Instant watching is a great concept BUT......

[Movieobsessive]

As far as I am concerned instant watching is the future of Netlfix and the industry. Why wait for disks by "snail mail" when you can stream in real-time. However there is one small problem Netlfix seems to have discovered a special place which sells only the worst movies ever made and they are are: 1) all included in watching instantly and 2) Netflix has stopped adding almost any even half-way watchable movies or TV programs. Seriously folks this is not the way to get customers hooked on watched instantly by only giving us the option to watch rubbish. This is a particular shame because Roku (essentially a streaming DVD player) is a wonderful invention that makes watching streaming videos incredibly easy,

[Movieobsessive]

Bunghole, I am in 100% agreement; you could not have phrased this better. Lets hope the Netflix executives hear you. I am very curious to see where WI goes too and it is indeed in the hands of Netflix (with encouragement) to continue to think outside the box.

[Jazz Man]

The reason Mad Men, to use you example isn't included on WI probably has to due with how fast they are selling the DVDs. The producers have no interest in making is free to stream right now.

[Orion2012]

I started with the Netflix shipping emails on Monday. So everything in my Q was scrambled up. I recieved the movies I put in the Q last Monday today. My account still tells me that my dvds will ship on the 18th and I will be issued a credit. By midweek I was upset and then realized that most other dvd co's dont issue credits or even step up to the plate with enough integrity to admit that their co has errors. Netflix has proven to me they have ethics. I wish we all could support them more since they are about to shell out truck loads of cheese. This has made the news and I hope that are 15% credit does not kill netflix since we all want new releases and more IW and all this stuff that is more difficult to achieve than the average consumer even realizes. All this bickering in the community about the late shipments reminds of the world I escape when I log on here. There are WAY 2 many posts with the same questions and the same answers to just keep em' coming like this. In a perfect world we would ask netflix to use the millions they will lose to improve their selections or IW instead of a 2-5 dollar credit

[Arkweld]

You're complaining about the wrong people. This is not the sole problem of Netflix but applies to every streaming movie service in use or has been in use. See also: Vongo, Vudu, Moviebeam etc. etc.

Studios do not want to offer their big releases in an all you can eat format. They want to charge per rental viewing and receive the control and revenue that the 24 hour viewing period allows. Any subscription based service has to go through loops and hoops to get studios involved and the end result is usually not that current.

[Striker090871]

I agree, I have used Vongo, CinemaNow and Amazon Unbox, and they all have this problem. Either they have a limited non-blockbuster selection of movies, to view for a monthly fee, or you have to "rent", or "buy" the movie, for almost as much(if not more), than if you had gone to a video store. I left Vongo, for this reason. I was sort of happy with them for a while, but their movie selection, was limited, and I wasn't able to see any new movies.

I came to NetFlix, on a free trial, before IW, was unlimited, and found that I was much happier. I could get new movies in the mail, and some instant movies, to watch, when there was nothing on TV. Since they have changed IW, to unlimited viewing, I have been very happy with NetFlix.

[karen]

I'm just curious...

Why is it possible to view things that have not been released to DVD... i.e. Simon & Simon seasons above 2.

Thanks

[The Real Uncle Bob]

Why is it possible to view things that have not been released to DVD... i.e. Simon & Simon seasons above 2.

I first noticed this with the latest season of "Penn & Teller's BS!," which had barely completed airing on Showtime when it started streaming. Other Showtime shows. like "Californication" and "Dexter," had "season premiere" episodes available for a time after their first airing.

It's possible because owners of the shows can make any deal with Netflix they would like, provided they don't have any "exclusive" deals elsewhere. Putting TV shows on Netflix costs a lot less than duplicating, packaging, and distributing 100,000 DVDs, which might not even sell -- especially a half-forgotten show like S&S. If people show interest, old tv shows may be the fastest-growing part of the IW library over the next few years.

But how many people are really watching all those eps of "Coach" and "Give Me A Break?"

[karen]

Thanks for the info.... Uncle Bob

[The Real Uncle Bob]

"only giving us the option to watch rubbish"

hmm...Jean-Luc Godard, Pier Pasolini, Alfred Hitchcock, Werner Herzog, Sidney Lumet, Stanley Kubrick, are all represented in IW by several of their most acclaimed films. many of which are worth rewatching at least a couple of times per decade, even assuming you've seen them all once. Robowriter's list of foreign IW contains very few clunkers (and from there you can link to several other good IW lists from robo), and the "film movement" series of releases are, for the most part, exceptional films.

Your belly-aching reminds me of the resurgence of neanderthal man that H.L. Mencken warned us would come about after Clarence Darrow lost the Scopes trial in 1925.

[Movieobsessive]

This is a response to UncleBob specifically. Discussion should include mutual education and respect. Folks don't always have to agree just to be open minded and polite. Your comment including "Your bellyaching ........." a. is extremely rude and b. shows me you had no understanding of what I was saying. Postings such as yours should be banned from this forum and indeed the Netflix we site. Please try and understand the concept of civilized debate.

[The Real Uncle Bob]

By calling Godard, Pier Pasolini, Alfred Hitchcock, Werner Herzog, Sidney Lumet, and Stanley Kubrick "rubbish," you insulted my taste in film; that is no way to show "respect."

But I don't advocate banning your posts, which is a far less "respectful" manner of dealing with those with whom you disagree.

[Broken]

Streaming can be sucky on a sucky connection. But I haven't had that problem. Infact I am looking forward to watching movies from Netflix over Xbox Live soon. WOOOOOO!!!