dumping netflix

I joined Netflix in the summer of 2007. At the time, streaming video was fairly new, and members could stream 1 hour of video for each dollar they paid per month (or something like that). There wasn't much available to stream then, but Netflix soon began devoting large amounts of money to acquiring streaming content.

When Netflix announced its price hike in 2011, I ditched the DVDs and selected a streaming plan. And I remained happy with Netflix.

I'm still happy with Netflix ... but as of July 7, I will no longer be a subscriber. Why? Well, the answer is twofold. First of all, I'm buying a house, so I'm trying to save all the money I can. Netflix is far from being a necessity. Secondly, I also have Amazon Prime (which I get at a reduced price through Amazon Student). Prime includes free two-day shipping and free streaming of select movies and television shows. Amazon's selection has improved vastly in the last year, and now that Amazon Instant Videos can (finally!) be streamed through the Wii, I've been watching more Prime videos than ever. Prime doesn't have as many movies or TV seasons as Netflix, but there's more than enough to keep me occupied. In fact, I'm currently watching two shows that aren't available on Netflix: Covert Affairs and 7th Heaven. Couple that with the fact that I only watched three of the last 100 things streamed on my account, and I have to conclude that my money would be better spent elsewhere. (Multiple family members use my account ... and apparently they use it a whole lot more than I do!)

Of course, as I've been sitting here typing, I've been thinking about the myriad of items in my queue. Felicity isn't on Amazon Prime. Neither is Nikita. Or The Artist, which I've been intending to watch for the past year. And that's the key—I have 330 items in my queue, but how many of them will I actually watch? Maybe 5 or 10 percent? Just last night, I queued up an episode of Felicity, thinking that if I ever wanted to finish the series, I should do it now. I watched about two seconds before switching to Covert Affairs through Prime. I honestly can't think of one thing that I would be bummed about missing if my subscription ended tomorrow instead of three weeks from now.

As of right now, I think I'll come back to Netflix someday. But maybe I'll discover that I don't miss it much at all.