EOTO Blog Post #4 Netflix

Goodbye Blockbuster, Hello Netflix! NETFLIX is a subscription-based streaming service that allows our members to watch TV shows and movies on an internet-connected device. However, Netflix was not always an online streaming service, the history of the streaming service goes back to 1997.

1997 – It all started in a small town called Scotts Valley, California, when Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph had a spectacular idea to rent DVDs by mail. Hastings and Randolph met working at Pure Software together and they used to carpool to work, which is where they came up with the idea for Netflix. Hastings had forgotten to return a copy of the film Apollo 13, which led him to wasting money on late fees. Out of frustration this sparked their imagination to create the famous Netflix.

1998 – Netflix.com, the first DVD rental and sales site, was established. The subscription they created offered members unlimited DVD rentals without due dates, late fees, or monthly rental limits. This made life easier for their customers which led to growth in their business.

2000 – Hastings and Randolph designed a personalized movie recommendation system to recommend movies to their customers based on past film ratings.

2007 – 10 years later, the Netflix we all know of today, was introduced allowing customers to view shows and movies 24/7 using the internet. At this point in business, Netflix has approximately 7.5 million total subscribers which resulted in their revenue being $1.2 billion. Then a year later in 2008 Netflix partnered with Xbox 360, Blu-ray players and TV set-top boxes.

2010 – Netflix starts to only focus on streaming and in addition they launch in Canada. Reed tells investors, "Three years ago we were a DVD by-mail company that offered some streaming. We are now a streaming company which also offers DVDs by mail." This shows the enormous and fast growth because of hard work and dedication.

2012 – As we know of it today, Netflix started making original TV shows and movies. It started with Lilyhammer and then House of Cards in 2013. Now, Netflix is known as one of the best streaming services for original content.

Overtime, Netflix launched in many other countries making it worldwide. Due to this they had to add languages to the user interface, subtitles, and dubbing. In 2017 they had 100 million members globally. Today, Netflix is available in 190 countries for streaming.

Seeing from the history of Netflix it has evolved over just a few years into the huge service that it is known as today. There are not many people out there without a Netflix subscription. “According to the company-reported data, Netflix has 209.18 million subscribers worldwide” (Netflix Subscriber and Growth Statistics). The huge selection of movies and TV shows on Netflix, including old and new shows, has changed the world and made it so popular.

Netflix in COMMUNICATION. Communication is actually one of the nice values that Netflix promotes. Netflix mainly communicates through social media and they do this by posting polls. By doing so, Netflix engages users and encourages them to watch the newest Netflix shows.

Netflix has made streaming media a little too convenient. Netflix basically created the term “binge watching” which is “the practice of watching multiple episodes of a television program in a rapid succession” according to Merriam-Webster. Binge-watching, a negative effect of Netflix, decreases physical activity, enhances sleep fatigue, creates social isolation, and more. Even though Netflix wasn't designed for hours of watching, people can't resist.

The history of Netflix and how its benefits shows how prevalent the streaming media is in society today. At High Point University, the students have the opportunity to be mentored by Co-Founder Mark Randolph because he is High Point Universities Entrepreneur in Residence. During one of his talks at HPU he said, “The art of connecting with other people is probably the most important life skill I have ever learned,” said Randolph. (High Point University).