I just answered an online Netflix customer survey that I was selected for. Among other things I was asked if I’d like to be considered to offer a testimonial in a possible future advertising campaign and was told that Netflix’s advertising agency is currently interviewing customers for this campaign.
The survey also focused on my streaming activity and on how many people were in my family. Netflix was interested both in the devices that I use to stream as well as where I stream.
As a total unrelated aside, I think it’s highway robbery that Microsoft tries to tax me $150 a year to consume my Netflix content that I already pay for on my XBox 360s. The fact that I can stream Netflix *for free* on virtually every other device but get reamed by Microsoft for wanting to consume my own paid for content via my XBox 360 is disappointing. I hope Microsoft reconsiders this horribly customer unfriendly policy. What’s next? Is Microsoft going to start charging me a toll or tariff to listen to my own mp3s on the XBox 360?
If you’d like to see the whole Netflix Survey you can check it out here.
A Live Gold subscription has much more utility than watching Netflix. To call it a tax on watching Netflix is a little disingenuous.
But still, I think it should be available for Silver members (who pay nothing).
I hate that I have to keep two Gold accounts active because my son and I both want our own unique Live accounts. I get a lot of utility out of Live, but I also think it’s overpriced.
I’ve been able to catch 1yr gold accounts on sale at various places online at a deeply discounted rate (like $60 for 13 mos). You just have to keep your eyes open.
Adam, since I use absolutely zero of what the live gold account offers except Netflix, I don’t think that this is disingenuous at all.
Why should Microsoft force me to buy a gaming platform that I have no desire to use, have not used, and will not use in the future simply to stream my own content?
I agree that it should be offered on the silver platform. But as it stands for me right now, it very much is a tax for watching Netflix.
What makes it worse, is that the crappy “live gold” accounts are so DRM laden that it is unbearable to actually use it on more than one 360 in your home. So if I want to be able to stream Netflix in my bedroom, while the kids stream Netflix in the living room, I’ve got to buy 2 gold accounts that I don’t need. If my daughters also want to watch Netflix in the kitchen, I’ve got to buy three. Even if we are all not watching at once, it is so burdensome to transfer the live gold account between boxes it’s just not practical to do. This is terrible customer service from Microsoft and makes me want to scrap my XBox 360s all together and go with Sony or wii.
Unfortunately though, as I’ve been told, Microsoft has locked in the streaming agreement with Netflix on a gaming device so that Sony and Nintendo are not allowed to offer it on their devices without a disk, which is also very anti-consumer. Force me on your box to get non-disc streaming and then ream me $150 a year to watch my own content that I’m already paying for on a hardware device that I’ve already paid for in full.
Thomas, Gold subscription costs $60 for a yearly subscription and there are discount programs running around.
Serge, that’s why I said $150. For three gold memberships discounted at $50 each to watch my own paid for content on my own 3 paid for XBox 360s.
Microsoft came to your house and forced you to buy an Xbox?
There are much better ways to consume Netflix on your TV than to buy an Xbox and pay for a Live account. Maybe at the time you made the investment, there wasn’t. However, that’s certainly not the case now.
I set up a Roku for a friend, and I found it very full featured and easy to use. I actually use a NetGear Digital Entertainer at home, which has a horrible interface, but works well enough. Best of all, it was under $100 and doesn’t require a live account.
Microsoft came to your house and forced you to buy an Xbox?
Not at all. I purchased them primarily though as devices to stream media in my home. My main reason for buying them (and for which they also do a horrible job) is to work as media center extenders in order to consume *my* media in other rooms of my home.
I did not expect that they’d charge me a tax on consuming my own media when I purchased them.
I could buy Roku boxes, maybe I will actually, but I’m not really happy about having to buy additional boxes in my home. Part of what appealed to me about the XBox 360 was that it was an all in one unit that I could use. I don’t want a bunch of boxes cluttering things up and I don’t want to pay for those boxes either when my XBox 360s can already do that job. I just resent that Microsoft is making a business practice of double charging people for their own content.
I don’t mind paying for the Gold subscription to Live but I think Netflix should be available on the Silver version. It’s not as if Microsoft are losing out to Netflix. Their own VOD catalogue is woeful. In the UK it is anyway.
I just wish Netflix would get their arse in gear and release in the UK. We’re paying the same for our Gold subscription yet don’t have those options. The Sky Player alternative that we have is quite rubbish. A company could clean up if they released a proper Netflix in the UK.
First a solution, then my thoughts:
Sounds like you need PlayOn. It streams Netflix, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, and more to your Xbox 360 (and other devices.) Price is $39.99, it works with multiple devices, lifetime license, and you don’t need multiple licenses for multiple devices. It isn’t perfect, I think the interface isn’t great, but it gets the job done.
http://www.playon.tv/index.php
Also, Amazon carries Xbox Live Gold one year subscription cards and codes for $39.99. You can find better deals from time to time on SlickDeals.
To me, this is a bit like complaining that your Blu-Ray player doesn’t play games very well. The Xbox 360 is a jack of all trades, but a master of only one. It’s terrible at upscaling DVDs, requires a Gold subscription for many features (as you’ve noted), doesn’t play Blu-Ray discs…I guess my point is that if you wanted a dedicated media center device, you would have been better off going with something else. Quite a few Blu-Ray players stream media and Netflix, you may want to consider switching to one of those.
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