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Why Netflix Wants to Let You Control Playback Speed
Who’s the real director in our ambient TV era?
This past summer, The Verge reported that Netflix was experimenting with giving people the ability to control the playback of any show or film — from 0.5x slower to 1.5x faster. While Netflix was testing the feature primarily on Android mobile devices, the feature is now being spotted on desktops across the country.
The creative community has been pushing back since the rumors began. Judd Apatow, an outspoken critic, replied to the early headlines, “Distributors don’t get to change the way the content is presented. Doing so is a breaking of trust and won’t be tolerated by the people who provide it.” He added, “Don’t make me have to call every director and show creator on Earth to fight you on this. Save me the time.”
Aaron Paul also joined early, tweeting, “There is NO WAY Netflix will move forward with this. That would mean they are completely taking control of everyone else’s art and destroying it. Netflix is far better than that. Am I right Netflix?…I love Netflix. Always have. Always will. This simply can not be true.”
It is.
Paul’s tweet is now unavailable, and close to 195 million Netflix subscribers will soon be getting a taste of this control.
In a 2019 statement from Netflix, Keela Robison, VP of product innovation, justified the test: “It’s a feature that has long been available on DVD players — and has been frequently requested by our members. For example, people looking to rewatch their favorite scene or wanting to go slower because it’s a foreign language title.”
The moment when DVD speed control was introduced is different than our present moment with Netflix. Culture changes. We’re in a market landscape where Netflix infamously “competes with sleep” in addition to HBO, Hulu, Apple, and Disney. This change is about being able to better understand a foreign film as much as it’s about crunching more consumption numbers for shareholders. “Are you still watching?”
