A Different View of Netflix vs Blockbuster

Two days ago, I wrote a blog with reference to an in-depth review of the Panasonic Oxyride batteries written by the New York Times technology writer David Pogue. Today, I am going to recommend two more articles by David you might find interesting.

Not long after I wrote my recent blogs comparing the two big on-line DVD rental outlets, Netflix vs Blockbuster, David wrote an in-depth look at these two rental companies for the Times. He took a different approach than I did, but basically came to the same conclusions as me...that Netflix offered better selections, customer service, and delivery times.

I think you will find this article to be an excellent supplement to my review.

Then, just three days ago, he wrote a follow-up article featuring reactions from his readers and some interesting information that both he and I didn't know and should be read by everyone who is considering renting movies by mail.

The two biggest items mentioned by many users include the practice of "Throttling" experienced by many Netflix users...and the censorship practiced by Blockbuster.

Throttling is the term describing the practice of cutting costs by holding back DVD's for a day or so before shipping them back to customers. Netflix has admitted this practice as a way of keeping it fair for users who don't rent as many DVD's per month as high power users. But, if you are renting only three movies at a time (the $17.99 per month rate) you will probably never experience this.

However, the censorship practiced by Blockbuster (and WalMart) seems a bit more insideous to me. These two outlets refuse to stock and ship movies that are unrated or rated NC-17. They do, however, have re-edited versions of these films on DVD, but don't identify them as such on their website. Netflix does not practice this. I object strongly to this practice as I want the right to choose what I want to see, not be subject to the whims of large corporations.

There are more interesting tidbits submitted by David's readers, so be sure and read this follow-up article if this subject is of interest to you.