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This still exists?
Oops.
My bad.
Here, look at THIS:
And now that you are lol’ing uncontrollably, know this: I shall be back. There have been a great many developments in the world and beyond and back again. Both mine and the general public’s.
So just be on the lookout. Or something.
Pants.
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I haven’t posted in forever.
It’s because we bought a house, moved, and had a baby.
In the space of five days.
Fatherhood is, like, the greatest thing ever. Okay, maybe being married is the best. Maybe they’re tied. I’m not sure. But I can tell you my child is the coolest little dude ever, that it is awesome to have him lay on me and fall asleep, that it is incredible that he depends on me and looks at me and smiles and squeezes my hand. It is absolutely amazing.
I was freaked out the night before he came (he was premature but only slightly, and it was an emergency situation), but now that he is here I cannot imagine anything else, or anything better.
My wife is an incredible trooper, making a recovery from an emergency c-section to as of today (now that her folks have taken off, sadface) taking care of the little man on her own while I am at work. She is the most amazing woman ever.
My life is incredible. All the little stuff, I don’t sweat it. Everything will fall into place as it is intended to. As long as my family is okay, nothing else matters.
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This week heralded the news that Netflix was going to split up its streaming and physical media (read: DVD/Blu-ray) plans to $7.99 per month for each. This additional cost will add up to customers who, like me, enjoy the benefits of having both features in one low price. It will also make those customers ridiculously angry.
(For proof of that, see Netflix’ official blog at http://blog.netflix.com/2011/07/netflix-introduces-new-plans-and.html and then read the comments section. Warning: possible cursing, crazy people, entitlement.)
Does it suck that they are re-pricing both of these services? Absolutely.
Is it going to drive customers to the streaming side of their business model and away from their old-school bread and butter, the physical model? Most likely.
Is Netflix okay with the latter? It seems to me like they are COUNTING ON IT.
Do you think it costs more to stream things from one computer to another, or to hire individuals to pack and sort and wrap and unbox and prepare for the post office a little red envelope(TM)? I think that Netflix is moving toward a streaming-only model that will allow them to sit on their haunches and let the droves of green cash money flow into their pockets. It’s a smart idea - even if it does alienate some customers. But hey, companies do that all the time. It’s like buying gas - they will raise the prices, but we will still use it (sometimes, or most of the time, because we have to). So it is with Netflix - they will raise the prices of the combined plans, but we will still probably stick around with the streaming plan.
Especially if you have children. It only makes sense. It’s like having unlimited, uninterrupted access to PBS, Nickelodeon, and the Disney channel on your (INSERT DEVICE HERE).
Will this issue cause Redbox to see a rather large bump in sales? Probably. Redbox has a good model that hasn’t gone anywhere and helped put Blockbuster out of business.
Will we use Redbox (“we” being my wife and I) more in the future? Most likely. It’s a pain to stand behind three people that take FOREVER to browse the DVDs at Walmart, but if there is something that we really want, then we can reserve it online.
So, Netflix has decent business acumen, even if it makes people mad. But we can’t really hold that against them; companies have been doing that since business has been around.
