Comments on The Official Netflix Blog: I'm enjoying Favorites...

(addendum!)....very much a case of not being able ...

2007-11-13T20:50:00.000-08:00

(addendum!)....very much a case of not being able to see the trees for the forest.

I second (third, fourth?) the request for some way...

2007-11-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

I second (third, fourth?) the request for some way to rationalize our faves' reviews - either by being able to alphabetize them, and/or having a search feature that pulls up all the reviews of a particular movie that our faves have written. Right now it's very much a case of not being the trees for the forest.

Thanks Michael, good to know.I can answer my other...

2007-11-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks Michael, good to know.

I can answer my other question. The postage is prepaid both ways on the envelopes so it doesn't save Netflix any postage money if we put 2 movies in an envelope.

thanks for the notes, folks. baff: it doesn't matt...

2007-11-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

thanks for the notes, folks.

baff: it doesn't matter which way you place the disc sleeve into the mailer. The bar code and window are related to us shipping to you, not the other way.

a few new fixes this week. i'll make a new post shortly...

Or instead of showing an old review as ‘reviewed’ ...

2007-11-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

Or instead of showing an old review as ‘reviewed’ in recent activity, show it as ‘edited.’ (Or don’t show it at all? Is anyone interested in edits of old reviews?)

Dates on reviews could give us useful information, but editing a review can’t be allowed to wipe out the original release date or it will give a false impression of recent activity. Is that why edits show up in recent activity as a new review? (The implication to the uninitiated is that it’s new, even though it isn’t labeled new.)

Becky Glass

Excellent point, Becky, and probably far more like...

2007-11-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

Excellent point, Becky, and probably far more likely than my theory.

Michael, perhaps you could add the date posted/updated to reviews. That might help with confusion when old reviews show up as new ones. It would also help a situation I recently encountered. About a month ago I found an excellent movie review, and in turn, an excellent reviewer with tastes similar to mine, so I added my first fave. Since that time, my fave hasn't written any more reviews despite having written 210 of them previously. Maybe he's just taking some time off, but I think it's far more likely that he's simply stopped writing reviews altogether (since he is still rating a steady stream of movies). If there were dates on his reviews, I wouldn't have to wonder :)

Thanks Eric and Becky. Both of those make sense.

2007-11-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

Thanks Eric and Becky. Both of those make sense.

She probably edited them. A lot of the more seriou...

2007-11-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

She probably edited them. A lot of the more serious reviewers are going back and correcting for spelling, grammar, clarity and also cleaning up any out-dated references. (like suggesting people rush to the theater to see it when it’s been out of the theaters for 3 years)

@deus ex - A month or two ago in another thread, s...

2007-11-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

@deus ex - A month or two ago in another thread, someone complained about old notes that were considered "new," and Michael explained that they don't keep up with what you've read. Notes are considered new if they were written within the last X days (probably 60 or so). I'm guessing they treat reviews the same way. I believe Michael said they intend to make the "new" designation more intelligent at some point, but I have no idea what the timetable is. Probably not soon, since the priority seems to be on implementing new features rather than improving current ones (beyond bug fixes).

Is it just me or do you sometimes get old Friend/F...

2007-11-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or do you sometimes get old Friend/Fav reviews on the community page? E.G., I've read and marked everyone of Horror Girl's reviews, but they still pop up now and then. They're not new reviews, they're ones I've already read.

@most recent anon - Your reply to your friend's no...

2007-11-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

@most recent anon - Your reply to your friend's note should show up directly beneath your friend's note to you in your notebook, except that it's grayed out, not bolded, and in smaller font. Basically, it's really easy to overlook. If you'd prefer for your note to show up in your own notebook in more a prominent format, check the box that says "send a copy to yourself" when you send it. That's not a very elegant solution, but then again, nothing about the Notes feature is very elegant.

I would like to be able to delete some of the rece...

2007-11-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

I would like to be able to delete some of the recent activity of my one friend. It has been there for days cluttering up the page. I would like to be able to find reviews of my Favorites in some comprehensible manner -- especially those who have over 100 reviews. Get most of my movie ideas from them these days. In talking to friends we have noticed that if you mail back a movie Friday or Saturday things are slower. Maybe that's why some people still want to use Blockbuster.

anyone have a problem actually seeing the notes th...

2007-11-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

anyone have a problem actually seeing the notes they write to their friends? i responded to a note, but it doesn't show up in my notebook. instead, i see my friend's original note posted a 2nd time...instead of my response. kind of annoying. now i don't know if my friend ever received the response.

I would like to see the date that a review was pos...

2007-11-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

I would like to see the date that a review was posted. It wouldn't take much. (posted:11/03/07)

Hey Baff…I myself place the bottom side of the dis...

2007-11-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Baff…

I myself place the bottom side of the disk toward the label to protect the surface better. The majority of damaged disks (if not all of them) came from the robotic pickup grasping the disk to hard and cracking it, or scratching the very beginning of the readable data.

I don't think it matters too much which direction you insert the disk in the return envelop, though it most likely speeds up the check-in process, as the bar-code can be scanned before the envelop is even opened.

I return two at a time all the time and noticed that the first disk (with the bar-code in view) always records faster (sometimes hours) before the second one.

P.S. I'll agree to disagree on the view now Mac issue. Netflixes movie viewer is just a plug-in to the applicable media player (Media player for Windows, Quicktime for Mac). The player itself must have the appropriate key/license/codec, otherwise nothing the actual plug-in does will allow the movie to play.

I do agree that NetFlix could take a more active role in working with Apple (and perhaps have), but ultimately Apple must get the required key/license/codec that is formatted for their player.

All the new community features are improvements an...

2007-11-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

All the new community features are improvements and seem to be intuitive to use. And any bugs I've seen seem to get solved quickly. Good work. A feature I would like to see added would be something that could categorize a members reviews when visiting their reviews page. Looking at 500+ reviews can be a little overwhelming. Perhaps something for members who have written more than 50-100 reviews. Hmm? I don't know if this would be feasible, or something others would want. I just find it daunting to wade through hundreds of reviews that someone has written, (to find films I'd like) and I don't wish to see a limit on how many films a member may review.

@Michael - In another blog someone mentioned that ...

2007-11-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

@Michael - In another blog someone mentioned that they always send 2 movies back in 1 envelope in order to save Netflix a few cents on postage. Does this actually save Netflix money or do you have to pay someone to deal with the double movies by hand? I haven't seen Netflix either encourage or discourage people from sending movies back in 1 envelope (other than when an envelope is lost). If it does save Netflix a few cents each time, I would stuff 2 in an envelope when convenient, and I'm sure others would too.

Also, does Netflix care what direction we put the movie/sleeve back in the envelope? I know its mostly handled by machines, but is the machine faster when the sleeve is a certain direction? I tend to put the written side away from the window for vague privacy issues, but I would put the barcode in the window if it mattered to Netflix.

Maybe I should have put this into Ask Mike, but a thread about tips seemed appropriate too.

@Jen I suggest calling Netflix up and complaining....

2007-11-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

@Jen I suggest calling Netflix up and complaining. You will also need to let them know if you are using an Intel Mac or a PowerPC Mac. Some people try to lay all the blame at Apple's feet, but that is really just a copout (though they do deserve some blame).

You can also call Microsoft and complain to them about their lack of Mac support in Silverlight. They are completely dropping support for PowerPC Macs. Silverlight is Netflix's future plan for expanding Watch Now support across platforms and browsers.

You can also call the movie studios (Warner, Paramount, Universal, etc) and complain to them about their insistence on DRMs that have never worked to even slow down pirating. All DRMs have ever done is hinder actual paying customers from watching the movies they want to watch when they want to watch them.

I think your best bet is to call Netflix. Writing them letters is probably even better. Companies usually take their customers much more seriously when they receive hand-written letters in stamped envelopes.

You can also go request Mac support on the Netflix CEO's blog (http://reedhastings.blogspot.com/). A few polite inquiries there may well get the ball rolling a bit faster.

For Jen Pt 2I should call it what it is, I believe...

2007-11-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

For Jen Pt 2

I should call it what it is, I believe its actually related to a DRM license.

DRM stands for digital rights management, it is a technology used by content providers, such as on-line stores, to control how the digital media files you obtain from them are used and distributed.

A file that is protected with DRM requires media usage rights to be delivered with the file. The media usage rights define how the protected file can be used.

For example, a right may give you the permission to play the file on your computer (a play right), burn the file to an audio CD (a burn right), or sync the file to a portable device (a sync right).

For JenMac (IE Apple) has to create a codec to dec...

2007-11-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

For Jen

Mac (IE Apple) has to create a codec to decrypt the movies first. This is beyond Net Flix. The movies actually play on your MAC/PC media players. The netflix movie player is simply a plug-in for those players, and requires an appropriate codec in order to work.

As suggested in previous posts you should call you Mac PC customer service and complain that they need to get this thing created

When are you going to have the "watch instantly" a...

2007-11-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

When are you going to have the "watch instantly" available for macs?

Four e. said...U mai b write. Im bad two sew, if...

2007-11-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

Four e. said...

U mai b write. Im bad two sew, if eye c a miss take it mus b bad.

:-)

did eye git the comma write hear?

Hey, chawk, nice work, and good goin', on nabbin' ...

2007-11-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, chawk, nice work, and good goin', on nabbin' that typo, but, don'tcha think, mebbie, that you should've, sort've, put a comma, after the word "mistakes", or, am I jus bein' too picky?
e. (;P)

Michael, The Netflix site was down a few minuets ...

2007-11-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

Michael,

The Netflix site was down a few minuets ago and had a nice note on it that, although the site was down, DVDs were still being sent etc. It was nice to see that note instead of just an unavailable site however there was a glaring grammatical error - the message said were trying to get the site back up instead of we're .

We all make mistakes but if that is a programmed default message will you please ask someone to correct it so next time it is correct.

What about a feature to let you leave a message to...

2007-10-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

What about a feature to let you leave a message to one person or a group. Not review or notebook. Just a message.