stations that get most their news from websites … they barely have reporters any longer … and paid staff that provides research.
Basically, if it weren’t for the internet connection … I wouldn’t even have it, and that’s barely an acceptable speed when you compare it to most of the other technically advanced countries in the world. We’re on the bottom rung of the ladder … and, we pay way too much.
Now, along comes Streaming TV and Movies doing the same thing … no commercial interruption, dirt cheap, and oh, so convenient … but for how long?
Take advantage of it while you can … I’m sure it’ll change. After-all NFLX is on the Exchange and it’s investors will be demanding higher and higher profits, pushing the company to make more and more dollars … and so the cycle continues.
Hmmm … frustrating isn’t it? It seems to all boil down to bandwidth issues and how our government (meaning our tax dollars) has already paid for most the infrastructure, yet big business continues to profit from it and in a massive way!
Think about what you pay monthly for access to bandwidth, of one sort or another. Cable TV, your cell phone, your smart phone, maybe you’re like me and have a GPS service … go ahead, add it up … tell me it’s not expensive … and tell me you can live, work and survive without it. That’s getting harder and harder to do too.
Gee … where have I heard all this before?
Hey, in the meantime … make some popcorn and give NetFlix a “go”, it’s a lot of fun and it’ll help keep your mind off of politics and world issues … and enjoy the show, I’m watching Doctor Who tonight!
