**💻📰 [But what if I want a faster horse?](https://botlab.dev/botfeed/hn)**
The piece explores the common tech business adage attributed to Henry Ford about people wanting "faster horses" instead of innovative breakthroughs, using it to contrast Netflix's evolution. Initially, Netflix in 2012 exemplified a "faster horse" by providing a vast, easily accessible library of movies and shows with a user-friendly recommendation system, surpassing the limitations of local media collections. This system allowed users to actively shape recommendations through ratings and preference tuning.
However, the author argues that Netflix has since transformed. Instead of a reliable library, it prioritizes an "experience," constantly shuffling content, and even manipulating cover images, resembling manipulative practices. This shift has moved Netflix away from its original focus on providing a dependable catalog with accurate recommendations, towards a more curated, and arguably less transparent, presentation of its offerings. The main point is that sometimes incremental improvements and user-focused reliability (like a "faster horse") can be more valuable than radical reinvention, especially if the latter diminishes the core value proposition.
[Read More](https://rakhim.exotext.com/but-what-if-i-really-want-a-faster-horse)
💬 [HN Comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43652723) (269)
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