More than 16 years after pivoting to streaming, Netflix is saying goodbye to its mail-order DVD business. The company plans to shutter the service by the end of September, it announced on Tuesday.
Ah, where has the time gone?
Netflix debuted more than 25 years ago, and at first it both rented and sold DVDs online (via a now-ancient-looking website). The company might’ve faded to irrelevance long ago had it not switched focus to streaming in 2007.
About four years later, amid backlash over planned price hikes, Netflix said it would spin off its mail-order arm into a separate business, which it (bizarrely) named “Qwikster.” Then, the company changed its mind. The spinoff plan reflected just how far Netflix had come with its streaming business. However, its execution of this idea was, frankly, pretty embarrassing.
In a eulogy on the company’s blog, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos pointed to the dwindling revenue it earns via