Netflix issued a press release this week stating they have now delivered over a billion DVD rentals. I did some math, and if you opened the paper packaging used in each of those deliveries and taped them end to end, the resulting ribbon of red envelopes would stretch to the moon. Personally, I love seeing this company succeed. They came up with a smart idea that allows me to see more movies, more cheaply and more conveniently. Before I go further,

I should disclose (he says, pretending like he’s a legitimate journalist) that I am signed up as a sales affiliate for Netflix, and I get money if any of you kind readers signs up via the ad on my page. However, it’s the very fact that I like and respect their service that made me select them to put in my ad space in the first place.Anyway, I very much like the advantages Netflix provides over the old method of renting videos from a brick-and-mortar store. I don’t know if this happens to others, but I always get to the video store, start browsing titles, and instantly forget all the movies I’ve been meaning to see. Or I find some new release that looks kinda interesting, but not five bucks interesting. Then there’s the fact that I maintain this sorta snobbish pride about what I rent. With Netflix, I love that I can keep an online list that reminds me I’ve been meaning to see that one Kurisawa flick, or some popular 80s movie that everyone but me has seen. I won’t remember those when I get to the video store, but my Netflix queue will eventually ship them to me. (Even if I have 400 other movies to go…) Plus, there’s a reduced pressure. If you go to the store and take a risk on something you maybe want to see, but it turns out to be a stinker, you’re stuck having blown five dollars and wasted an evening. If the movie you got from Netflix ain’t so great, you mail it back, and pop in whatever you have in envelope #2.

Copy-cat competitors have undercut Netflix’s pricing scheme. I’m not usually one for brand loyalty, but I feel it for Netflix. It probably helps that the primary competitors have been Blockbuster and Wal-Mart, companies notorious as a censor of movie content and an abuser of its labor force, respectively. Netflix, meanwhile, has a production branch, Red Envelope Entertainment, that seems to be creating artistic indies and socially relevant documentaries. I’m definitely in favor of supporting that kind of company.

I’ve heard the complaint that the company sends your rentals with amazing efficiency when you first join, but then somehow artificially slows down your return rate as you become an older customer, or if you rent too many. I’ve been with them for several years now, and I’ve never seen any evidence that makes me believe this theory. (Hey, I just had an idea. I am a long-time customer. It’s March 1st today. Why don’t I do an experiment over the month of March to see how many movies I can manage to go through?)

At any rate, the industry of home entertainment is clearly in a period of turmoil. While no one seems to know what’s going to happen to it, everyone agrees that something radically different is coming regarding the way we watch movies. Netflix is one of many companies working on a way of instant movie delivery, hinting they’ll roll out their method this year. Here’s hoping they can be front runners of that revolution as well.

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