Goodbye Netflix Red Envelope
Until this week, Netflix was the fifth largest customer of the US postal service. No more. Since it’s first movie was shipped on March 10, 1998 (it was Beetlejuice), the Company has shipped 5 billion movies. I can account for 2500 of those. How do I know? Netflix sent me a spreadsheet with EVERY movie I ever rented from them. What I am going to do with 56 pages of movies is unknown except for the fact that my FIRST rental from Netflix was I. Robot on January 18, 2005. That’s appropriate given my SciFi slant. The book (of course) was better.
I was originally wary of Netflix’s business model. I thought the postal costs would prevent them from making a profit. Besides, at the time, I was a Blockbuster customer. My son was small and we would weekly visit our local Blockbuster and search the tapes for inspiration. We watched the transition from VHS to DVD in our local Blockbuster. Then something happened. Blockbuster probably realized they were missing a significant source of income with LATE FEES. I’d return a tape on Monday morning (on time) and Friday when I wanted to rent a movie the clerk would say, “You have a late fee from your last movie.” It got so bad I changed stores and the SAME THING happened. I went with Netflix not because I liked them but because I came to hate Blockbuster.
Our town had an independent Video store we also frequented because it was owned by Ed who was the Soccer coach at the Community Center. Ed and my son would kick a soccer ball around his tiny store and my job was to pick up all the empty video boxes they would knock off the shelves. They had a ball; me? not so much. Ed’s store and Blockbuster eventually disappeared, and Netflix succeeded. My last 2 Netflix movies, which I have not yet watched are Shane (1953) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). First in my Queue was Disney’s The Brave Little Toaster – I don’t think I’ve ever seen it!! And now I might not. I’ll miss you, Netflix Mailers.
kongoboken 