Get your Netflix fix

Let’s face it, it is a whole new world … a streaming world.

My kid doesn’t even know what a DVD is, let alone a VHS rental. Movies, TV shows, video and related content, are delivered directly to us on devices in the palm of our hand or setting in our living room.

Consumer demand, coupled with the profit potential of streaming, has created an environment rife with streaming options. Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime and our own 1SpotMedia deliver high-quality content on demand, and we love it.

So, let’s start with Netflix. It wasn’t the first streaming service, but it certainly ushered in a social revolution. Born out of the frustration associated with DVD rental late fees, the service capitalised on our desires to binge watch, whether we like to admit it or not.

Here in Jamaica, we (legitimately) access the Latin American feed. We’ve got access to all the award-winning Netflix original content, amazing documentaries and docu-series, lots of Spanish language shows and great UK and European based shows. What we don’t get are some of the blockbuster movies and TV shows that are effectively geo-locked from our region. Bummer.

The current basic monthly subscription fee is US$9.99, up from $7.99; and all indicators are that the fee is likely to increase again this year.

Fortunately for us, and for Netflix, the service is not tied to any specific device. Its available on internet-enabled devices through the browser (Safari, Explorer, Edge, Firefox and Chrome, to name a few), it available as an app on both Android and iOS mobile phones and tablets, its available on streaming devices like Roku, Chrome Cast, Amazon Fire and AppleTV and it is natively installed on many smart TV models. I could almost say, you can get Netflix anywhere.

Anywhere, also means you can watch on one device and pick up where you left off on another device.

The robust Netflix platform allows you to browse through the library and set up a watch list for later viewing. Based on your viewing patterns, your likes and your list, Netflix pushes intuitive recommendations. And to protect the integrity of the recommendations, the service offers five user profiles. So, if you lend your Netflix to the neighbour's kid to watch cartoons, or your freeloading brother attacks your couch for his own binge-watch session, you don’t have to see errant recommendations, assuming they used their own, easy to set up custom profiles.

Pro tip: set up a guest profile and just leave it there. You never know when that might come in handy.