Gizmodo:
Netflix, as experienced by our neighbors to the north, is an anemic imitation that besmirches the brand. It shouldn’t even be called Netflix. Netflix Lite, maybe. Netflix Canada Trashcan, probably, although that might negatively impact subscription sales. It’s the same price as the U.S. version, too, which makes it even more insulting.
This is one of the reasons why I tried and quickly canceled Netflix here in Canada. The selection is bad enough in the US. It’s much worse in Canada.
I already thought Netflix was a joke for the Wal-Mart $1 bargain bin stuff they have there now in the US. I didn’t know it was worse in other countries. It’s sad so many people subscribe to it.
I find that Canadian Netflix compares to cable TV, not to movie rentals. I rarely have a problem finding something interesting to watch on Canadian Netflix (and when I want, without commercials), though I don’t exactly get to pick what I want.
Compared to the cost of cable TV, it’s a good deal.
Of course, now that I watch via Hola when I feel like it there’s a much better selection. (Note: You pay for a Netflix subscription, not a Netflix.ca subscription. With a proxy, you can watch the US Netflix without paying a second fee.)
I really don’t understand what the issue is. The guy is complaining that some of the shows he used to enjoy on Netflix US are not part of Netflix Canada. But there are shows in Netflix Canada he enjoyed that was not part of Netflix US.
For me this is a useless article.
Or maybe it has shows they want to watch, though they might not be your taste?
Netflix is fine with me. I’ve got over 300 things in my watch list that I still have yet to get to, and I routinely add a few more movies or TV series each time they put up new things. Plus, the things stay around a lot longer, as opposed to something like HBO where movies come and go so quickly I don’t have time to watch most of what I want. (So thank goodness I’m not paying for HBO — just watch with friends 🙂 ). There are a ton of niche things on Netflix, too, like the silent movies. That’s a lot less shelf space I have to dedicate to silent movie DVD compilations, most of which repeat movies from set to set.
It’s one thing to say something is useless or a joke for you, but to declare it is useless for everyone and they’re sad for paying — well, that’s a joke.
Sure I’d like to see more- but the $7.99 a month is much cheaper than even the most basic cable plan- and completely fills the viewing gap for my 4 year old son, who now wants nothing to do with traditional broadcast television’s fixed schedules or commercials.
There’s loads of recent premium cable content, from the US and the UK for my wife and I to enjoy. We’re cutting cable this month.
Between Netfix and iTunes for the biggest recent releases, as well as a better selection of classic catalogue titles (probably Netflix weakest point)- we don’t need traditional TV anymore.
And it’s a mistake to make out that this is Netflix’s fault anyway- just like with Apple’s own negotiations for content- international video distribution is a morass of regional rights holders and distribution exclusivity agreements. It’s a nightmare.
If Netflix could provide the same catalogue to everyone globally… believe me they would be.
If you’re only choosing to watch movies, it can be a frustrating experience, unless you missed the more premium selections in theaters or at Redbox. I’ve found it be pretty effective for finding movies that match those criteria (Cabin in the Woods is a recent example, for me).
But it’s used far more to watch entire runs of TV shows that I missed the first time around or just want to watch a second time, with family.
While it may be true that there is content in Netflix.ca that is unavailable in the US, it seems rather far-fetched to assume that an equal number of quality shows unavailable in the US are available in Canada to offset the lost shows from the US.
To say the article is useless is to miss the entire purpose of Internet editorialism: garnering eyeballs. In that respect, the article appears to be anything but useless.
Two words: proxy server
yes, if Netflix is a priority I highly recommend unblock-us.com at $4.99/month its Netflix picker makes it quite easy to watch ALL Netflix titles anywhere in the world…first used it as a way to watch the BBC feeds of the Olympics when they were in London and just kept it for Netflix…
I’m sorry, but as a Canadian Netflix user, I am really sick to death of the way these articles are written. It’s “Hell” because you can’t get “West Wing”? Oh wait: you actually CAN get “West Wing” on Canadian Netflix because I logged in while I was reading the article and brought up the “West Wing” on my desktop before I finished the article.
And after going out of her way to couch the situation in as many not-as-clever-as-people-like-to-think-they-are allusions to unmitigated disasters, she points out that the movie situation is actually better for Canadian Netflix users.
Yes I’m pissed that they haven’t added more than 2 seasons of “Justified” to Canadian Netflix but them I’m only on season 4 of “Lost” and only getting to the end of David Tennant’s run on “Doctor Who” so I think my binge card is full for the next little while.
Unotelly ($7) and Netflix ($8) is a pretty good alternative to cable. I’ve never been at a loss as to what I want to watch. Lots of familiar stuff, lots to discover.
I’ll never go back to commercial cable TV because who could want any more? Dying for a new release? iTunes/Amazon.
I travel to the US a lot and I don’t notice that much difference between the two countries and it’s easy to get around it.
You can’t get BBC iPlayer in the US. They may as well be living in the dark ages…
firstworldproblems