Aaron Roe(bot) Fulkerson Open source entrepreneur and digital viking.

I’ve tried to like Netflix’s new Watch Now service. I just can’t stomach it anymore. This is the service that allows you to stream videos, documentaries, and TV shows to your computer over broadband. I like to watch video in a small 400 px window on my laptop, which has a 1920×1200 screen resolution, while I work. Good thing I use Windows because it only works on Windows. Yes, I’m embarrassed I’m still a Windows user. When Netflix initially launched this service 6 months back they had an artificial restriction as to how many hours a user could watch in a month. They’ve since dropped this. It’s no wonder though because the service is painfully slow and I doubt I could have reached the limit if I tried!

Yes, that says 2hrs+ and I had already waited 30 minutes. Typically it takes an hour to buffer a movie and then during playback I frequently have to stop for 15-20 minutes to allow additional buffering. I have an, alleged, 7mb connection from Cox that actually yields about 4mb. Thanks Cox. I need to call them and get a cheaper plan because I’m paying for more bandwidth than they give me. By the way, I recommend “Gotcha Capitalism” by Bob Sullivan. A final note, I’m writing this using my 3 month old Kensington power supply which has already somehow, even with my extra special care, frayed at the adapter and now requires regular squeezing to make work.

It’s amazing what crap we Americans accept from our manufacturers and service providers. It’s almost as if companies can’t compete anymore without intentionally delivering cheap and crappy products and services.