Tag: media
0 Netflix Max: The cure for our indecisiveness?
Have you ever had a time when you’re on Netflix and you can’t decide what to watch? It’s terrible, isn’t it?! You’re faced with a rather large library with plenty of perfectly acceptable TV and movie options to entertain you for a while, but first you have to pick one, and that requires making a decision and you’re feeling so “meh” that nothing is jumping out at you. Well, fear not – Max is here to save the day (maybe)!
Netflix’s Max service is an interactive game that uses several methods to help the viewer decide what to watch. With a style and attitude very much like the “You Don’t Know Jack” series complete with a snappy, idiosyncratic announcer and musical interludes, Max asks you to pick a genre and then rate movies in that genre that you may or may not have seen. After rating several movies, Max makes a recommendation. If you decline that option, Max will try something else to help you pick. Since its release, several new ways to play have been added to mix things up and add to the experience, such as picking a specific actor to find movies/TV for. Max also makes use of Netflix’s algorithms to find recommendations based on the ratings the user has given shows in the past. Max has been around for a few months now, available on the Playstation 3 platform (no word on if it’s coming out for other devices yet).
Tonight, I fired up Netflix Max and played “One Simple Question”: Max had me choose impulsively between suburban dysfunction or detectives. I chose detectives and it recommended, much to my chagrin, “Murder, She Wrote.” After Max’s 30-second pitch (not available for all titles) describing the merits of the show, I decided to give it a try. Forty-five minutes later, Angela Lansbury had won me over and I was seriously considering watching the next episode in spite of my previous reservations. Max won me over in this case, and this wasn’t the first time. Max and my own curiosity have led me to watch quite a few things I loved (if you haven’t watched “Black Books” yet, get on it), but probably would never have found out about otherwise. In that regard, Max is very good for separating the wheat from the chaff. Max doesn’t always get it right, though. There have been occasions when none of the recommendations have sounded appealing – at that point, Max says, “Thank you for playing!” and that’s the end of it.
Overall, even if it’s not always effective at recommending something to watch, Netflix Max is quite entertaining in itself. With further development and a presence on other platforms, Max has the potential to be a lot of fun and hopefully relieve us all of our streaming media indecision.
0 Episode 3 – 09/27/11 feat. Steve Frankenfield, Alex Johnson & Dave Wheeler
Guests Steve Frankenfield, Alex Johnson and Dave Wheeler join Dan to discuss accessing Streaming Media and news.
Taped at the Frank Oz Memorial Studio, Minneapolis, MN on Sept. 27, 2011. http://bufferingpodcast.com
0 Episode 2 – 09/20/11 feat. Gina Dolski & Emily Dyess
Guests Gina Dolski and Emily Dyess join Dan and Adam to discuss the Netflix/Qwikster debacle and Streaming Media news.
Taped at the Frank Oz Memorial Studio, Minneapolis, MN on Sept. 20, 2011. http://bufferingpodcast.com
0 Episode 1 – 09/13/11 feat. Alex Johnson & Dave Wheeler
Guests Alex Johnson and Dave Wheeler join Dan and Adam in the inaugural episode to discuss which Streaming Media web sites they favor and news.
Taped at the Frank Oz Memorial Studio, Minneapolis, MN on Sept. 13, 2011. http://bufferingpodcast.com
0 Greetings, Future Listeners!
It’s official. The topic/genre/whatever you want to call it has been selected, the host positions have been cast, the mixer has been ordered, and the domain name has been registered. All that’s left is to create a Twitter feed that’ll lay pretty dormant until we get underway.
Adam and I are working to set a standard record/release schedule for episodes (my vote is for Tuesday/Friday) and we’re hopefully going to at least get a dry run (or Episode # 1/2) under our belts next week, so make sure to stay tuned for that.
For now, we have a few things for you:
1) We would like a sponsor. Even for one episode. You’ll get a negotiated number of live reads throughout your sponsored episode(s), or, if you already have a voice for your company, we can work with that too. Obviously, working out of my living room doesn’t cost much to start, so get in now while the gettin’s good.
2) I’m willing to sell naming rights for our studio (aka my living room). As it stands, I am leaning toward The Frank Oz Memorial studio (yes, I know he’s not dead, nor do I wish him ill fate. It’s a catchy sounding inside joke), but I’m up for suggestions/offers of the monetary sort.
3) We are trying to craft an end of show game revolving around Internet media. Something like the Leonard Maltin game, but less of a rip off. We’re going to cycle through a few ideas we’ve had so far, plus the occasional Len Maltin game, but if you have a great idea for a game, and love to hear someone else say your name on a weekly-ish podcast, then I have a deal for you! If you’re interested, or even have a semi-complete idea and are willing to co-author, shoot us a message.
4) We are regularly going to feature guests on the show, but we need guests to feature guests. If you feel you are Internet savvy, conversational, occasionally funny, and have a face for radio, contact us! We will also take pretty people. There is a lot of time on this, since we still need to publish Episode # 1, or, at least, Episode # 1/2, but the opportunity is out there. Grab it … or, instead, clasp it gingerly with a hint of hilarity.
I guess that’s all I have for now, but I’ll update you as stuff changes.
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Dan
The Buffering Podcast 