David BlumeSplitting Netflix from Quikster isn't just bad, it dooms us all. Well, at least it sorts us out first. Consider this excerpt from the linked article:
"There’s a beautiful paper by Daniel Read and two coauthors showing the gap between what people want to do in principle and what they want to do right now. They asked subjects to choose several films from a list containing a mix of highbrow titles (e.g., Schindler’s List) and lowbrow titles (e.g., My Cousin Vinny). When asked which film they wanted to watch a few days later, most picked a highbrow one. But when asked which they wanted to watch right now, most went lowbrow. In principle, we want to be the kind of people who watch serious movies, maybe even French ones—just not tonight!"
People who choose Netflix over Quikster will be making only decisions that result in instant gratification. Not only do they have fewer items to choose from, they're more likely to choose drivel.
People who choose Quikster make considered choices from a greater library, they know how to delay gratification for the greater reward, and they are enriched accordingly.
Of course, Quikster will be shuttered as quickly as possible (according to Darren Murph at engadget, "Reed Hastings just put a gun to the side of his DVD-by-mail business and pulled the trigger"), and the world will be run by the fools who weaned themselves making instantly gratifying choices on Netflix.
"There’s a beautiful paper by Daniel Read and two coauthors showing the gap between what people want to do in principle and what they want to do right now. They asked subjects to choose several films from a list containing a mix of highbrow titles (e.g., Schindler’s List) and lowbrow titles (e.g., My Cousin Vinny). When asked which film they wanted to watch a few days later, most picked a highbrow one. But when asked which they wanted to watch right now, most went lowbrow. In principle, we want to be the kind of people who watch serious movies, maybe even French ones—just not tonight!"
People who choose Netflix over Quikster will be making only decisions that result in instant gratification. Not only do they have fewer items to choose from, they're more likely to choose drivel.
People who choose Quikster make considered choices from a greater library, they know how to delay gratification for the greater reward, and they are enriched accordingly.
Of course, Quikster will be shuttered as quickly as possible (according to Darren Murph at engadget, "Reed Hastings just put a gun to the side of his DVD-by-mail business and pulled the trigger"), and the world will be run by the fools who weaned themselves making instantly gratifying choices on Netflix.
