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Updated at 6.30pm
NEIL HUNT, NETFLIX’S chief product officer, has told Gizmodo that the service won’t offer offline playback of content because it will create a “paradox of choice” that will leave some users “paralysed” and unable to use Netflix.
Speaking at IFA in Berlin, Hunt said that “one of the things I’ve learned is that every time you offer a choice [i.e. offline playback], you paralyse some people who can’t decide if that’s what they want to do or not.”
Hunt took a dig at Amazon Prime stating that “[u]ndoubtedly it adds considerable complexity to your life with Amazon Prime – you have to remember that you want to download this thing. It’s not going to be instant…and [I'm not sure] that it’s worth providing that level of complexity.”
Amazon, which runs Prime Instant Video, recently announced that it would make some content available offline, while Netflix has previously stated that the company will “never” offer offline playback.
While the reason for not allowing offline playback may seem anecdotal at best, Hunt claims that Netflix has lots of data about why adding more complexity won’t work — even if users request it.
“We did an experiment with our five star rating system, for instance; everybody said ‘you’ve got to do half stars’… [When Netflix trialed it they] had 11% less ratings coming in,” Hunt said. “[It was] just insane! We’ve plenty of cases where we’ve seen that happen.”
Hunt argues that instead of users downloading content, the ability to stream content should be made more robust with better internet access in places such as hotels and planes. “I think Amazon is playing a good game of PR, but I’m not sure it’s a good consumer experience,” he said.
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(in 18 yo D4 girl accent) Omg! I knew there were famines and dictatorship and stuff but only 18 hairstyles for girls! We’ve GOT to help these people…… It’s like totes oppression?
Ha, the men’s choice doesn’t really look that different from the choice available to Irish men up until the 80′s. My class confirmation photo (1987) will back this up.
Yes, trimmer setting 0 to 5 now is such an improvement! :-)
It’s the same haircut, just combed a different way. And are blondes barred from North Korea?
Sod the begrudgers Aoife, keep up the good work.
Thanks Noel :)
Aoife you should send them a photo of your hair style and tell them to get with the programme! ;)
Ha! Thankfully my hair now is much longer and dare I say better than it is in my horrible photo ;)
The journal.ie seems to get an awful lot of its stories or ideas for stories from reddit. For readers of both, it’s gets a bit déjà vu-ey at times.
Hey John – I actually saw this on Twitter, being RT’d by a lot of people.
I checked out where the photo came from (the photographer’s name and agency), then got it from Press Association. I noticed that the caption was wildly different from the one being tweeted, so I googled it and found the Reddit/Imgur and Guardian pieces.
Also, Reddit is a site with multiple forums where people share a huge volume of information they want other people to see, either original stuff or things already on the net
.
So it’s only natural that there will be crossover between it and other sites to some small extent. If people don’t want their videos/images shared by anyone, they probably shouldn’t put it on Reddit ;)
Thanks
Aoife
Boom! John just got served!
I find this site is brilliant for catching up on what happened on the internet a couple of days ago.
Ok then. Off to the shop with you, to buy yourself a newspaper if ye want the news!
No 11 is obviously the pick of the litter.
Are you joking, she looks like a teacher?
I’d throw #3 around the place
I wonder what their policy is on Brazilians or Hollywoods and do they have photos of them too ;)
The journal is a complete joke of a news source, have they traded in journalism for reddit users?
In Ireland, women only wear 2 to 3 types of haircuts. Boring… : /
Actually I think Irish women are very diverse in their style and colour choice. Perhaps that’s not the case in your locality but is certainly not the case of Irish women in general.
АЛЕКСАНДРЪ ХАИШ , are you only looking at the auld ones? Or are you living in the back arse of nowhere? LOL. Irish women are very experimental with their hair! Different colours, different styles….generally speaking our hairstyles reflect our personalities so there’s no way we all have the same style :)
No
If you say so Sean. Aoife just confirmed that at times there can be a crossover.
I don’t see the most popular irish style here . The old arrive on the back of a motor bike look.
Can’t imagine Toni & Guy doing too great a trade
#Toni&CreamOfSumYungGuy
What about the vo5 adds :O
It makes perfect sense, in a dictatorial North Korean line of thinking…
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