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Will Netflix Soon Be Able to Read Your Mind?
FILE - In this July 20, 2010 file photo, a Netflix customer uses Netflix in Palo Alto, Calif. Netflix will pay Verizon Communications to help clear up some of the congestion that has been bogging down its Internet video service. The deal marks the second time in less than three months that Netflix Inc. has anted up for a more direct connection to a major Internet service, even though CEO Reed Hastings objects to having to pay for better access. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File) AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File

Will Netflix Soon Be Able to Read Your Mind?

"You won’t see a grid and you won’t see a sea of titles.”

Less might be more, even for a company buoyed by a seemingly inexhaustible array of movie and TV titles.

At least that's what Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt implied, TechCrunch reported, as he delivered an Internet Week keynote address Monday in New York City.

“Our vision is, you won’t see a grid and you won’t see a sea of titles,” said Hunt, speculating on the future of streaming.

FILE - In this July 20, 2010 file photo, a Netflix customer uses Netflix in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Instead of the "sea of titles," Hunt said, viewers will receive a smarter, more personalized "suggested viewing" list, ranging from the "somewhat unrealistic” prospect of a single, perfect-for-you title to the "powerful possibility" of a tight, targeted list of three or four suggestions.

The Netflix officer's comments speak to the idea that modern TV-watchers are confronted with too many good choices.

As researchers like Columbia University's Sheena Iyengar have found, "the presence of choice might be appealing as a theory, but in reality, people might find more and more choice to actually be debilitating.”

During Monday's address, Hunt also predicted that the future would hold more ad-free TV streaming experiences, and he endorsed both higher frame rate filming and net neutrality.

Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter

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