Sunday, February 05, 2006

To Netflix or Not to Netflix

Over the last week, I've been trying to decide whether or not to get a subscription to Netflix. This seems like it would be a pretty easy decision but it has not been. The positive about Netfilx is that it's very cheap. It has an incredible selection. It would not take that long to have them delivered to my place. And some movies are just meant to be rented and never bought. However, when I want to watch a movie I want to watch it now. I don't want to watch it tomorrow or the day after that. And if I want to watch a movie again, I really would rather not wait for another couple of days to see it again. And there is just something about having a DVD collection that seems awesome. But that gets really expensive. Moreover, it starts to take up a lot of valuable space after a while.


Ideally for my DVD addiction, I would like something that is crossover of rhapsody and Itunes, where I can digitally buy DVDs or just rent them (for a couple of days) and watch them right away. Comcast onDemand is a start to this idea; however I just hate Comcast it's overpriced for a pretty small collection. For now I will keep debating whether or not to get Netflix.

1 comment:

BPD said...

Dude,
Netflix rocks. Period. Just burn anything you think you might want to watch more than once.

However, there is a caveat. Once you really get your delivery/return cycle down it's like you're getting a new movie everyday. Which can be great when your life's activities are not so active, but a burden when the pendulam swings the other way. A few summers ago I ended up on a softball team and had a couple of heavy duty projects at work. Combine those with a girlfriend that doesn't share my passion about the cinema and you see I why movies would sit around for months. They began to become minor annoyances and obligations. I would say to myself, "Damn, I have to watch these movies, but when am I going to find the time." I would send movies back unwatched because there just wasn't the time. A few bad selections had me asking, "What else could I be doing with these couple of hours". So I cancelled.

Like you, I have decided that I need to read more and Netflix doesn't fit in the schedule as well as it used to. Gym 3 nights, compelling television, 2 nights, drinking on the weekends. There are a few hours after the gym and after dinner, but I've decided that is my new self-improvement (reading) time. The struggle continues. BTW, if you sit on a Netflix movie for more than 3 months they charge you $86 for the movie.

I think I'm going to re-post this on my blog