Netflix and Verizon could damage their brands doing this

When companies like Netflix and Verizon start going public with their disagreements, no one wins, regardless of who's right or wrong.

Involving customers in a bitter feud about connection speeds isn't really fair to them because, honestly, they have no clue how streaming data works. They just want the product or service they ordered. If something goes wrong with that service then all the possible causes should be explained to them, maybe in an email, perhaps in a special newsletter.

Sometimes buffering messes up and it might not even be related to the connection. There's also something called Microsoft Silverlight (which frequently fails), that can affect the stream. A computer's graphics card or hard drive can impact the quality of the stream (TVs and phones have their own problems too). Even other programs running in the background can have an impact that users are not even aware of. There are many more possibilities, but the point I'm trying to get across is, negative PR between companies trying to shift blame about bad service experiences never get sympathy from customers. It's negative, plain and simple, and due to the viral nature of the web, people can easily share that negative feeling with others, and soon you've got millions of annoyed customers who might even start looking at alternatives.

When DirecTV and Viacom got their bitter feud public, it made other competitors and networks look more attractive and no one looked good in that regardless of who should have paid more for content or not.

It's not necessary to make these arguments public because they don't end up resolving the issue at hand. In fact, it escalates the public awareness needlessly. People using Netflix right now are going to be even more focused on this issue. Why? Did they need to be? Don't they just want to watch great movies and TV? After all, people watch content to escape, not to be drowned in a feud.

That's my take on it. I hope they bury this problem fast, and work together behind-the-scenes to solve it.