Netflix is changing the way people rent and watch movies. Instead of driving out to the video store to rent a movie and making sure you get it back before the due date to avoid fees, now people can either order videos and receive them in the mail or stream them from the internet instantly.
Netflix began back in 1997, when founders Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings were inspired to create a no-late-fee movie rental service after Randolph had to pay late fees for a rental of the movie Apollo 13.Netflix is now the leading Internet subscription video service with over 20 million members, according to Netflix.com.
The website’s subscribers receive movies by mail or, more recently, by streaming movies over the internet through their computer or other electronic devices, such as gaming consoles like the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii and also through Apple devices such as the iPad, among others. Subscribers pay a monthly fee of $7.99 for these services.
The mailing service was what Netflix started with, allowing subscribers to rent one or more movies at a time without fear of late fees. As soon as they sent back the movie(s) they currently had, more movies that they had submitted to their queue (a list of movies that the subscriber picks to have mailed) were sent out.
Streaming videos via the Internet has grown in popularity as of late, nearly eliminating the critiqued hassle of having to wait for movies to arrive in the mail. Although the selection of movies to watch instantly isn’t quite as wide as the selection for mailing, the “Watch Instantly” feature has many TV shows available to watch whenever.
Sophomore Andromakhe Harveaux uses Netflix’s streaming feature. She praises the availability of TV shows and old movies and shows that are otherwise difficult to find.
“[I like it] a lot. It means I can watch shows I haven’t seen in a long time.” Harveaux said.
The Watch Instantly feature has expanded to stream from not only computers, but from other devices as well, including many popular video game consoles, Apple devices and even Blu-Ray players.
ALHS teacher Jo Ann Erickson, who has a Netflix subscription, also enjoys the streaming feature. She often uses her iPad to stream TV shows or documentaries to watch whenever she likes.
“It’s pretty awesome. I never would have imagined being able to access so many movies so quickly.” Erickson said.
Both Erickson and Harveaux also use the Instant Watch feature more often than the mailing system because it was “more convenient”.
Despite said convenience, the Watch Instantly feature has received criticism for being too limited, as many movies are available only through the mailing service; particularly newer or more popular movies. Both Erickson and Harveaux agreed that the list of movies available to be streamed should be expanded.
“I would like to see more current videos on the ‘Watch Instantly’ list.” Erickson said.
Even though there are some limits to Netflix, notably with the Watch Instantly feature, Erickson is amazed at how far technology has come from when she was younger.
“When I started teaching we had VCRs and TVs on big carts that we shared with other teachers, and we had to sign up to use it. In the 80’s we had to go to the gas station and rent VCR’s and tapes. This is amazing! What will we be able to do in 5 years?”