dvdflix would have been a more appropriate name
Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
31–40 of 112 posts
Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
#32This move is uncomfortable but necessary. The two businesses are different at every level (supply chain, cost structure, technology, user experience, etc.), and the DVD business is on its way out over the nest 3-5 years.
Better to disrupt yourself now than wait for some upstart to do it and react.
Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
#33This move is uncomfortable but necessary. The two businesses are different at every level (supply chain, cost structure, technology, user experience, etc.), and the DVD business is on its way out over the nest 3-5 years. Better to disrupt yourself now than wait for some upstart to do it and react.
And yet somehow Amazon manages to stream video and sell DVDs at the same time.
Heck, they sell lingerie and organic tea at the same time.
Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
#34+1 to Mr. Hastings, sheerly for the courage and grit it took to write that.
Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
#35This move is uncomfortable but necessary. The two businesses are different at every level (supply chain, cost structure, technology, user experience, etc.), and the DVD business is on its way out over the nest 3-5 years. Better to disrupt yourself now than wait for some upstart to do it and react.
And yet somehow Amazon manages to stream video and sell DVDs at the same time. Heck, they sell lingerie and organic tea at the same time.
But if Amazon's DVD business, or selling organic tea, doesn't perform well in the long run, they'll still be in business. If renting DVDs or streaming movies doesn't perform for Netflix, they're out of the game.
Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
#36I have to say, I think they blew it with this one. Spinning DVD-by-mail off into a separate business might make sense, but I just don't get splitting the ratings/suggestions up by not integrating the services. Considering that one of Netflix's greatest strengths is the (very good) rating system this is a questionable decision, and I think they'll catch a lot of heat for it from the crowd that maintains accounts on both services.
Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
#37Netflix should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. There are a lot of successful companies that are much more diversified than Netflix is right now. This honestly strikes me as a panic driven move in response to the customer rage and their precipitous drop off in stock prices.
I'm trying hard but can't see the upside to this move. And I think this will cause a big hemmorhaging in profit for the short/medium term. Netflix has 12 million members that are on both the DVD and the streaming plan. These are the folks that got the 60% price hike. Although Netflix lost some customers (~5%) after the pricing change, that massive price hike put them in a position to increase profits, even with less members..
But now that Netflix is splitting itself in two, I can guarantee you a sizeable chunk of people who were just happy with the dual plan will end up picking one or the other.
That being said, I like that they're tackling video games. They ought to take a serious look at getting into competition with Steam, which is making $1Billion in revenue and growing, with high profit margins.
Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
#38This move is uncomfortable but necessary. The two businesses are different at every level (supply chain, cost structure, technology, user experience, etc.), and the DVD business is on its way out over the nest 3-5 years. Better to disrupt yourself now than wait for some upstart to do it and react.
And yet somehow Amazon manages to stream video and sell DVDs at the same time. Heck, they sell lingerie and organic tea at the same time.
Amazon built the company around having a million services and products. Netflix built the company around having one service, and then around having two services.
Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
#39I'm surprised they din't register the domain quickster.com as well. The QW in qwickster is cute, but it's easy to misspell.
Re: Reed Hastings responds to criticisms and announces Qwikster
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
And yet somehow Amazon manages to stream video and sell DVDs at the same time. Heck, they sell lingerie and organic tea at the same time.
Amazon built the company around having a million services and products. Netflix built the company around having one service, and then around having two services.
Or two methods of delivery for the same service.