![I’ve seen this cartoon from TheOatmeal linked around a bunch today, because everybody’s still cranky about the Netflix thing. And while I do use and like Netflix, I’ve little interest in defending some company just because I am a customer. On the other hand, if I contextualize this as attacking people for their toxic sense of entitlement, I can feel a lot better about it.
Because, wow, that is a serious sense of entitlement. I mean, the Oatmeal guy is explicitly saying that getting DVDs sent to your house by mail and having movies and TV stream instantly via the Internet are as intrinsically linked as bread and sandwiches. Which is a really weird belief. Who’s pissed at Spotify because they don’t also mail CDs to your house? Who feels ripped off by Tumblr because it doesn’t include — at no cost, apparently — an opportunity to have people come to your house and make that same one joke about [any given thing] in your living room? Are you not getting your delicious sandwich because Google Calendars doesn’t mail you a day planner when you sign up?
It’s just a weird position to hold, but I get why people have held it: Because “Netflix” has, for a long time, meant both “DVDs by mail” and “movies and TV streaming to your XBox or whatever.” So people are so angry that they’re making/reposting/tweeting cartoons about it in lieu of, like, thinking critically about how those two services are more like selling sandwiches and, I dunno, deep-dish pizza. Yeah, you eat ‘em both, but is anyone entitled to have them at the same time, without having to pay for both of them? And Netflix, apparently recognizing that the fact that both services have had the same name and thus have become linked, opted to re-brand one of them (to something stupid, sure). And, of course, people are also mad about that, because — I dunno, I guess it’s arrogant or condescending or something? I keep seeing those words a lot.
But I dunno. I don’t think it’s actually condescending to have to explain things very slowly and in small words to people who have proven themselves unwilling to consider that mailing DVDs that you’ve bought to people by placing them in an envelope and paying the post office to take it to their houses and purchasing the rights and licenses that allow people to watch certain movies and television programs via the Internet are actually two very different things that involve completely different costs, distribution teams, customer service programs, etc, etc, etc. From where I’m sitting, the fact that the letter that the CEO sent out this morning didn’t start with what the hell is wrong with you people is damn near a sign of restraint.
And I get it, too — I do, really. I hate when prices are raised, too! I don’t like it when my bills go up, and I will cancel services that I feel are overpriced. You’re totally within your right to cancel. But tone down the rhetoric about how you’re getting “screwed” by Netflix because they’re arrogant and trying to make you pay twice for the same thing and all that shit, because the people who do that look like a bunch of whiny, entitled shits. Getting thousands and thousands of hours of streaming entertainment sent instantly to your living room and having every DVD ever made offered to you via postal delivery, all for one price under $10, is not exactly a human-rights issue.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrsns92wWC1qz5810o1_1280.png)
I’ve seen this cartoon from TheOatmeal linked around a bunch today, because everybody’s still cranky about the Netflix thing. And while I do use and like Netflix, I’ve little interest in defending some company just because I am a customer. On the other hand, if I contextualize this as attacking people for their toxic sense of entitlement, I can feel a lot better about it.
Because, wow, that is a serious sense of entitlement. I mean, the Oatmeal guy is explicitly saying that getting DVDs sent to your house by mail and having movies and TV stream instantly via the Internet are as intrinsically linked as bread and sandwiches. Which is a really weird belief. Who’s pissed at Spotify because they don’t also mail CDs to your house? Who feels ripped off by Tumblr because it doesn’t include — at no cost, apparently — an opportunity to have people come to your house and make that same one joke about [any given thing] in your living room? Are you not getting your delicious sandwich because Google Calendars doesn’t mail you a day planner when you sign up?
It’s just a weird position to hold, but I get why people have held it: Because “Netflix” has, for a long time, meant both “DVDs by mail” and “movies and TV streaming to your XBox or whatever.” So people are so angry that they’re making/reposting/tweeting cartoons about it in lieu of, like, thinking critically about how those two services are more like selling sandwiches and, I dunno, deep-dish pizza. Yeah, you eat ‘em both, but is anyone entitled to have them at the same time, without having to pay for both of them? And Netflix, apparently recognizing that the fact that both services have had the same name and thus have become linked, opted to re-brand one of them (to something stupid, sure). And, of course, people are also mad about that, because — I dunno, I guess it’s arrogant or condescending or something? I keep seeing those words a lot.
But I dunno. I don’t think it’s actually condescending to have to explain things very slowly and in small words to people who have proven themselves unwilling to consider that mailing DVDs that you’ve bought to people by placing them in an envelope and paying the post office to take it to their houses and purchasing the rights and licenses that allow people to watch certain movies and television programs via the Internet are actually two very different things that involve completely different costs, distribution teams, customer service programs, etc, etc, etc. From where I’m sitting, the fact that the letter that the CEO sent out this morning didn’t start with what the hell is wrong with you people is damn near a sign of restraint.
And I get it, too — I do, really. I hate when prices are raised, too! I don’t like it when my bills go up, and I will cancel services that I feel are overpriced. You’re totally within your right to cancel. But tone down the rhetoric about how you’re getting “screwed” by Netflix because they’re arrogant and trying to make you pay twice for the same thing and all that shit, because the people who do that look like a bunch of whiny, entitled shits. Getting thousands and thousands of hours of streaming entertainment sent instantly to your living room and having every DVD ever made offered to you via postal delivery, all for one price under $10, is not exactly a human-rights issue.
