I know a few people who subscribe to the Netflix service. My best friend, John being one of these people. I don’t know if he still subscribes, but he told me he really liked the service and that I should subscribe. I won’t subscribe because I honestly can’t remember the last time I rented a movie and paying $19.95 a month for unlimited DVD rentals would leave me with very little time to read about things that I won’t buy and that I’m not the slightest bit interested in.
My mom e-mailed me an article from the Associated Press about Netflix’s accelerating growth and the heated competition the company is in with Blockbuster and Wal-Mart’s online movie rental services. As I get older and wiser, I like to stay informed in the world of business, technology, investments and Spandex®. The article that my mom sent made me think: “Should I have invested in Netflix when John was telling me how great it was?” It also made me think: “Did I leave the toilet seat up for the cat this morning?”
Netflix says that the average subscriber maintains the rental service for around 21 months and their revenue nearly doubled last year. The vast majority of subscribers are happy with the service as stated by Leyl Master Black:
“I have seen so many movies from Netflix that I would never be able to find at a video store,” said Black, who lives in San Francisco and Seattle. “Using something like Netflix takes a little more advanced planning, but it’s definitely worth it.”
So as I attempt so stay atop of the world of technology and financial trends, I ponder whether I should invest in smaller companies with looming competition from media giants.
But the really important issue here is: How does Leyl Master Black live in San Francisco AND Seattle? What does she say on her answering machine greeting? “Hi, this is Leyl in Seattle?” What if she ordered Sleepless in Seattle from Netflix but accidentally had it mailed to her address in San Francisco? What if she went to the grocery store and realized she left her coupons in her other state?
What if I had invested in Netflix early on? Would I have made a lot of money? Say, enough to live in Austin, TX AND Berrien Springs, MI, “The Christmas Pickle Capital of the World”?
One can only imagine.