Having access to every Star Trek ever was great, but Netflix's recommendation algorithm was top notch. It gave me things I would never have sought out but loved anyway.

But since Netflix started just pushing their own shit, regardless of whether I'd like it or whether I'd already watched it or whether it was literally cancelled by Netflix it's enshittified to the point I don't know why I still pay for it.

[–] BolexForSoup@kbin.social 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

As somebody who has been using Netflix since before they even had streaming as an option, I think a lot of people really over-inflate how good the offering was in the early years of their streaming unless you just loved watching reruns of cable television from the 90s and 2000s.

Make no mistake, the offering now is worse. But it’s not like it was truly a central, low priced hub for everything you wanted to watch.

[–] snooggums@midwest.social 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It wasn't just the content, it was the delivery of watching whatever you chose whenever you chose and wherever you chose for a reasonable monthly fee. Even without a massive catalogue it was 1000 times better than cable and the existing services that charged stupidly high fees for on demand temporary access.

It did have a lot of movies in addition to the series though, even if I had seen most of them because they started with the popular ones.

[–] BolexForSoup@kbin.social 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, what I miss most about early Netflix was the insane library they had of documentaries

[–] snooggums@midwest.social 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Good documentaries from quality sources too, like Planet Earth!

Not the sensationalist garbage they put out under their brand now.

[–] BolexForSoup@kbin.social 3 points 8 months ago

Or Amazon putting out that dogshit Jim Caviezel right wing trash

[–] GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip 2 points 8 months ago

Yeah I guess I’m overstating my case a bit. But still, when it was the place for legal streaming the piracy numbers were at an all time low. Turns out people don’t mind paying a fair sum for good availability and convenience.