Another Netflix Review

Image by: ckwebb.com

On December 27th, I wrote a review of Netflix.

It was mostly positive, and deservedly so. After all, I pay $7.99 a month to be able to stream movies and television shows online instantly, and usually, it works well.

Usually.

However, I have noticed a little problem that somehow keeps persisting. Namely, the episodes getting interrupted right in the middle, and then just staying frozen. There are entire episodes that I missed as a result, and let me tell you, there is almost nothing more annoying than settling in to watch an episode (in this case, of Mad Men), and then having the damn thing stop right in the middle, and with seemingly no chance of getting it back, either.

That just happened, a few minutes before I started writing this. It is an annoying problem, and again, one that I have now encountered at least four times that I can remember, and maybe more. There is just something incredibly irksome about it. Especially when it happens at a point when you are particularly engaged in it.

It's like watching a DVD, and then having it skip or suddenly become unplayable (another thing that I have experienced, and surely I am not the only one?

The episode that I was watching just stopped, with no warning. You sit there and wait, and you begin to browse through other web pages. But then you think that this might actually make things worse, so you go back.

Still paused, still with that same picture frozen.

So, you begin to grow impatient, and start to click things, knowing this too will probably make it worse. You can't resist, though. There is a taunting quality to seeing the picture frozen, because it seems perhaps like it just might start up again at any moment.

Of course, it doesn't.

Eventually, you go back, and try to reload the episode. That doesn't work. You get a red screen with the logo and name of Netflix in the center, but it always seems to freeze at 51%. Always at 51%.

I even try and open it on another internet access when available.

No go. The thing is being pretty damn stubborn.

Suddenly, this seems more annoying than the frozen picture, and if you're me, you begin to feel that long suppressed temper boiling up, about to erupt.

All that hard work to try and control, or rather manage, that anger, just goes out the window. If it does not start up again, and I mean real soon, I will become something to see. I will turn into the Incredible Hulk, and smash my fist through the computer screen's taunting, skinny little screen.

Deep breathe. Calm down. It's not worth it.

Only, it really annoys the shit out of you. It always seems to happen at the worst times! Of course, no time would be good for this to happen, yet it always seems to happen at times that are particularly annoying. Somehow, someway, at least that is the way that it feels.

Whether true or not, who knows? Maybe it's just that you don't have the old temper nearly as under wraps as you had hoped, and even begun to believe.

There are worse problems to have. Believe me, I know.

Still, it is a nuisance, to say the least. Especially when you pay money for a service that, quite suddenly and always unexpectedly, fails to deliver.

Surely, again, I am not the only one experiencing this. Let's just hope that Netflix is using that money that I have paid them to fix whatever seems to be the problem in these cases.

Just thought that I might share this, since I have a lot more experience with Netflix now then I did back when I wrote the first (I think exclusively positive) review. But if you have been thinking of subscribing to Netflix, then it's something to think about.