7.18.2011

Netflix vs Facets

During my Netflix binge last week I mentioned Facets had a high quality DVD by mail program, an alternative for DVD lovers feeling burned by Netflix's decision to split up their digital and physical delivery subscriptions.


Today this article crossed my bow on Twitter, and it's full of hooey.


“At this moment, the digital delivery of movies is a deceit,” said Milos Stehlik director of Facets. “It’s like 1,000 channels of television, with nothing to watch. For anyone who loves movies, DVD is today still the best option.”

Nonsense.
Digital delivery is the inevitable future, and even now is vastly superior to physical delivery.

“For us, the overriding principle is to make all the great films available and accessible to our members,” said Stehlik. “Our commitment is to preserve the art of film. For now, the DVD format is still the best platform. This may change in the future, but the future isn’t here yet.”

While I agree with the principal, railing against streaming at this point is like Blockbuster and Hollywood ignoring the convenience of home DVD delivery while Netflix fed them their own guts with a fruity, fresh pressed olive oil and feathery grated Parmesan.

You can certainly concentrate on niche, OP and exotic titles and make a go of it, but streaming domination of the market is inevitable. Rather than complain, Facets should get on board and build up a streaming library of their rare, OP stuff. There's a strong resale market on Amazon for VHS tapes that haven't made the transition to DVD yet- that's an opportunity for an outfit like Facets, with their huge library of OP and otherwise unavailable VHS.

Quite a few of the featured movies on their landing page are available to stream on Netflix right now, and they're adding more all the time. Netflix's selection of exotic, offbeat, arthouse fare is measurably better than their selection of mainstream studio offerings and it's being constantly improved.

Facets delivery service is a nice alternative to Netflix delivery, but for me streaming trumps all. If they want to thrive, Facets should figure out a way to sneak on the train before it gets too far out of the station.

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