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perplexed by netflix

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Gillian Densmore

perplexed by netflix

Recently I thought I'd re-try out the DVD rental system of netflix:

Last time I had it all the DVDs I got would play just fine. This time around of the 8 DVDs I've gotten so far only one played without any issues.

It took a bit of digging to get a email adress they have several a dvddstribute and info that looked promising.

Did something change in the last year since I last had DVD rentals as part of my netflix plan?

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Steve Smith

Re: perplexed by netflix

Gil -

My wife and I reduced from 3 to 1 about a year ago since we were using streaming for most of our watching. We don't watch as many DVDs as we used to, so it is hard for me to be sure. My instinct is that the incidence of problems with DVDs *IS* higher than ever since we joined in 2005. On the other hand it is like 1 in 8 with a problem not the other way around.

I'm not sure what device you are watching them with, have you trie dmore than one? Our Macbook Pro SuperDrives are very touchy. I also have a bottle of "Cleaner and Conditioner" that seems to both do a good job of cleaning surface problems but also filling small scratches. The disks we have had problems with have had obvious problems like a crack or a deep gouge.

Hope this helps.

- Steve

Recently I thought I'd re-try out the DVD rental system of netflix:

Last time I had it all the DVDs I got would play just fine. This time around of the 8 DVDs I've gotten so far only one played without any issues.

It took a bit of digging to get a email adress they have several a dvddstribute and info that looked promising.

Did something change in the last year since I last had DVD rentals as part of my netflix plan?
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Owen Densmore

Re: perplexed by netflix

Administrator

In reply to this post by Gillian Densmore

Our current fail rate is 1 in 3, so we switched to digital only.

On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 6:43 PM, Gillian Densmore <[hidden email]> wrote:

Recently I thought I'd re-try out the DVD rental system of netflix:

Last time I had it all the DVDs I got would play just fine. This time around of the 8 DVDs I've gotten so far only one played without any issues.

It took a bit of digging to get a email adress they have several a dvddstribute and info that looked promising.

Did something change in the last year since I last had DVD rentals as part of my netflix plan?

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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Edward Angel

Re: perplexed by netflix

We're still all DVD and all Blue Ray. We get maybe 1 in 10 with a problem, usually a scratch.

One potential issue may be an old DVD player. New features on DVDs can require at least a software upgrade to the player.

__________

Ed Angel

Founding Director, Art, Research, Technology and Science Laboratory (ARTS Lab)
Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, University of New Mexico

1017 Sierra Pinon

Santa Fe, NM 87501
505-984-0136 (home) [hidden email]

505-453-4944 (cell) http://www.cs.unm.edu/~angel

On Mar 30, 2013, at 9:53 PM, Owen Densmore wrote:

Our current fail rate is 1 in 3, so we switched to digital only.

On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 6:43 PM, Gillian Densmore <[hidden email]> wrote:

Recently I thought I'd re-try out the DVD rental system of netflix:

Last time I had it all the DVDs I got would play just fine. This time around of the 8 DVDs I've gotten so far only one played without any issues.

It took a bit of digging to get a email adress they have several a dvddstribute and info that looked promising.

Did something change in the last year since I last had DVD rentals as part of my netflix plan?

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

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Arlo Barnes

Re: perplexed by netflix

One thing to consider is that as time goes on, the disc population 'ages' - probably discs are only replaced when they are completely broken, or enough people complain.
-Arlo James Barnes

Steve Smith

Re: perplexed by netflix

> One thing to consider is that as time goes on, the disc population
> 'ages' - probably discs are only replaced when they are completely
> broken, or enough people complain.
> -Arlo James Barnes
>
I think there may be a little more going on than this. It feels like a
soft "tragedy of the commons".

Disc-based Netflix is going on at least 8 years old now, it seems
unlikely that the halflife of discs being shipped around and handled by
random people is more than months, rather than years.

I think the *only* way discs get retired is if they are reported
nonfunctional by a customer. I don't think there is anything more than
casual inspection happening at the remailing centers (our closest may be
ABQ?).

It seems likely that something more subtle (or blunt?) is going on.
Perhaps many people are depending mostly on streaming movies (as we are)
and many may not bother to report a bad disc and simply return it in
frustration. A positive feedback loop could emerge with the more bad
discs they find, the more likely they will just send the movie back
without watching.

Another aggravator may be if the remailing centers have changed their
inspection and possible automatic cleaning policy. I would imagine that
they might have a process for very simply cleaning the DVDs when they
come in or before they ship out.

It seems likely that the "tragedy of the commons" may be a hard one to
resolve.

- Steve

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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Bruce Sherwood

Re: perplexed by netflix

Despite all this, we experience a very low fraction of unreadable DVDs from Netflix. Presumably DVD players vary in their ability to deal with flaws. Also, more and more we along with everyone else streams when possible, so the DVDs we order are often the less popular kind and so have not had a lot of use.

An example I'll recommend is the superb "3 Idiots", a fairly recent film from India that is just wonderful along many dimensions. Read the description somewhere. I've heard it's being remade in many countries including the US (the original is in Hindi with much admixture of English, but with excellent subtitles). It includes two of India's biggest stars, and they're terrific.

Bruce

On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 12:13 PM, Steve Smith <[hidden email]> wrote:

One thing to consider is that as time goes on, the disc population 'ages' - probably discs are only replaced when they are completely broken, or enough people complain.
-Arlo James Barnes

I think there may be a little more going on than this. It feels like a soft "tragedy of the commons".

Disc-based Netflix is going on at least 8 years old now, it seems unlikely that the halflife of discs being shipped around and handled by random people is more than months, rather than years.

I think the *only* way discs get retired is if they are reported nonfunctional by a customer. I don't think there is anything more than casual inspection happening at the remailing centers (our closest may be ABQ?).

It seems likely that something more subtle (or blunt?) is going on. Perhaps many people are depending mostly on streaming movies (as we are) and many may not bother to report a bad disc and simply return it in frustration. A positive feedback loop could emerge with the more bad discs they find, the more likely they will just send the movie back without watching.

Another aggravator may be if the remailing centers have changed their inspection and possible automatic cleaning policy. I would imagine that they might have a process for very simply cleaning the DVDs when they come in or before they ship out.

It seems likely that the "tragedy of the commons" may be a hard one to resolve.

- Steve

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FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Sarbajit Roy (testing)

Re: perplexed by netflix

Dear Bruce

If you liked 3 Idiots, you may enjoy its even better "prequel" - Munna Bhai MBBS.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374887/

Sarbajit

On Tue, Apr 2, 2013 at 1:10 AM, Bruce Sherwood <[hidden email]> wrote:

Despite all this, we experience a very low fraction of unreadable DVDs from Netflix. Presumably DVD players vary in their ability to deal with flaws. Also, more and more we along with everyone else streams when possible, so the DVDs we order are often the less popular kind and so have not had a lot of use.

An example I'll recommend is the superb "3 Idiots", a fairly recent film from India that is just wonderful along many dimensions. Read the description somewhere. I've heard it's being remade in many countries including the US (the original is in Hindi with much admixture of English, but with excellent subtitles). It includes two of India's biggest stars, and they're terrific.

Bruce

On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 12:13 PM, Steve Smith <[hidden email]> wrote:

One thing to consider is that as time goes on, the disc population 'ages' - probably discs are only replaced when they are completely broken, or enough people complain.
-Arlo James Barnes

I think there may be a little more going on than this. It feels like a soft "tragedy of the commons".

Disc-based Netflix is going on at least 8 years old now, it seems unlikely that the halflife of discs being shipped around and handled by random people is more than months, rather than years.

I think the *only* way discs get retired is if they are reported nonfunctional by a customer. I don't think there is anything more than casual inspection happening at the remailing centers (our closest may be ABQ?).

It seems likely that something more subtle (or blunt?) is going on. Perhaps many people are depending mostly on streaming movies (as we are) and many may not bother to report a bad disc and simply return it in frustration. A positive feedback loop could emerge with the more bad discs they find, the more likely they will just send the movie back without watching.

Another aggravator may be if the remailing centers have changed their inspection and possible automatic cleaning policy. I would imagine that they might have a process for very simply cleaning the DVDs when they come in or before they ship out.

It seems likely that the "tragedy of the commons" may be a hard one to resolve.

- Steve

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FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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cody dooderson

Re: perplexed by netflix

Four thumbs up for three idiots.
It was very good movie for the Maker movement.

On Apr 1, 2013 7:43 PM, "Sarbajit Roy" <[hidden email]> wrote:

Dear Bruce

If you liked 3 Idiots, you may enjoy its even better "prequel" - Munna Bhai MBBS.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374887/

Sarbajit

On Tue, Apr 2, 2013 at 1:10 AM, Bruce Sherwood <[hidden email]> wrote:

Despite all this, we experience a very low fraction of unreadable DVDs from Netflix. Presumably DVD players vary in their ability to deal with flaws. Also, more and more we along with everyone else streams when possible, so the DVDs we order are often the less popular kind and so have not had a lot of use.

An example I'll recommend is the superb "3 Idiots", a fairly recent film from India that is just wonderful along many dimensions. Read the description somewhere. I've heard it's being remade in many countries including the US (the original is in Hindi with much admixture of English, but with excellent subtitles). It includes two of India's biggest stars, and they're terrific.

Bruce

On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 12:13 PM, Steve Smith <[hidden email]> wrote:

One thing to consider is that as time goes on, the disc population 'ages' - probably discs are only replaced when they are completely broken, or enough people complain.
-Arlo James Barnes

I think there may be a little more going on than this. It feels like a soft "tragedy of the commons".

Disc-based Netflix is going on at least 8 years old now, it seems unlikely that the halflife of discs being shipped around and handled by random people is more than months, rather than years.

I think the *only* way discs get retired is if they are reported nonfunctional by a customer. I don't think there is anything more than casual inspection happening at the remailing centers (our closest may be ABQ?).

It seems likely that something more subtle (or blunt?) is going on. Perhaps many people are depending mostly on streaming movies (as we are) and many may not bother to report a bad disc and simply return it in frustration. A positive feedback loop could emerge with the more bad discs they find, the more likely they will just send the movie back without watching.

Another aggravator may be if the remailing centers have changed their inspection and possible automatic cleaning policy. I would imagine that they might have a process for very simply cleaning the DVDs when they come in or before they ship out.

It seems likely that the "tragedy of the commons" may be a hard one to resolve.

- Steve

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Bruce Sherwood

Re: perplexed by netflix

That's amusing, Cody. There certainly was a lot of clever extemporaneous mechanical and electrical innovation in the film.

Bruce

On Wed, Apr 3, 2013 at 8:33 PM, cody dooderson <[hidden email]> wrote:

Four thumbs up for three idiots.
It was very good movie for the Maker movement.

On Apr 1, 2013 7:43 PM, "Sarbajit Roy" <[hidden email]> wrote:
Dear Bruce

If you liked 3 Idiots, you may enjoy its even better "prequel" - Munna Bhai MBBS.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374887/

Sarbajit

On Tue, Apr 2, 2013 at 1:10 AM, Bruce Sherwood <[hidden email]> wrote:

Despite all this, we experience a very low fraction of unreadable DVDs from Netflix. Presumably DVD players vary in their ability to deal with flaws. Also, more and more we along with everyone else streams when possible, so the DVDs we order are often the less popular kind and so have not had a lot of use.

An example I'll recommend is the superb "3 Idiots", a fairly recent film from India that is just wonderful along many dimensions. Read the description somewhere. I've heard it's being remade in many countries including the US (the original is in Hindi with much admixture of English, but with excellent subtitles). It includes two of India's biggest stars, and they're terrific.

Bruce

On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 12:13 PM, Steve Smith <[hidden email]> wrote:

One thing to consider is that as time goes on, the disc population 'ages' - probably discs are only replaced when they are completely broken, or enough people complain.
-Arlo James Barnes

I think there may be a little more going on than this. It feels like a soft "tragedy of the commons".

Disc-based Netflix is going on at least 8 years old now, it seems unlikely that the halflife of discs being shipped around and handled by random people is more than months, rather than years.

I think the *only* way discs get retired is if they are reported nonfunctional by a customer. I don't think there is anything more than casual inspection happening at the remailing centers (our closest may be ABQ?).

It seems likely that something more subtle (or blunt?) is going on. Perhaps many people are depending mostly on streaming movies (as we are) and many may not bother to report a bad disc and simply return it in frustration. A positive feedback loop could emerge with the more bad discs they find, the more likely they will just send the movie back without watching.

Another aggravator may be if the remailing centers have changed their inspection and possible automatic cleaning policy. I would imagine that they might have a process for very simply cleaning the DVDs when they come in or before they ship out.

It seems likely that the "tragedy of the commons" may be a hard one to resolve.

- Steve

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com