I recently signed up for Netflix Watch Instantly as it just recently became available in Canada. To be honest for 7.99 a month I should expect nothing less, but I was a little surprised at the same time.
There are of course some good things about this service that I picked up on right away:
- The technology is there, be it for PC or mobile devices, high or medium bandwidth the content is watchable with almost zero lag.
- The user experience is smooth and allows you to move between devices picking up where you left off. The search and recommendation feeds are easy to follow and use.
The bad:
- Selection is the main downfall to this service. I was hoping for at least "Movie Network lag", so movies that were released to DVD/Blu-Ray 6 to 8 months ago would be available on demand. Unfortunately the newer titles that do appear are less than interesting and few and far between. Television content is completely out of date and most of it is incomplete, as in only season 3 of a series appears that is currently showing season 6.
Like when iTunes started bringing video content to Canada, I suspect a few years will pass before this becomes at all useful. Unfortunately it may fall apart by than, because when my 1 month trial ends I will be cancelling. Unlike iTunes all Netflix Watch Instantly has is video and if they cannot provide up-to-date content not too many people will be willing to pay 7.99 a month for something they can find in the discount bin at Wal-mart.