The end of my 4-year Netflix affair

You could say I am a pioneer in all things Netflix.

I can't remember how I discovered it, but I started watching it back in 2012. It was an amazing discovery that led me to cut the cord on my StarHub cable TV subscription that year.

What initially held me back from cancelling my cable TV account then was the need for easy-to-access kids programs. StarHub cable TV had Playhouse Disney, the premium channel for pre-school kids which came with Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Playhouse, Little Einsteins and a whole bunch of other educational programs for my young ones. They also doubled up as babysitter when I needed time off to do important stuff.

When I discovered that Netflix had all of this and much more, I was an immediate convert. No ads, and no waiting for programs to start through video-on-demand. Best of all, 24/7 accessibility on phone, tablet and PC in addition to the TV via Xbox, PlayStation, Roku and some other media box. It was an easy choice.

Asiapop Comicon "We need to tell people about Netflix, El."

My kids were just as excited. My Little Pony, Pokemon, Daniel Tiger, Winx, Barney, Strawberry Shortcake - the list goes on. The first TV series I watched with my wife was four seasons of historical drama The Tudors. We averaged two episodes a day and finished everything in just three weeks.

At one point, I had at least six devices which could connect to Netflix sitting in my living room, and I bought extra media boxes just for the fun of figuring out which had the best Netflix interface. I have tried them all, from Xbox 360 to Playstation 3 to Chromecast to Amazon Fire to ViewQwest TV. And I didn't stop at Netflix. I went on to try many other video-streaming services such as Hulu, Amazon Prime, Vudu and HBO Now.

Then Netflix decided to expand its service to the rest of the world, and it also had its eyes on Singapore. But because it was launching in Singapore, Netflix wanted to make sure that its subscribers would be watching the video library it curated for Singapore, and not bypass it to get to Netflix USA.

The problem is that the content for Netflix Singapore is underwhelming and significantly inferior to Netflix USA. It wasn't really a problem for me though, because I could still use my VPN access to get good old Netflix USA content.

Then Netflix started to block VPN access. It was still working for me until about a month ago, when I started getting blocked from Netflix altogether because they detected that I was using a VPN. Sometimes, I could get through, but I was routed to the Netflix Singapore library.

Having been a loyal subscriber and evangelist for so many years (I even set it up for a few friends) I feel it is time to leave Netflix. If Netflix thinks that its customers should continue paying for a significantly crippled service (compared to its own US service) they should do some soul-searching.

I am still subscribed to Amazon Prime, even though I feel that the content there is not even as good as Netflix Singapore, because I still need some kids content which is accessible on-the-go. I pay HBO Now for three months a year when the Game Of Thrones airs. My two elder girls get their anime fix on alternative web-streaming sites. And then there is You Tube, which also has its fair share of content.

Last week, I cut the cord again. But this time it is on my four-year-old video streaming service provider. It's like ending a four-year love affair. Bittersweet. But in the end, it's for the better.