Friday, July 08, 2005
DVD bootleggers prefer Blockbuster
Honest, decent Netflix subscribers can rejoice that this guy isn't using Netflix anymore. He admits he copied his Netflix rentals to his hard drive, and returned them before watching them. He claims he deleted them from his hard drive after watching them (pardon me if I'm skeptical). Not surprisingly, Netflix couldn't keep up with his demand for discs. In retaliation, he posted an interesting comparison of Blockbuster vs. Netflix, in which Blockbuster comes out the winner.
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I actually checked the main site - it does appear to be a legit software site.
ReplyDeleteHowever, donnie has a point - Blockbuster might have given him a bit of "incentive"
The guy on Acmetech.com has BlockBuster advertisements on the "comparison" page. The "How it works" image is linked to http://clickserve.cc-dt.com and other links take you to more Blockbuster advertisements. It may be that Blockbuster has a more generous affiliate program than Netflix . Mr. Acmetech does not mention which plan he uses (3 out, 6 out, etc.). He also does not include delivery time in his comparison chart.
ReplyDeleteI must say that he has found a way to get a lot of bang for his buck. Let's hope he is not pirating DVDs.
I'm not sure why you'd feel so strongly as to come to NetFlix's defense. Does it really matter whether someone chooses to rent from BlockBuster Online or NetFlix as long as they're happy with the service they're paying for? Why would NetFlix be "unable to keep up with [my] demand?" Their behavior is well documented across the web, just search google for something like "netflix throttling" and you'll find many other complaints.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the parenthetical comment "pardon me if I'm skeptical", I don't blame you for your skepticism, I probably would be too. but the case is, those things used up 5-8Gb of disk space, which is more than I'm willing to give up just to save purchasing a copy of a film. so indeed they were deleted after I finished watching them.
For what it's worth I'm no longer doing that with the BlockBuster subscription since I've become too busy to fool with it or watch as many movies.
I appreciate "Jonny M" offering some defense of my complaints. And in fact, my only real complaint with NetFlix was the surreptitious throttling of the dvd sending. If you want to claim my time-shifting of the films was unfair or otherwise, go right ahead, but consider that if instead I was simply watching the flicks the day they arrived and getting them back in the mail the same day, I still would have been throttled, and no where in the TOS do they disclaim that practice. That's something _I_ have a problem with. And trust in the fact that if BlockBuster starts doing it, you will see that being documented on my online dvd rental information page.
I happen to be on the 3 out at a time plan with BlockBuster Online. I've been starting to document some of my experiences with BlockBuster's turnaround time in the comments on my blog (see BlockBuster - DVD Rental) and feel free to leave your own comments, but please keep them tasteful and in the spirit of debate or I'll simply block the posting of additional comments there. I am also not a shill or front for BlockBuster, I'm simply promoting a service I'm happy with at the moment, as you appear to be doing with your NetFlix blog. I'm also close to releasing some new pages with updated information on both services all of which comes from each service's own marketing and FAQ materials, as well as subscriber stories.
Unless I'm somehow mistaken, the fact remains that BlockBuster is cheaper for the 3 out at a time plan, matches NetFlix pricing for 5 at a time, and is cheaper again for 8 out at a time.
Happy DVD renting everyone.