News Article

Netflix, What are you Doing

With the announcement of Netflix’s third quarter numbers, investors are liquidating its stock as quickly as possible. The announcement stated that Netflix would be splitting the DVD and streaming package, which has caused ripples of detest throughout Netflix nation. With the separation of amenities was a price increase for consumers; Netflix customers have decided to take a stand. With the announcement of losing 800,000 subscribers this quarter, preceding a quarter with loss in users, stockholders are very concerned. The article discusses the current state of the company and steps that will be taken to help get some of the customers back.

(Rosoff, 2011)

Edwards writes, “Netflix plunged 35 percent to $77.37 at the close in New York, the biggest decline since October 2004” (Edwards, 2011). For a service that was truly revolutionary when it came out, it is surprising to see such a large self-inflicted wound. This is astonishing to the Netflix Nation, compared to what users were experiencing with Netflix; It’s hard to imagine a company that was able to capture such a large audience with social penetration, falter with just a few ill advised moves. It is yet to be seen what the implications of these decisions will be but the current outlook is not good. It is never a good idea to disrupt what is considered to be a good thing; Netflix has proven this to us. “ For the third quarter, Netflix reported net income rose 65 percent to $62.5 million…”(Edwards, 2011). This quote can be very misleading, the article discusses how they are losing subscribers, but somehow their profits are up. This is a classic example of a company upping prices for their product just to turn bigger profits, which is a far cry from what Netflix was five years ago.

(Netflix System Breakdown, 2011)

In class we discussed the five stages of adoption, Netflix does a wonderful job of promoting themselves and they are exceptional at providing free promotions to draw in new users, which provides knowledge about what he company does. Countless times they have sent email promotions that allow users to receive a month free for Netflix. This is a great way from Netflix to spread knowledge about their product and then persuade new users to consume their product. Their vast library of movies and TV shows is not available anywhere else. This mastery of promoting and persuasion has worked wonders in boosting their user numbers. With the new changes, increase in price and DVD-streaming separation, they are causing consumers, both current and potential, to turn away during the third stage of adoption, accept or reject. The best part about Netflix was the availability of their library at your fingertips and the affordable price but things have changed now with their newfound popularity. Who are we to blame them for wanting to make more money? It would have been nice if they did it without passing the new cost onto longtime Netflix users. The article does a wonderful job of showing many different statistics on how Netflix is still a great company to invest in. What Netflix is missing is that users do not care about the stocks; they only care about the service. Right now the service is not acceptable to longtime users, it is time for Netflix to swallow their pride and go back to consoling user satisfaction instead of profits to guide their decisions. 

Citation:

Edwards, C. (2011, October 25). Netflix declines most since 2004 after losing 800,000 u.s. subscribers. Bloomberg, Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-25/netflix-declines-most-since-2004-after-losing-800-000-u-s-subscribers.html

Netflix system breakdown. October 25, 2011. From: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.review-hddvds.com/images/netflix-promo2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.review-hddvds.com/&usg=__ycPHeOBmsjiK4fpG-S0hldp7qF0=&h=326&w=763&sz=79&hl=en&start=53&zoom=1&tbnid=6rZOu-yi0LKZHM:&tbnh=61&tbnw=142&ei=UVaoTu2TIabgsQKW3uG9Dw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dnetflix%26start%3D42%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1

Rosoff, M. 2011. Netflix adds less than 2 million subscribers this quarter, October 25,2011, from: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-07-25/tech/29999690_1_netflix-q3-twitter

Movie Review

Nicks Boss
(Ford, 2011)

Everybody has worked at a job with a boss that was unbearable. We all know what it is like to follow orders from someone we believe treats us unfairly. In other cases our boss could make sexual innuendos towards someone. These three situations are explored in comedic detail in the newly released film, Horrible Bosses.  The characters of Nick, Dale, and Kurt decide they should to kill their bosses, each for different reasons: Kurt, the once lovable employee, is now disliked by all his coworkers. 

Kurts Boss
(Ford, 2011)

 Dale’s boss is attempting to sleep with him because she finds him irresistible, Dale resists because he is engaged and faithful to his fiancé, Nick who’s boss persuaded him to work harder with a promise of promotion, which in turn the boss takes for himself . The film consists of comedic highs and lows of these three friends attempting to slay each others bosses; however, in the end, the characters did not kill these “horrible bosses”, but discover new ways to illuminate the discomforts they once had at their respected workplaces. 

Dales Boss
(Ford, 2011)

The unique part of this movie is what it lacks in flashy high tech action scenes it makes up in simple humor. The movie can be viewed in full screen format, which allows for every detail in each scene to be shown clearly. Horrible Bosses does not use a wide variety of different technologies, contrary to what viewers may think when certain parts of the film, such as the spying scene, are viewed. There are numerous uses of diverse technologies, including a GPS in a car, which plays a major role in the entire movie. The sound quality of the movie was very smooth; however, as previously stated, the lack of action scenes could be considered a disadvantage when it comes to the audio experience of the movie. To counter the lack of action and sound, there is a wide variety of music that sounds crisp and is very catchy to the audience.

The most critical part of the movie, the climax at the end, was saved for the main characters by GPS in their car. The GPS is a system that has an operator at the other end of the line that helps the characters out in many situations. Gregory is the man behind the GPS, who is able to assist the main characters find a shady bar when they are searching for a hit-man. At the end of the movie, the GPS helps the police locate the characters’ location when Nick’s boss is pursuing them with a gun. It also serves as evidence that aids in putting Nick’s boss behind bars. Gregory has recorded every word of Nick’s boss’s confession to killing another man and attempting to kill the three main characters. This wonderful technology that many people take for granted in their car was able to save our main characters from going to jail. The GPS technology in the movies gives it a refreshing new spin on movies; instead of using some discrete technology like in James Bond movies, these characters use something that most people have in their vehicle. With the lack of special effects and the use of everyday items, it gives the viewers a feeling that the events that are taking place are things the audience could see themselves doing. Overall, this movie does a wonderful job of staying simple yet very entertaining to anyone who has worked for a boss that has made the workplace a living hell. 

Citation:

Ford, Allen. (2011). Movie Posters, October 25, 2011, from: http://www.filmofilia.com/six-new-horrible-bosses-character-posters-47187/

Internet Movie Databases. Horrible Bosses. (2011) October25, 2011, from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1499658/