Netflix missing covid lockdowns

  

It’s easy to get lost on Netflix. Like with the internet, one can go down many rabbit holes. 

The trailers alone are a great source of amusement. At first annoyed by them popping up the moment I scroll over each title, now I'm rather addicted. Sometimes I get more out of the trailer than the show itself.

Every day, more trailers. Every day, more shows... more movies... more entertainment. Will this golden age ever end? 

If we’re to believe some in the tech world, the end may be closer than we think. One writer suggests that ending shared passwords is the beginning of Netflix’s demise. If things keep going the way they are, it might fail like Blockbuster. 

Really? Like Blockbuster?! This former video rental giant demonstrated short-sighted incompetence comparable to Enron and Lehman Brothers. The only difference was that no one missed Blockbuster once it was gone... because we had Netflix. 

If Netflix fails, online television is doomed. You might as well just reinstall cable. Cheap, advertisement-free streaming will be over, and with it, thousands of hours of keeping-me-entertained-in-the-middle-of-the-night content.  

I’ve heard them for a while now, but until now I ignored the Netflix rumours. Apparently, their profits are slim and, similar to a Ponzi scheme, they need more and more subscribers to stay afloat. During the pandemic, when all we wanted to do was watch old episodes of Star Trek, that growth seemed infinite. But now that we’ve hit the post-covid let's-cut-back-a-smidgeon-on-screen-time plateau, debts are mounting. 

Part of it, as we’ve been duly informed, has to do with shared Netflix accounts. You might even know someone who shares a password or two. My former boss, who happens to own a BMW, is worried she might have to get her own account after using her sister’s for years. That’s right, even BMW owners want to ride Netflix for free. Well, the free ride is over, my friend – time to pay your dues so we can all get our daily fix! 

It’s quite a sense of entitlement to think we can watch whatever we want, whenever and wherever we want, at no cost whatsoever. We’ve become so accustomed to free social media that we forget our data is being mined for profit. 

Netflix also has new competition: Disney Plus... Apple TV Plus... Paramount Plus... Plus at least 50 other streaming platforms in North America alone. 

Back in 2015 when I first signed up using a 25-foot cable that ran from my modem to my non-smart TV, Netflix was the kingpin of online streaming. They had the monopoly. Now they must either create their own high-cost content or share. A movie that’s on Netflix today might be on Disney Plus tomorrow. 

It makes things complicated. Remember when you just turned on the TV to watch whatever was on? Now you must navigate a multitude of streaming platforms to find what you want. That creates problems for people like me who are responsible for managing my family’s on-and-off-again subscriptions. It's a full-time job. 

Normally, we fall back to Netflix, the tried and true channel 8 of my childhood. It’s the only streaming platform with its own button on our remote; just push the big red letters to access a litany of delightful and not-so-delightful shows.

But what if Netflix fails? What will happen to that button? 

I shudder at the thought.