September 19, 2011

The End of Netflix

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I got a personal email from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings this morning:

Dear Kevin,

I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

Well, OK, this wasn’t really an email sent just to me. It was sent to me and several million other pissed off Netflix customers. Still, it’s nice that Hastings knows we’re pissed-off and wants to explain things. So here’s the explanation:

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.

Huh? Unlike many internet denizens, I wasn’t especially cheesed off when I read this. I was just — bemused. Why should I care if they’re changing the name of their DVD service? Why should anyone care? And in what way is this an explanation for a big price increase? This is like breaking your neighbor’s window and then “explaining” that tomorrow you’re planning to take a trip to the zoo. The two things just don’t have anything to do with each other.

Meh. Hastings should have saved his virtual postage. More here, if you’re interested. My take is that this is the beginning of the end for the DVD service, no matter what Hastings says. He doesn’t want the Netflix brand ruined by the plummeting customer satisfaction that’s going to follow the almost certain service and selection downgrades on Qwikster once the smoke has cleared. Oh well. Nothing lasts forever. But with Blockbuster gone, Redbox mostly limited to newer releases, and streaming services offering only a tiny selection, where am I going to go if I want to watch some movie made more than a decade ago? I guess I’ll just wait for them to show up on cable until the content providers figure out what to do.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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