6 Ways to Improve Netflix Instant Streaming

We've been using the Netflix Instant Streaming now for about three months, and I have to say our family loves it. I keep thinking we should keep a log of our hours, but I'd estimate that 20% to 30% of all of our TV watching is now through the Roku box. That's pretty amazing when you think that it's an OTT (over-the-top) Internet video streaming service that we're getting through a DSL Internet connection. Still, there are a few ways it could be improved, so here goes:

1. Faster start times -- I know a streaming feed over the Internet needs to be buffered, but why not have a memory card slot the user can put some Flash memory in, and pre-buffer the shows in their queue? It wouldn't cost much, and it would mean all of the shows in their queue could start almost immediately.

2. Built-in HDMI switch -- Most people don't have a lot of HDMI inputs available on their receiver or TV yet, but that's the highest quality, most convenient way to connect a new video source like the Roku. At our house, we solved that problem by putting an HDMI switch between the Roku, our DVD player and the AV Receiver. The switch defaults to the DVD player if it's on, or goes to the Roku if the DVD player is off. Building this into the Roku (or LG Blu-ray player, or XBox 360, or TiVo) would make the install even easier.

3. Netflix iPhone Queue Manager -- The Netflix Instant Streaming app makes you go to the PC to add shows to your queue. I know there are at least a couple of apps that claim to do this, but they appear to be weakly integrated, and not supported from Netflix. The PC is an ok fall-back, but the iPhone is much more likely to be with me on the couch. For now, I'll keep trying the emerging 3rd party iPhone apps.

4. On-screen content finder -- Wouldn't it be great if Netflix could introduce me to what I want to watch when I want to watch it instead of offering me a laundry list of things I've already "queued up?"

5. Integrated TV DVR and Netflix Instant Streaming Recommendations -- This is the holy grail. My digital video recorder knows a lot about me and my family. Netflix knows a lot about us too. Unfortunately, neither knows what the other knows, and consequently, my video recorder is a little dense when it comes to speculatively recording shows for us, and Netflix is a little dense about the TV shows we like. Getting this information shared and leveraged is probably a business challenge, but the results could be delightful.

6. Ratings Preferences -- Why can't I tell Netflix that I'm not interested in movies or TV shows with particular ratings (Say R or X)? Maybe I'm just missing how to do this, but it seems a pretty basic request -- sort of like turning on search result filtering in Google.

Like I said, we love our Netflix Instant Streaming, but there are ways to make it better, and I'm guessing we'll see many of them sooner rather than later.