Hacking NetFlix

These Are a Few of My Favorite Blogs

Blogs.com asked me to send them a few of my favorite Netflix-related sites, and they posted my Top 10 Netflix, Gadget and Movie Blogs list. It was an honor to be asked, but it was incredibly unfair of them to limit the list to only 10 sites, so I hope I haven't offended anyone that didn't make the final list.

Netflix Fan is Back & Posting Like Mad

Becky from the Netflix Fan blog is back from RiverRun Film Festival (where she watched more than 20 movies) and is blogging up a storm.

I use Bloglines to to read blogs, but I've been looking at NetNewsWire for OS X again so I can read a set of blogs on the train to NYC. Becky noted that you can add movies to your queue from within NetNewsWire. NetNewsWire is an excellent program and I can't wait to try this out.

She also blogged about the growth of the video rental market in Q1 2005.

Becky and I typically cover different stories, so I urge you to check out her blog.

NetflixBuddy.com: New Netflix Forum

There's a new Netflix forum that's just getting started, NetflixBuddy.com, and you should check it out. Forums are a lot different than a Web site or blog (like HackingNetflix), and they can be a great place to find and share information.

I've wanted to start a Netflix-related forum for a long time, so I'm glad somebody else decided to do the work.

Found on A Netflix Fan blog.

A Netflix Odyssey: If You're Happy and You Know It...

Raven at A Netflix Odyssey wants to to know what you like about Netflix.

Manuel's Netflix Journal

Manuel is a frequest contributor to Hacking Netflix, yet I only recently discovered his Web site, Manuel's Netflix Journal. Manuel documents his experience as a high-volume Netflix subscriber, and he's not pleased with the service.

I spend too much time with my kids, working a day job, and writing for this blog to be a high-volume renter, so I haven't had the same experience as he has. I watch about 9 Netflix movies a month, and another 6 or so Blockbuster movies. I've had a couple of lost and unplayable movies in the two years I've been a renter, but I had a similar experience with my local video store before I joined Netflix.

Manuel has rented 29 movies this month (he's on the 8-out plan), and I think the high-volume renters will statistically have the hardest time with the service since they have so much interaction with Netflix. 29 movies means 58 mailings, and our postal service isn't perfect. I also understand that some distribution centers don't have all of the movies, and since he rents so many movies he'll get more from a distant center, adding to the delivery time. Manuel has even created a Netflix calculator, estimating how many movies you can rent based on his theory.

Manuel has had 15 broken DVD's and 4 wrong movies, but I can't find out how many movies he's rented to date, so I don't know what percentage have had problems. He also complains about unplayabe movies, but I have only had a couple that wouldn't play due to scratches or cracks. My old DVD player used to be picky, but a cheap Apex player I use now will handle almost anything.

He's convinced that Netflix has a program that deliberately throttles high-volume renters, which brings up the question Netflix must answer: Are you penalizing frequent renters? This question has bounced around the blogs and chat rooms for far too long for Netflix to ignore it.

Manuel is so sure that Netflix is penalizing frequent renters that he's offer a $100 bounty for a confession from a Netflix employee.

I'm all for someone documenting his experience, but I was hoping to find more of a balance to his site. He rents almost 30 movies a month, and while he's had some bad experiences, he seems to focus on the bad and neglects to balance this with the selection, delivery time (I get movies in 1 - 2 days), etc. You would think that someone this unhappy with a company would quit, but Manuel's goal seems to be getting Netflix to fix their problems.

Netflix Odyssey Asks "What's with the Delay?"

Netflix Odyssey, a Netflix user experience blog, asks "What's with the Delay?" I know what they're talking about, as I've seen delays from time to time (some as long as 5 days) for a movie to arrive at the distribution center. I've been getting 1 - 2 day return times from Hartford lately, which is an improvement.

They are disappointed because it's taking up to 3 days for movies to get to the distribution center, and then they're not shipping until the next day:

I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to an inexperienced staff getting into their "full load" and not being able to keep up (and probably dealing with "I can't stand this job" turnover as well). I hope they recover soon... Netflix' one-day turn-around time has been a big factor in their value for me. Now they've raised their prices by 10%, citing increased costs due in large part to opening so many new warehouses so I can get my discs faster Except I'm paying extra and getting poorer service, and that doesn't seem quite right.

WhatToRent.com Movie Suggestion Site

Lockergnome mentioned an interesting movie suggestion site, WhatToRent.com. Claiming to te the "world leader in movie suggestion technology," the site has you fill out a quick survey based on the LaBarrie Thoery.

The site design is based around the relatively unknown LaBarrie Theory. The LaBarrie Theory states, "A movie viewer emotionally interacts with a film in the same manner that they interact with other human beings." To utilize this theory, we first decipher a user's personality and form a general model of how they react to the world and their average emotional state. Next, we establish a relationship between that personality and the movies in our database. The cluster then compares your ideal stimulus and current mood to the possible relationships with movies on file. The film that maximizes the desired criteria is recommended.

I Google'd the "LaBarrie Theory" and they are the only link. Probably something they made up, but sounds official.

I tried it and it recommended mostly movies I had seen, but liked. The survey asks a bunch of seemingly unrelated questions, then recommends movies based on the type of movie you want to rent. I'm going to use it from time to time to find interesting movies that I haven't seen. An interesting alternative to Netflix's recommendation service.

Update: Ever have one of those days? Both sites seem to be having trouble at this time.

Defamer: Entertainment Gossip & News

Defamer.com is a hilarious movie, television, and entertainment gossip site (found on BoingBoing).

Netflix Fan Blog

My friend Becky started a Netflix Fan Blog (http://netflixfan.blogspot.com/). She's a hardcore movie fan and has decided that Netflix couldn't keep up with her so she also joined GreenCine. Becky has almost 500 movies in her queue and has a goal to see more than 1,001 movies in her lifetime. Great observations from a Netflix customer and movie lover.

Listology Lets You Share Your Queue

Jim from Listology.com let me know he's added a section to his "list" site for sharing your Netflix queue.

Reminds me of the old Apple "What's on your PowerBook" ads. Only a few people have signed up so far, but this is a good idea. I always love to see what movies other people are renting (voyeurism?).