Subject: New! Watch instantly on your PC as often as you wantI love Netflix, and always have since I started using them way back in my sophomore year of college. Reed Hastings originally envisioned a service where users could watch movies directly from the comfort of their home without having to go down to the video store. Originally, he founded the company to directly compete with the nonsense one had (and still has) to put up with at Lackluster...err..Blockbuster Video.
Dear Sebastien,
As part of your current Netflix subscription, you have the option to watch some movies and TV episodes from the Netflix library instantly on your PC at no additional charge. Now, we've made it unlimited!
So watch instantly on your PC when you want, and as often as you want. Select from our separate, smaller library of over 6,000 familiar movies and TV episodes available to watch instantly.
- Your friends at Netflix
After over ten years in service, the company has seen its competitors move out of the realm of store-based movie rental and into the very concept that he had originally planned out. Unfortunately, it's taken the rest of the world (especially the lazy degenerate assholes at the major motion picture studios) quite some time to realize that the future of movie watching is not in shuffling down to the video store to deal with scratched discs, long lines, and late fees. And now Netflix is facing off against the likes of Apple, Blockbuster (again), Comcast, Microsoft, and many others in the battle over downloadable movies.
It's little surprise that Netflix announced the above policy this week. What's funnier about this fact is that the announcement was actually made yesterday. The system went in place, and I logged in last night to find myself with unlimited time for online movie watching. Yet this email came out this afternoon, coincidentally just a few hours after the details of Steve Jobs' keynote regarding iTunes movie rental surfaced.
So what's the damage in terms of stock price today?
NFLX 22.05 -0.72 (-3.16%)
AAPL 169.04 -9.74 (-5.45%)
To be fair, it wasn't the most pleasant of days in Wall Street; but this is interesting to see both get hit. Apple went down progressively through the day, perhaps as more news about their products hit the public. Netflix dropped to 20.99 about halfway through the day, (about the time the Jobs keynote concluded) and regained more than a point by the end of the day.
So what does that tell us about online movie rentals, technology, Wall Street, et cetera? Not a whole lot, other than the fact that investors aren't the brightest if they see today as a bad day for Netflix and Apple. I think both of these companies are competing strongly with the current market, while they're both innovating (read: creating and owning a new industry). 2008 should be a strong year for Netflix with their Instant Watching feature finally seeing real expansion. Apple will do well if their rental service stays strong and they release a new version of the iPhone. (They'll also do well if the latest Macbook Air doesn't turn out to break if you move it.)
Speaking of which, I watched the keynote, and was mildly entertained. Jobs certainly didn't seem quite as "on" as he was last year. And come on, Randy Newman? I hate that guy. Randy Newman sucks and his music is elevator music with lyrics that mimic the lines from a Family Circus comic. As much as I detest the current administration in Washington, I am pretty sure that it's not the most appropriate or sensible thing to start comparing them to Hitler, Stalin, and the Spanish Inquisition at the Steve Jobs keynote. It felt like he took a wrong turn and wound up there rather than at a MoveOn party.
Damn he sucks. His voice is so annoying. He sounds like he should be telling them kids to get off his lawn.
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