Netflix, good or going downhill?

This has nothing to do with chess, but I was wondering how many of you subscribe to "Netflix"?  More specifically, do any of you just subscribe to the "online viewing" package and not the DVDs in the mail upgrade?

I've been a Netflix subscriber since early 2009.  Recently I went to the "watch it now" only package, and discontinued the DVD rentals.  It seems as if the selection of streaming videos now is poorer than it was in the past. 

Like, the entire body of "watch it now" selections are cheesy B-films and obscure political documentaries nobody's ever heard of. 

Another thing is that compared to back when I was doing the DVD rentals, many of the harder to find DVDs that were readily available back in 09 and 10 are now totally unavailable or on the "long wait" category in one's queue.

Anyone else feel the same?  What are your opinions on Netflix these days?  I'm interested in hearing. 

I was a member of Netflix awhile back.  I discontinued not because of the services or the price... but because I simply wasn't using them often enough. 

Today there are SO MANY different options out there... YouTube videos, movies on Hulu, cable, etc.  Gosh, even local swap meets, thrift stores, and stores like Big Lots have movies (DVDs) for sale just a buck or two... or less!  And have you checked out your local library lately?  LOTS of libraries often have MANY movies to rent... for free!

When I was a member of Netflix I never took advantage or subscribed to the watch it now package(s).  I always had the DVDs mailed to me, so I'm not equipped to compare the two.

Lately I've been enjoying watching chess videos (big surprise) even more so than movies or tv shows.  In fact, lately, I haven't been watching much tv at all.

I think Netflix is a great service and I think they'll be around for awhile.  But right now my life doesn't have a need for them.

Yeah, the library is a good option.  If you live in a "college town" or an large urban area like Austin, TX there are still indy video rental places around too, which are usually good for the non-mainstream DVDs.

It was my understanding that any DVD rental package from Netflix has the "watch it now" capabilities included.

As far as movies on Youtube go, yeah, it's a good place also, especially for more obscure and foreign films.  The problem is, the resolution quality is often poor, and most of the uploads on Youtube are copyvios so they are usually not around for long (in the same exact place anyway).

Netflix is down in January and May

downhill