Saturday, July 30, 2005

Netflix Fan is on vacation


Yes, I'm skipping town. After that last post, I'm ashamed to show my face.

Plus, some of you need further proof that I indeed have a life. Well, here it is. I'm taking a great American pilgrimage to the Grand Canyon.

Don't panic! I expect I will return to blogging about Netflix (and watching DVDs) on August 7th. If I do not, then you can panic.

Friday, July 29, 2005

Netflix Prank


Netflix Prank
Originally uploaded by Fillllll.
These naughty folks claim to have perpetrated a very rude prank on an unsuspecting Netflix subscriber. If you were the victim of this prank, you have my sympathy. Believe me, I had nothing whatsoever to do with it! Contains offensive material.

The Netflix Paradigm

Always-On Network's Michael Stroud talked to a focus group of 8 college students about which they prefer, downloading bootleg copies of full-length movies, or renting them online from Netflix or Blockbuster. All preferred to rent, because downloading takes too long.

When asked which service they prefer, Netflix or Blockbuster, Blockbuster won, because of the in-store rental coupons.

Bottom line? "if DVDs get too easy to download or copy, the balance could shift to piracy. In South Korea, where multimegabit-a-second cable modems are in 80 percent of homes, DVD sales have fallen sharply. To avoid that fate in America, Hollywood will need to crack down on the pirates, while offering some enticing packages to consumers who pay. If filmmakers do this, then the kids in our focus group will sign up."

Read it.

Indie rentailers add subs plans

Video Business Online" In the era of high-profile Netflix and Blockbuster subscription plans, many indie rentailers also are quietly jumping into the subs business and finding it a good means of padding profits."

Read more Subscription required.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Hart Sharp has Netflix exclusives

Via Video Business Online:
Netflix inked a deal with Hart Sharp Video to distribute independent films acquired by the online retailer, Hart Sharp announced Wednesday.

Hart Sharp will distribute Netflix independent films to retailers 60-90 days after they are made available exclusively to Netflix subscribers.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Blockbuster Online having "issues" in my area

I live in Greensboro, NC. My nearest Blockbuster distribution center is Charlotte, NC, based on the label on the envelopes in which my movies arrive. I subscribe to Blockbuster Online as well as Netflix. Blockbuster's Web site doesn't give me a way to check which of my movies I've reported as lost or damaged, but as I recall it's been just three or four since I signed on in January. However, I received an email from them today, telling me that they're experiencing "issues". It said:
Hello Becky,

We hope you are enjoying your BLOCKBUSTER Online™ membership.

We've noticed that in the time you've been with us you have reported a number of issues with DVD shipments getting lost or damaged in the mail. We know incidents beyond anyone's control occasionally happen with our DVD shipments. We take these issues seriously, and we are working closely with the U.S. Postal Service in your area to monitor the quality of your service.
It then goes on to say I should make sure my address is correct, that my mail isn't being delivered to a "visible location". Should I have an "unusual number" of missing discs, my account will be put on hold. Yada, yada, yada. Your friends at Blockbuster Online (tm).

Netflix "winning the fight on all fronts"

Via Forbes.com:
"We have virtually every DVD published--from classics and new releases to TV and cable series" trumpets Netflix. The online DVD rental company may be a braggart, but with over 50,000 titles and a Panglossian "250 genres", it has seen second-quarter profit nearly double as it pulls in new subscribers.

Despite formidable competition from the much larger Blockbuster (nyse: BBI - news - people ), Netflix (nasdaq: NFLX - news - people ) turned in profit of $5.7 million, or 9 cents per share, for the three months ended in June, compared to net income of $2.9 million, or 4 cents per share, for the same period last year.

What is the secret of Netflix's continuing popularity? Probably a combination of no late fees and free shipping both ways. A few industry analysts see a correlation between Netflix's growth and dwindling audience numbers at movie theaters.
Read more

Universal DVD exchange

Via stalenews blog:

This is not my experience with Netflix, Blockbuster or even Amazon or Half. (yeah yeah they're not available in India, but even if they were, the Chennai system of DVD acquisition would beat them any day) This is the chronicle of my encounter with the rather strange workings of a universal DVD purchase system available on the streets of Chennai.
Read more.

Netflix's search better than Blockbuster's

Rafiki Yango found that he was searching for the movie Innerspace incorrectly, using the search string "Inner Space" instead. Netflix is smart enough to know what he meant. Blockbuster, however, is not.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Add notes to Netflix?


just because
Originally uploaded by Miss Plum.
Wouldn't it be interesting to include a note in your Netflix when you return it, for no reason, just because? Flickr-user Miss Plum has the same idea, to put a note on the white sleeve.

I suggest you put your note INSIDE the white sleeve, on the label of the disc itself, to be read by the next random subscriber.

Independent video stores are starting their own subscription plans

Via Video Business Online" In the era of high-profile Netflix and Blockbuster subscription plans, many indie rentailers also are quietly jumping into the subs business and finding it a good means of padding profits." Read more [subscription required]

Monday, July 25, 2005

Netflix Announces Q2 2005 Financial Results


Los Gatos, Calif. – July 25, 2005 – Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2005.

For the second quarter:

• Revenue was $164.5 million
• Subscribers increased 53 percent year-over-year to 3.196 million
• Churn declined to near-record low of 4.7%

“Our business performed impressively across all key operating measures in the second quarter, reflecting
the broadening consumer appeal of our service and the rising competitive strength of our organization,”
said Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and chief executive officer. “Looking at the second half of 2005,
we’re confident of hitting four million subscribers by year’s end and expect to reach that milestone
profitably and as the clear-cut market leader.”

Read more.

Netflix now offering 50,000 titles!

  • Netflix offers 50,000 titles in 250 genres.
  • Netfix has 35 distribution centers delivering a million discs per day.
  • Netflix reaches nearly 90 percent of subscribers with generally one-day delivery.

Netflix near launch of movie downloads

Somebody credible has been leaking to the San Jose Mercury News about the imminent arrival of video on demand at Netflix:

"Well-placed industry sources confirmed Friday that the Los Gatos company is close to launching an on-demand rental service that is paired with a Netflix-provided television set-top box.
``We have said we're committed to testing a product this year and we expect the test to be of a very modest nature,'' said Netflix spokesman Ken Ross, who declined to discuss the timing of the launch or the nature of the service."
But don't get too excited.
One industry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the new Netflix service would be similar to fledgling, studio-supported ventures like MovieLink and CinemaNow. Those services allow people to rent copy-protected movies and television shows over the Internet and watch them on their computers.

Such services struggled because they offer a limited number of new releases. That is unlikely to change, so long as DVD sales and rentals remain the largest single source of revenue for movie studios.

``Given the very limited popular content now available, we don't believe that consumers will find this compelling until that balance changes,'' said Netflix's Ross of a new download offering. ``We don't foresee that changing for some time.''
Read more

Friday, July 22, 2005

James Doohan

I'm very sorry to hear about the passing of James Doohan, who played Scotty on Star Trek. StarTrek.com is a good place to read about what a nice guy he was. The last time I saw him alive was at Dragon*Con 2001. He was in a wheelchair. I wept to think I might never see him again.

Search for James Doohan on Netflix.

Redbox at McDonald's


Ronnie Mac's Movie Rentals
Originally uploaded by CPDillonJr.
This isn't a severe competitor to Netflix, because you still have to leave home to rent and return discs, and you can't keep them for long, but it might be nice to know you can get the latest hits in a hurry.

CPDillonJr says:
Houston-area McDonalds restaurants are now offering DVD rentals at each of its locations through these high-tech vending machines. For $1 a night, you can visit your nearest Ronnie Mac's Steak House to rent one of several new releases through the Redbox automated service and simply return it to any vending machine when you're finished with it. This new service has been quite a "blockbuster" success.


Dave Taylor has a review of the Redbox rental experience, found via Hacking Netflix

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Fortune interviews Peerflix co-founder

FORTUNE interviewed Billy McNair, co-founder of Peerflix. He says "60% of us watch a DVD only once or twice before sticking it on a shelf to gather dust". Peerflix is an online DVD trading site, where you can sign up to trade your used DVDs with other users. So far, the site has 10,000 users.

By relying on its members for inventory, Peerflix has no need for costly warehouses (it has only 17 employees at the moment). But as eBay has discovered, not all members are wholesome, law-abiding folks. In fact, Peerflix had to terminate the membership of an Oklahoma woman who tried to game the system by claiming to send out multiple DVDs to earn Peerbux. (A newly-installed bar-code tracking system in post offices will prevent that abuse in the future, McNair says.) But most members play by the rules, and some are downright addicted to Peerflix: A homebound, disabled man in Florida trades upwards of 60 DVDs a month, says McNair.
Read more

Category: Competition

Academy-award winning film is a Netflix exclusive!!


You can't get the 2005 Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature, Born into Brothels, anywhere but at Netflix!

Via the Rocchi Report

Video-On-Demand: the Future of Media Networks

For a lot of dollars, you can buy a report from Adam's Media Research Video-On-Demand which reveals what we already know: "on-demand networks will succeed only by catering to the consumers' desire to own and control their own content"

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Can Greasemonkey smash Netflix?

Nextwave blog says you can use a Greasemonkey script to "mash-up websites. It lets you extend and script websites and integrate that script right into the original site as if the designers had intended it to be there. It lets you use their web site, their data, their servers, their work to serve your purpose and function. There will soon be an army of hackers enhancing every site you use. Whether that site likes it or not.

"How happy is Netflix going to be when I use their site to download TV shows from BitTorrent trackers? And how are they going to stop me? Sue the guy that made the Greasemonkey script? Block my IP address from using Netflix?"

Read more

New Netflix Commercials

Hacking NetFlix has screencaps of the new Netflix television spots. You'll be seeing these over the next 12 months, so get used to them.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Netflix's content chief Ted Sarandos discusses directors' cuts

"A director's cut can take a picture that was almost unwatchable in theaters and turn it into a masterpiece," says Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, in the CalendarLive.com article, about how Oliver Stone is issuing a director's cut of his movie-flop, Alexander.

I can't find anything except the theatrical version of Alexander on the Netflix site. I think it's interesting that Ted Sarandos gives a quote about director's cuts, but Netflix doesn't offer more than one version.

Read more about the whys and wherefores of directors' cuts.

'Who wants to be a Millionaire' & Netflix joins hands to find movie fans

I got this from Indiantelevision.com, dateline MUMBAI:
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, hosted by Emmy award-winner Meredith Vieira, is teaming with Netflix, the world's largest online movie rental service, to find movie fans from all across the US.

Chosen contestants will find themselves in the hot seat for Million-Dollar Movie Week, a specialty edition of the game show, which will feature movie-themed questions and will air in February 2006.

Millionaire and Netflix will be traveling to five cities in the US to find contestants for Million-Dollar Movie Week. Auditions will be held in San Diego (25 July), Houston (27 July), Minneapolis (29 July), Chicago (1 August) and Miami (3 August). Those who audition will be given the opportunity to win Netflix memberships and other merchandise."

Monday, July 18, 2005

Netflix fan Scott gets "free" rental due to glitch

Scott wrote me about some Netflix weirdness he experienced last week:

"The new DVD "Advise and Consent" was in my DVD's out list starting Wednesday, when it stated that it would be shipped on Thursday. Thursday it said that it would be shipped on Friday. On Friday I received an email saying that it was not ready for shipment and had been placed back into my queue. Well, lo and behold, today (Saturday) I got it in the mail, even though it's still in my queue. I'm a good boy and have every intention of returning the disc after watching it, but technically I guess I could keep it without Netflix being ever the wiser."

I hope Scott returns it and Netflix credits him for the return, or all that honesty will go to waste. Have you ever experienced weirdness like this from Netflix or another online rental service?

Cybersquatting update

This is an update to my earlier post about somebody trying to sell the domain name netflix.ws on eBay. The sale item has been removed from eBay and the seller is no longer a registered eBay user. However, the domain is still registered to the same fellow.

Rentrak Reports One Billion DVD Units Rented in U.S. Home Video Rental Market During First Half 2005

A bit of data from dBusinessNews: "Spending on a la carte and subscription rentals from the brick-and-mortar and online channels reached $3.99 billion year-to-date, down (-) 2.3% from the $4.08 billion consumers spent during the first-half of 2004."

This would include Netflix, I presume, since it refers to "online channels".

Read more

Blockbuster versus Netflix versus Local Video Stores

Martian Anthropologist, a critic on Blogcritics.org, does a review of Blockbuster versus Netflix versus Local Video Stores. Bottom line: Blockbuster is best for in-store rentals, but Netflix is best for online rentals.

James Rocchi commented on my blog!!!

James Rocchi, the Official Netflix blogger and critic, has commented on one of my posts, regarding Netflix doing podcasts! You can read the post and his comment here.

Friday, July 15, 2005

New Netflix Shipping Center in Omaha, Nebraska

New Netflix Shipping Center in Omaha, Nebraska! Via Hacking NetFlix. Once again, please comment with your code, or give it to Jim at Listology.com.

My apologies to James Rocchi and the whole Netflix family

I made a mistake here on this blog, in front of you, God, and everybody. I said Netflix should do podcasts. Well, hush my mouth. They DO do podcasts! I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but our favorite movie reviewer, the Official Reviewer for Netflix, the one and only professional Netflix blogger, James Rocchi, does a Tuesday New Releases Podcast, as well as a Friday Review Podcast. Shame on me. Mea Culpa. I recant.

Thanks to MikeK of HackingNetflix.com for showing me my error.

DVD storage problems?

A way to recycle your old monitor by using it to display your DVD collection. Imagine busting out the glass with a sledge hammer. Or you could disassemble it like a civilized person, but where's the fun in that?

A bit of trivia for Flickr Friday: Netflix subscribers tend to purchase more DVDs than do people who are not Netflix subscribers.

British movie releases simultaneously on big screen, 'Net, and DVD

This isn't strictly Netflix news, but it has Netflix-related implications. A British film is going to be the first ever to be released in theatres, on home video and on the Internet all at the same time. If it makes enough money, this will revolutionize how we get our movies.

You can read about it via Netimperative "The filmmakers believe that the choice as to how consumers view films should rest with the consumer and that theatrical, DVD and Internet forms of distribution need not threaten each other, and may indeed be mutually complimentary."

The film is called EMR, and you can read about it here.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Amazon buys DVD-on-demand site

HackingNetflix is reporting that Amazon.com has bought CustomFlix, an on-demand DVD publishing service, so that they can "give video professionals a revolutionary new way to bring a few or a few thousand copies of a program to market."

I have previously posted about CustomFlix being a partner of Netflix here and here. There have been rumblings about secret negotiations between Amazon and Netflix. Could this be what they were talking about? Would this new deal make Netflix an Amazon customer now?

New Netflix Shipping Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Per Hacking NetFlix. If you know the shipping code for the new Netflix distribution center in Cedar Rapids, IA, please comment. I'd like to give it to Jim at Listology.com for his Netflix Tracker.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Sorry about that

I'm sorry I turned off the RSS site feed for Netflix Fan. It's back on now.

Isn't this "cybersquatting"?

A seller named domain-name-registration is selling the Netflix.ws on eBay. He wants $1,999.00 for it.

DVD weekly Podcast

GameznFlix is sponsoring the DVD Weekly Podcast, by Don and Jarrod Schockow, in which, I presume, they talk about the DVD business.

Netflix shoulda thought of this.

Netflix Queue Tribe

Need more Netflix Friends? Looking for a place where you can discuss movies with other Netflix subscribers? There's a Netflix Queue Tribe with 211 members. Tribe is a free social networking Web site.

DVD format war orphans

I think the DVD format war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray is not going to be a problem. The early adopters they're depending on to break the tie might not choose either format. They might choose downloads instead. Video downloads could be the third option that breaks the tie, kills the DVD off completely, and makes any format war obsolete before it's over.

Either way, Netflix won't be bothered. They can offer both formats for rent if they like. Early adopters could use Netflix to check out each format, with a rented DVD player, before deciding to commit to either one.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Glitch Exposes "Netflix Player"

Hacking NetFlix has screenshots of what appears to be a Netflix media player for video downloads. The story has been picked up by bloggers, including Engadget and Red Herring, who got a quote from a Netflix spokesperson which implies that the story was leaked by a mole at Netflix. Hmmm.

Whether it's a "glitch" or a "leak", the story is probably true, because Netflix has been talking openly about providing video downloads since forever.

Another Netflix Fan personal milestone

For the first time since I joined in January, 2004, I have fewer than 300 movies in my Netflix queue!! This is because I am trying not to add anything unless it's in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. I have already seen 547 movies in the book. Of the remaining titles, 299 are in my Netflix queue, and a few more are in my Greencine or Nicheflix queues. The rest are not on DVD. I'll have to hunt them down on VHS, either at Facets (by mail), or my local favorite, Video Review. There are still about 100 movies in the book which are not available on video.

Hidden value in Netflix ratings

Karl Long writes:
Now Netflix has 2.3 Million subscribers [it's over 3 million now--Becky], so with each subscriber having rated an average of 150 movies that is 345 Million movie ratings. Now those ratings are valuable to three key stakeholders, Netflix, potential customers, and current customers.

1. Netflix gains a valuable resource that is hard to duplicate, that is almost the dictionary definition of a “strategic resource”, or a resource that can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage
2. Potential customers will perceive a way that they will get recommendations of movies they might like, and therefore contributes to customer aquisition
3. Current customers have invested in co-creating value with Netflix, and reap the rewards with movie recomendations and tools to help them discover new movies, contributing to deep customer loyalty
Read more

via noisebetweenstations.com

Blockbuster Online has 1-out plan for $9.99

I just noticed on Blockbuster Online that they are offering a one-out plan for $9.99. Is this new? If so, that means Netflix has turned the tables on Blockbuster, forcing them to lower their price to match what Netflix has been offering for a few months now.

How to tell if a movie is crap

Video Business Online
As disc industry stories infiltrate the mainstream, consumers are realizing that fast disc releases typically indicate the movie was a box office dud. That thinking might influence their purchasing and rental habits, believe some store managers.

"Didn't Van Helsing have a short window, and it sucked?" asked Scarecrow Video buyer Mark Steiner. "You start training people with that."

Most sell-through retailers seem to prefer shorter windows over longer, because they use a film's theatrical campaign as essentially free promotion for their DVD product.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Netflix offers advertisers access to subscriber base

San Jose Business Journal reports that:
Netflix, the home DVD rental delivery business, said Monday it is starting to provide "relevant" advertisers with access to the company's more than three million subscribers.

Netflix Inc., (NASDAQ:NFLX), of Los Gatos, said it will offer advertisers a range of options, from placements in e-mails it sends to customers or messages on the red mailers its sends to subscribers homes with their requested DVDs.

Read more.

Rareflix.com's rental subscription service bites the dust

Rareflix is a Netflix wanna-be that won't be.

"RAREFLIX IS NO LONGER OFFERING RENTAL SUBSCRIPTIONS NOR RENTAL ORDERS. ALL OUTSTANDING RENTAL ORDERS WILL BE SHIPPED AND ALL RENTAL SUBSCRIPTIONS WILL END AS OF JULY 31ST."

Perhaps part of the problem is that I've never heard of them?

Updated 8/15/05: added "rental subscription service" to post title.

Ode to Netflix

Even through all of the drug abuse
emotional and physical neglect
emotional and physical abuse

through the poor times
through the times of abundance
adultery and divorce

even when my father locked himself
in the bathroom for a week
even when my mother met strange men
on the internet and slept with them
in her wedding dress

even when my father built the
baseball diamond in the backyard
even when my mother organized a union
at her factory

even through all the numerous
psychological dysfunctions
the biggest fights my family ever had
were over late fees and overdue movies.

By danieltalley

You can find my feeble attempts at Netflix doggerel here.

another Netflix perl script

Jared's techno blog brings us another Netflix Perl script. This one will parse your Netflix queue RSS output into a text file. Get it here.

I've blogged about another Perl script you can use to get all your ratings from your Netflix account.

Friday, July 08, 2005

DVD bootleggers prefer Blockbuster

Honest, decent Netflix subscribers can rejoice that this guy isn't using Netflix anymore. He admits he copied his Netflix rentals to his hard drive, and returned them before watching them. He claims he deleted them from his hard drive after watching them (pardon me if I'm skeptical). Not surprisingly, Netflix couldn't keep up with his demand for discs. In retaliation, he posted an interesting comparison of Blockbuster vs. Netflix, in which Blockbuster comes out the winner.

Netflix button on Yahoo! Movies

Yahoo! Movies now has a Netflix button, so that you can save the listing for your Netflix queue, to rent when it becomes available on DVD. One more reason for boxoffice takings to decline. Notice they didn't make a Blockbuster button?


Found via Hacking Netflix

The DVD: democratizing video distribution

Via the Los Angeles Times:
"For aspiring Stanley Kubricks — or "Super-sized" Morgan Spurlocks — digital technology and DVDs have become the great equalizer."

"'Twenty-five years ago, it was only the studio system, with a few mavericks like John Cassavetes and Robert Altman making films on the side,' Guirgis adds. 'This is a golden age for independent film, a much broader landscape and the consumer is the beneficiary.'"

Read more:

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Where's the iTunes for movies?

Here's another article on what's causing the delay in video downloads. Everyone is still blaming the studios (content owners), and the studios are blaming the "pirates".

via Tech News on ZDNet:
"Jonathan Marlow has spent much of the last two years trying to persuade filmmakers to put their most valuable products on the Net. On some days, the task feels a little like pulling teeth.

Marlow, a cinematographer and Amazon.com alumnus, is director of content acquisition at Greencine, a small San Francisco-based Netflix rival that is increasingly offering online access to films alongside its rent-by-mail business.

Unlike most video-on-demand providers, he's all but ignored Hollywood. Greencine launched the on-demand service in September 2003 with a small independent documentary called 'Mau Mau Sex Sex,' about a pair of exploitation filmmakers from the 1950s, and he's continued to focus on indie productions since.

For now, Marlow says it just isn't worth working closely with the big studios. Hollywood is too in love with its own soaring DVD revenues to risk supporting an attractive Internet alternative, and it needs to be shown that video-on-demand services can make money, he said. "

Netflix job openings

In addition to the professional job listings on the official Netflix site, a Netflix search on Yahoo! HotJobs reveals the usual West Coast listings in Cupertino, Santa Ana, and Sunnyvale, California, but there's also a listing for Iowa and Massachusetts. If you manage to find employment at any of these places, let me know!

Truth about Renting Online

Manuel directed me to this "Overall analysis" of the pros and cons of renting online. Mike Estes writes without regard to which online DVD rental service you might be using, so some factors exist to a greater or lesser degree, depending on with whom you subscribe. Bottom line? "with the slightest effort you will get your money's worth"
Read it all

Manuel has also updated his rental statistics chart.

Hal Hartley Takes Latest Film to Netflix for DVD Release

Via Indiewire.com:

"Even though we felt 'The Girl From Monday' had great commercial appeal, most mainstream distributors thought it was too much of an art film to warrant the high cost of theatrical release," said Steve Hamilton, in a statement. "As an alternative means of promoting our film, we joined forces with Netflix, a company whose model and philosophy provided a much more direct link between the filmmaker and the viewer."

Read more

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Netflix gives raises to top execs

The Hollywood Reporter.com says that Netflix executives got a bunch of substantial salary increases, effective July 1. CEO Reed Hastings' salary jumped from $137,000 to $500,000.00. This information is contained in SEC filings available on the Netflix site here.

A chat with NetFlix CEO Reed Hastings, after the Grokster decision

Freelance journalist Scott Kirsner blogs about movie technologies on CinemaTech. Last week, he chatted with NetFlix CEO Reed Hastings, after the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in the MGM vs Grokster case. Hastings talks about how the studios will react to this decision, what will happen to file-sharing, the role Netflix plays in movie distribution, and blames the studios once again for not being able to offer downloads, because "content restrictions are so severe."
Read it.

How to Pick a DVD Service

Smartmoney.com has a story, "How to Pick a DVD Service", in which Kelli B. Grant compares Blockbuster, Cafe DVD, Coreflix, DVD Avenue, DVD Overnight, Netflix, and Qwikfliks, on factors such as costs, size of selection, trial period (or not), Shipping location, time limits, and Web site. She doesn't declare a winner, but of course, it's Netflix. Read it.

Market Research Report on Direct-mail DVD subscription services

If you have a spare couple thousand dollars lying around, you can buy this market report, called Profiling the "Blockbuster Busters".
"Direct-mail DVD subscription services such as Netflix are now used by more 4.3 million US Internet households, about 12% of the 36 million US Internet households. According to a new report from research and strategic marketing firm The Diffusion Group, these households constitute a fertile target market for vendors pushing new digital devices and services."

Buy the PDF from MindBranch for only $2490.00.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Unusual weekend

I'm probably the only Netflix subscriber in Greensboro who is not returning anything to Netflix today.

Because I had family visiting from out of town, I stayed pretty busy this past weekend, and didn't have time to watch many movies. Instead, I swam in my sister's pool, ate lots of grilled-out hotdogs, and caught up on some sleep.

I still managed to squeeze in a couple movies, but not Netflix. I re-watched my personal copy of The Incredibles with family, because one nephew hadn't seen it yet, and I had to see The War of the Worlds in the theatre. You can add it to your queue, but I think it's one you really have to see on the big screen.

Of course, the occasional visitor to this blog will still think I'm an obsessed freak who needs to "get a life".

Friday, July 01, 2005

Holiday reminder

Monday is a Federal holiday, when we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, declaring America's Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and the oppression of King George, and "taxation without representation". Therefore, the United States Postal Service will not be delivering mail. I am thankful that I already have three Netflix titles at home, and a couple of Blockbuster and Nicheflix, so I can cope with the long weekend. Plus, I have family and friends to keep me busy. We are going to the lake to watch fireworks.

John Adams , Revolutionary War figure and former U.S. President, thought we should celebrate July 2, but July 4 is the actual date the Declaration of Indepence was signed. He had this to say about Independence Day :

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore."