Slashdot Mirror
A Peek Into Netflix Queues
margaret writes "The New York Times has an interactive Web app where you can map the popularity of various Netflix titles by neighborhood, in a dozen different cities. Invasion of privacy or harmless voyeuristic fun? Either way, it's pretty interesting."
porn, now that's where it'd get interesting...
I can think of so many better things to be doing with my time than looking at what people are renting based on their ZIP code.
Does whining on Slashdot really count as something better?
Or maybe you're presuming too much about people based on their ZIP code.
Strangely enough, Milk is in the top 3 movies in San Francisco in every area except the Castro. Try explaining that one if you can.
Compared to other areas, the residents bought the disk, so they don't need to rent it as much?
Everyone in the neighborhood saw it in the theatre and so didn't need to rent it from Netflix.
We saw it at the Castro theatre about halfway through its total run and it was a full upper balcony sellout. It really was an important film to see as together as a community and I was glad to have taken part in what I felt was a community viewing.
Looking at the Seattle map one interesting thing stands out for me. The rentals in the zip code of Seattle University seems completely different then everywhere else. What is interesting that ' pseudo intellectual' movies that you would think would be more popular, Milk, Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, are relatively low in this area of learning, while mindless movies, Role Models, House Bunny, where the most popular.
I don't find it odd.
It's just anecdotal, but after a stressful day/week of courses and exams I found myself wanting to unwind and relax with a fun and mindless flick instead of a high quality film.
Don't get me wrong, I would still enjoy cerebral movies back then but not as frequently as a silly comedy or mindless action flick.
A mindless entertainment was a good way to unwind, plus you could watch it and laugh together with friends.
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I guess it's somewhat like my reading habits. I enjoy reading and do it fairly often now, likewise I read a fair amount back in high school.
However in college I was already reading every day for multiple hours for my various courses, so the last thing I after I put down my textbook was pick up yet another book.
Marketing people care. You'd better believe they care!
Well, if we're already speculating you may also speculate if you are seeing a biased sample of the student population. At least many of the technically minded students I knew would see no need for a Netflix subscription...
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Invasion of privacy or harmless voyeuristic fun?
What invasion of privacy? They're not showing what any particular person rented, just what the aggregate in a given area liked. If this is invasion of privacy, then so is any demographic statistic saying, for instance, that New Yorkers like hot dogs from a stand on the street or the baseball stadium over that cooked at home.
Allegedly real newspaper headline from 1998:
Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge
Say you have kids. Those concentrations can give you a very good idea about where there are other people who have kids, so you can look at those neighborhoods. Especially if you're moving to a new city or something.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
More intelligent poor folk are pirates. Who has money for Netflix when you are living off Ramen and Peanut Butter?
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
Apparently, some people like masturbation as well. That doesn't mean they shouldn't get a life.
But then I'd have to cut back on masturbating.
yes, but if you can drag yourself away from your narcissism, you'll find your girlfriend not only loves love stories, but love stories about sad relationships between 2 seriously hot men ('cos the movie-makers are always going to make a story about gay relationships involving 2 muscular cowboys rather than 2 fat nerds), and it also has the added attraction of some man-on-man action.
So you'd expect homosexual love stories can appeal to heterosexuals. Just like you wouldn't mind going to see 2 hot lesbian chicks fall in love (oh, you've already seen that one, yeah me too ;)
Also a lot of heterosexual and homosexual people just like movies, sometimes you want something intellectually stimulating even if it has a gender-related subplot you still watch it for the main plot. OK, love stories don't fall into this category so much, but Milk (for example) may have a gay subplot but that's not what the story is about. Just like you can watch Malcolm X in an entirely white neighbourhood.