02-07-2012, 02:13 PM
I would bet a shiny nickel that Verizon won't be able to compete with Netflix when it comes to having a decent website or user experience.
Although I have no issues with Verizon as a basic cellphone carrier, and 4G is fantastic, their website, their nickel-and-dime nature with cellphone features and their software in general has always annoyed me. (The best thing about the Droid was it let me have a phone that didn't have Verizon's dirty mitts all over it. Or at least, not as much as in my previous non-Droid cellphone. They still loaded it with uninstallable Verizon crap.)
But just to demonstrate this isn't coming from any Verizon hatred, I can say the same thing about Amazon's website when it comes to movies, including streaming. As much as I love Amazon as a company and find their website generally useful for shopping, their interface is not even close to as good as Netflix's. Along similar lines to the Facebook discussion, I like to think about companies in terms of what their long-term hold on customers may be -- how easy would it be for people to switch? And Netflix's hook is their rating system and how they built their website around it. "Netflix knows me." I go there now and get categories like "Violent British War Movies" and "Witty Space-Travel TV Shows".
If another site opened up that was completely identical to Netflix in offerings, for $2 less per month, I probably wouldn't switch. They would have to have an interface as slick as Netflix's and even then I'd have to consider that "they don't know me" and I'd have to spend some time rating movies to get the system oriented around my likes again.
So basically I have pretty good confidence in Netflix still. I'd love to see Amazon buy them, really, but only if they plan to keep the Netflix interface!
Although I have no issues with Verizon as a basic cellphone carrier, and 4G is fantastic, their website, their nickel-and-dime nature with cellphone features and their software in general has always annoyed me. (The best thing about the Droid was it let me have a phone that didn't have Verizon's dirty mitts all over it. Or at least, not as much as in my previous non-Droid cellphone. They still loaded it with uninstallable Verizon crap.)
But just to demonstrate this isn't coming from any Verizon hatred, I can say the same thing about Amazon's website when it comes to movies, including streaming. As much as I love Amazon as a company and find their website generally useful for shopping, their interface is not even close to as good as Netflix's. Along similar lines to the Facebook discussion, I like to think about companies in terms of what their long-term hold on customers may be -- how easy would it be for people to switch? And Netflix's hook is their rating system and how they built their website around it. "Netflix knows me." I go there now and get categories like "Violent British War Movies" and "Witty Space-Travel TV Shows".
If another site opened up that was completely identical to Netflix in offerings, for $2 less per month, I probably wouldn't switch. They would have to have an interface as slick as Netflix's and even then I'd have to consider that "they don't know me" and I'd have to spend some time rating movies to get the system oriented around my likes again.
So basically I have pretty good confidence in Netflix still. I'd love to see Amazon buy them, really, but only if they plan to keep the Netflix interface!