Do you have any idea what parents have gone through in the past just to rent a movie? They had to walk five miles through eight feet of snow to the local video store in subzero freezing weather. And when they finally got there, they only had a selection of about twenty movies to choose from, none of which were new releases. After renting a video, they had to quickly go home and watch it quickly because if they didn’t return it by 5:00 the next day, they had to pay a late fee that was double the original rent. And you know what, they liked it and appreciated the opportunity to be entertained.
Fortunately, times have changed and it has become much easier for people to enjoy cinematic arts in the comfort of their own living rooms. In particular, the video rental giant Netflix, now a household name across the United States, has revolutionized the nature in which a person can rent a movie; providing an online service that offers unlimited rentals for a fixed monthly fee and no late fees. With delivery and returns provided by the US Postal Service via pre-paid envelopes, Netflix has become an affordable and obvious choice for avid moviegoers across the country.
Now, as a huge movie buff, Netflix is the best thing that’s happened to me since canned cheese. But when I talk to certain friends and family who are also huge moviegoers and tell them why they should join Netflix, they seem hesitant and ask a lot of questions. Many find the offer seems too good to be true, while others see no problem with the traditional method of visiting a video store to rent a movie. Whatever the reason, I personally found myself having the why or why not join Netflix conversation enough times to recite from memory and write an article.
So here we are, and as much as I love Netflix, I’m also fair in my debate and admit that there are some downsides to the online service that people about to sign up should be aware of. So without further ado, here are my three big pros and cons of using Netflix.
Advantage: price – The cost of Netflix is hands down the cheapest way to rent movies, especially if you watch more than three movies a week. My first month as a member, I did the math just to make sure giving Netflix my credit card number was a smart move. I divided the number of movies I watched that first month by the flat rate of $16.99 (three movies at a time) and it came out to 87 cents per movie, which if you notice, is also cheaper than the $1 price of the movie. Redbox popular and competitor. Now if I watched the same number of movies by renting them from a video store at the average price of $4 per rental, it would have cost me about $80. Sorry, but that my friends is stealing and by far Netflix’s biggest pro.
Advantage: Selection – A lot has happened to me in the past and I’m sure it has happened to you at one time or another. You hear about a low-budget indie festival winner or critically acclaimed foreign thriller that you definitely need to see. So you go to your local video store to rent it, and the 16-year-old clerk behind the counter tells you he’s never heard of it. Now, in the past, your only solution to this problem would be to buy a DVD copy online. But, if you were a Netflix member, you would almost certainly be able to rent that movie. With a movie library that offers over 100,000 different titles, Netflix has by far the largest variety of movies to choose from. I have been a member for almost two years and there have been three times when I was not offered the movie I was looking for. And in all three cases, the movie was issued as “out of print” by the film company that owns the rights, which by law means that Netflix can’t offer it for rent.
Advantage: convenience – “No late fees”, Netflix knows this statement is by far their biggest selling point and is obviously the reason it’s peppered all over their ads and commercials. But that’s not meant to take away from how great this benefit is for the customer. I could probably pay for grad school with the money I’ve spent on late fees throughout my life. And as everyone knows, a video store never forgets a late fee. It will stay on your computer for years, haunting you until you pay up. But the convenience of Netflix doesn’t stop with the absence of late fees. Switching to and from the video store is also removed. And their website, where all rental selections are made, is so incredibly easy to use that I know a 5-year-old navigates it with ease.
Featuring: New Releases – I started with the biggest advantage of Netflix and here is, by far, the biggest disadvantage. Receiving a new release when it first comes out is incredibly difficult. That means, those movies you wanted to go see in theaters but put off until you finally missed your chance and now can’t wait to see them on DVD, Netflix will most likely make you wait even longer to see them. It’s a popular user complaint that Netflix has found quite difficult to address. The most popular rental period for a movie is in the first 30 days of its release on DVD, and while Netflix has increased its supply of the most popular titles that are released each week, it is not financially smart for the company to keep up with the demand due to to the fact that interest in the title will slowly fade. So, as a Netflix member, there’s a good chance that the new release you’ve been dying to see will get the dreaded “Very Long Wait” as its availability status. And trust me, the state lives up to its name.
Featuring: Stuck Without Movies – Depending on the package you sign up for with Netflix (between 1 and 8 movies at a time), there will most likely be cases where you don’t have a movie at home one night when you’re staying home, doing a bit of butter. popcorn and watching a movie is all you feel like doing. The speed at which films are received and returned is as fast and convenient as possible (one business day), but occasionally, due to poor planning on your part or a film not arriving when it is supposed to, you will be stuck stuck. without a movie and thinking of driving to the video store and renting one anyway.
Disadvantage: Sadness of video stores – Any avid moviegoer or cinephile will tell you that visiting a video store has an inexplicable, almost majestic quality. You like to walk through the aisles of new releases, comedies or horror movies and read the back of the covers and make your selection. Before joining Netflix, I frequented video stores quite often and I must say that there is a very nostalgic if not organic experience of visiting a video store that is missing from Netflix.
Personally, I’ve remedied many of these cons by designating Netflix as my primary source of movie rental, but when I find myself in a situation like the one explained in the second cons above or when there’s a new release I really want to watch and Netflix stamped it . with a “very long wait”, I expect to go to the video store and rent a movie or two every month. So I still get all the benefits of using Netflix but at the same time I don’t give up the video store entirely. Kind of like the best of both worlds.
So there you have it, the top three pros and cons of using Netflix. Now, I don’t know how many times my argument has persuaded someone to forgo video stores and jump on the Netflix bandwagon, but I’ll tell you this, if you’re like me and watching movies is a big part of your hobby, Netflix is by far your best option and what you should be using to rent movies. The selection and convenience are second to none, and hopefully the money you’ll save by using Netflix will cover all the late fees you’ve been forced to pay over the years.