Why Netflixgate Feels Like Angry Birds…Gate

Netflix Bad

Reading all this news about Angry Birds Space coming to BlackBerry 10 really takes me back… A few of us “die-hards” have been around long enough to remember a time when the lives of BlackBerry users were left gaping prior to the release of Angry Birds . I remember reading a lot of posts that centered around the “Why us” or “Why not” premise. The frustration surrounding why a developer would turn down the BlackBerry platform has been an almost never-ending emotional roller coaster.

Of course, we didn’t have it nearly as bad with Angry Birds as we do now with Netflix. This thought had occurred to me whilst playing my free version of Angry Birds Star Wars edition and thinking back to the post I threw up on the blogs regarding the comments of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. If you don’t recall, he stated that “[BlackBerry is] a great device for getting work done but people don’t interact with it as an entertainment device” and was not interested in developing on BlackBerry 10. A lot of us instantly picked up on absurdity of the statement because of his lack of interaction with the platform to begin with.

As the dust has settled  I began seeing more and more editorial commentary regarding Netflix and how angry people have become because of these absurd remarks.

A lot of this commentary centers around the same premise as Angry Birds had back when BBOS7 was launched prior to the PlayBook. It echos much of the same voice we see now, “Why them and not us?”, “Why not BlackBerry?”.

Being a bit reasonable, I can see the difference; Rovio didn’t come out and say “It’s a good platform but we haven’t used it and probably won’t develop for it because, well, we don’t know why. Maybe because there aren’t a lot of users…and maybe they don’t like entertaining themselves with an escape from work on a phone that is, well, meant for work.” They just didn’t develop for BlackBerry.

That’s not the point, however. It all comes down to the same basic principle. Platform support brings users to the platform. It’s like communication and relationships – it’s a two way street. Instead of underestimating the platform, give it a chance to support your app and it can only result in a positive reception.

In all my years writing and following BlackBerry, I have seen the inception of BlackBerry World (formerly BlackBerry App World) and prior to that, the third party app markets on the web that brought us all the apps we could have desired. I have NEVER seen an app bankrupt, or even financially jeopardize a developer or Dev Team. In fact, BlackBerry has released several metrics that have demonstrated the financial success of developing for the BlackBerry platform.

Quite the contrary here, but we still have the naysayers. That’s fine, but you can’t rule out the possibility before you give the platform a try. The least he could do is hold the f*%$^ phone. Peak and Flow for a bit…then say it’s not worth your time…

I commend the thousands of developers who took the risk in supporting the platform. They should be praised, for without them, BlackBerry 10 wouldn’t have been as successful. It is certainly a pleasure to open up BlackBerry World and have an actual selection of applications, not like in the good ol’ days when the home screen on BlackBerry App World was as static as static could be.

Until Netflix decides to start developing for BlackBerry 10, which I know they will eventually – well, that is if they haven’t lost a few (thousand) BlackBerry subscribers by then – there will be replacements and BlackBerry. Maybe this might even open the door up to rivals to steal market share.

Who knows what the future holds, but all I know is that there are a ton of pissed off  BlackBerry fans that will be canceling their subscriptions in the coming days if they haven’t already.

My philosophy is such; when one door closes, another opens. Who knows, maybe Netflix did us a favor by doing this. Guess we will have to wait and see.

 

And yes, I did just add “gate” on the end of Netflix…taking a page out of the “News Media” playbook.