More Baby Steps

In a recent post, maybe my last one, I talked about how I'm trying to migrate to Linux Ubuntu as an operating system, hoping one day to actually leave Microsoft and it's Window's environment completely behind. I've now taken a few more baby steps in that direction. I've been using Linux Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on my third laptop to get used to it, and just the other day promoted it up to my No. 1 laptop! My Win 7 laptop has been demoted to second banana.

Now, as of this time, I'm not including my desktop PC in this, it's my gaming machine and will be the final one to make the transition someday. Which might not necessarily be that long from now. I found an open source screen recorder that I like very much and works well on my laptop with Ubuntu, and Steam has been working very well on it as well, I've even installed a game I've played before called "Grow Home", which ran quite nicely considering I was using an integrated graphics card for it on Ubuntu. So putting Ubuntu on my desktop is looking more and more likely.

Promoting the Ubuntu laptop up to my prime laptop will now mean it's getting used for much more and more often. I've even been able to watch both Netflix and Hulu on it, without having to jump through any hoops or use any command lines with the terminal to get them to work. Ubuntu is starting to feel more and more like something that I can just open up and use just as I would any other computer. I'll keep you posted on where I'm at in this transition and how well it goes either way.

Netflix Price Hike...

Netflix has just announced a 60% price increase for customers who wish to continue receiving DVD's through the mail, and make use of their video streaming service. I've been a Netflix member for a couple of years now, 1 DVD at a time and streaming movies. At first that service was $9.99 a month (a great bargain), then it went up to $10.69 a month (still a great bargain). An increase to $16 a month though, (not such a great bargain). Why? I'm not that quick about sending the DVD's back to get the next in my queue. Some months, I'm only seeing 5 or 6 DVD's, and frankly, I've went through about all the movies I missed at the theater, and new releases that "I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO SEE" are getting fewer and farther between.

There's been a big furor on the internet from angry customers saying that they're dropping Netflix like a hot potato. My guess is though that a lot of these people are going to keep paying for the service anyway, because they're used to it. Here's where Netflix is making a mistake though. I'm not going to completely drop the service...I'm just going to go to the streaming only option. So instead of paying $10.69 a month, I'll be paying $7.99 a month. Sure, Netflix will be saving themselves the cost of shipping me those DVD's, but then again, I was only getting 5 or 6 of them a month as it was. The way I see it, Netflix is going to be giving me pretty much the same amount of product as they were, but for a lower price. I don't see that as much of a win for them.