No more NETFLIX by Mail. Now it will be called QWICKSTER?

[mrzrich]

So NOW Netflix has decided to TOTALLY separate the mail order business and the Streaming business into 2 separate companies


Just got this E-mail:

Dear Toni-Ann,

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.

For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.

So here is what we are doing and why.

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.

I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.

So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.

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.

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.

There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.

For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you.

I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.

Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.

Respectfully yours,

-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix

p.s. I have a slightly longer explanation along with a video posted on our blog, where you can also post comments.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Thanks for posting your letter. I heard a quick blurb about this on the radio this morning, but we didn't get this letter yet for some reason so I wasn't sure what was happening.

We have no tv service and where we live you cannot pick up tv out of the air- we are surrounded by hills. We used to get two DVDs at a time and used that plus the streaming for our tv. Since the increase, we lowered it to one dvd at a time and kept the streaming, which we love.

He's right in the letter. If they had explained where they were going in the first place and also included they would be adding the option to rent video games, I think the back lash wouldn't have been so bad. My boys have been wanting to rent video games, so I'm glad to see that will soon be an option.

Small point, but I think they should have kept the name Netflix for the mailing side and come up with a new name for the streaming instead.

 

[OKW Lover]

We got the same email. Sounds to me like they realized how badly they bungled the price increase that they want to hide behind a new name.

 

[Oglet]

We got the same email. Sounds to me like they realized how badly they bungled the price increase that they want to hide behind a new name.

Yep, I agree!

It's amazing what collapsing shares and losing over a million subscribers will do to a CEO.

 

[Pikezh638]

Interesting.. I have not (that I know of) gotten an email about this.. But the site is semi-up.

I wonder if they will roll my queue over from netflix to this new place...

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I got the email too although I almost deleted it as SPAM. What a shame. Netflix used to be so awesome.

 

[Oglet]

Qwikster, the name even sounds kind of generic if you ask me.

Friendster, Napster the whole -ster thing is like a poster child for internet failure.

I wonder if the CEO had been drowning his sorrows when he come up with the name?

I seen something online where the company did not secure the twitter name Qwikster prior to announcing the new name to the world, apparently there is a guy who loves to tweet that is using that name.

 

[metalis4ever]

If Blockbuster was smart (I know stretch) they would seize this opportunity and rise from the ashes of obscurity. The pulse may be too weak at this point but with the right marketing campaign they could push their own DVD by mail rental service and regain some of their lost business.

I agree with other Qwikster sounds weird.....

 

[simonkodousek]

"""

 

[Cherinva]

I dropped Netflix before the change over started. I like it, but found that no one was watching the movies...or just letting them sit there for a week...I was thinking about starting it up again, think I'll wait until all the changes are done with.

I don't like the new name either...that should have gone to the streaming service.