What is Digg?96 Comments
- TimmyGUNZ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+37Who knew envelopes could be so interesting?
- dongiaconia, on 10/12/2007, -4/+34Yea, its kind of funny because I got excited when I saw the article and was about to submit this, but it was already on here. Pretty sad I suppose. I guess I'll digg this one instead. (I wish more people on here had this philosophy)
- toekneebullard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26You know you're a geek when you enjoy pictures of envelopes. Sigh.
/hates himself as he clicks the digg button. - roastedbagel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Hmm Schleppo....
You are complaining about this story being submitted, have you looked at some of the recent stories YOU have dugg? I sure did, and, I guess "Top 10 signs you are a gay superhero" isn't considered as "too much access to information"? lol - Tieghran, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Netflix is so awesome. But it seems that everyone I mention Netflix to kinda gives me a funny look, like they don't what it is. So I got to wondering how many people do I know that actually use it? Through talking with my mailman (he should know) I found out that almost half of the houses on my block use Netflix including both neighbors on either side! I had noticed that my neighbors flags were always sticking up and wondered what they were sending out in the mail so often, but was too chicken to peek inside their boxes.
- jmuchrisf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I think it's hilarious that the blockbuster envelopes all say "1 of null" (maybe not all, but all the single disk ones I've ever gotten)
- KilgoreCarp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6^ link to photo gallery without clicking through article.
But I'd say the full article link counts as a direct link... - xenoputtss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I remeber when I was working for my last company when they won the contract to help BlockBuster develope this part of their business.
"1 of null" being printed sounds like the quality of that company. They hired anyone with a pulse and paid them wages compariable to McDonalds.
Im glad i moved on. - TimmyGUNZ, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Well I guess this solve's Kevin & Alex's question on who uses Blockbuster Online!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Well, your block is extremely unusual then. The article says that it is only 4.2 million customers. So it is about 1.5% of the country, or about 3-4% of American homes. Yes, Netflix is a huge lear in their industry, but their industry is stil VERY small. The vast majority of people who rent videos still do it in person. Because hte vast majority of people have lives and don't want to feel "froced" to watch movies that they only sort of want to see becuase they feel they are losing money otherwise.
All Netflix users I know (which is 2 people) all say they watch far more crap than before and have determined that if they only counted movies that they were going to rent anyway, it costs MORE. So, not only are they spending more money, they are also wasting several hours of their time a month watching crap. - imdwalrus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Indecisive, aren't they? "Top loading! No - side! Back to top! Wait...we like side better!"
Same with the material - they jump between cardboard, paper, and plastic.
I wonder how much it cost them to make each one of those changes? - Brak710101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I would love to know for how long the "Inflatable" plastic packageing was used unstill someone noticed...
Being a pilot on a cargo plane and hearing hundreds of popping noises in the back may get your heart going. :P - stranflow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Sounds like lovefilm.com should come in brown paper enveleopes. ;-)
- samgab, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Odd. I'm on 1.5.0.2. You know, nerdy digg user... Maybe it's adblock going wild. The tab pops up, but remains blank except for the header. Solved. I disabled adblock and it worked. yay, cheers.
- Machine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I don't watch broadcast TV... but I do watch a lot of movies and TV shows on DVD... so I run up against throttling every once in a while.
Netflix likes to throttle people by sending them movies from distribution centers that are far away... pretending that that movie that you want "isn't available" at your usual distribution center... so it takes a few extra days for the movie to get to your home and a few extra days for it to go back to the distribution center.
One way to cut that time in half is to throw away the envelope from the distant distribution center and send back two discs in one envelope to your usual distribution center. Netflix encourages you to do this if your envelope is damaged or lost... so you're not breaking any rules by doing that.
I always make sure that I keep a few extra Netflix envelopes at hand just in case. :) - kingtubby, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I don´t believe in evolution.
- dawgma, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4yes.. strangely it became more interesting as i read it..
- HungryMedia, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5This is actually pretty interesting.
- peerk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Now imagine how many more DVD's would be in your collection if you had spent that money on buying DVDs rather than renting! Wow!"
Lets just say he is able to buy any DVD for $10 and Netflix costs him $20 a month(I know it is less than that now).
So you can buy 2 DVDs a month for the cost of a Netflix membership which will probably provide a minimum of 9 DVDs a month depending on your watching speed.
So you can purchase 24 DVDs in a year or watch 108 DVDs for the same price.
Now I own about 15 DVDs and have re-watched 0 of them in the last year. For me having those movies is just a waste of shelf space in my living room. - TheCount, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5I used to download movies off the net too but ever since I got netflix, I don't even bother. Any and every movie I've ever wanted to see is available on there and the monthly fee is affordable. Maybe I'd have the same philosophy with music if I ever tried iTunes...
- CorpT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Seems odd that they would be airshipping that many disks. You'd think they would have a more effecient system that would let them skip on some air fare costs. But yeah, that's a pretty funny problem anyway.
- Alphateam, on 10/12/2007, -10/+12I'd like to see Blockbuster version of this.
I use them...seems a little faster and they don't throttle you either. - mattcohn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Because it's inaccurate. There was an article earlier about how Blockbuster throttles you too if you rent too many DVDs. Digg -- for both of you.
- japer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I wish they had plain white envelopes. The current ones scream "STEAL ME" - which is exactly what someone in my mail room is doing.
- JoeDonH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Kind of interesting for me as well. I got a free month of Netflix back in 2000 when I bought a new computer, and I remember getting them in that plastic envelope. I have netflix now as well (for the past 4 mo. or so) and their envelopes are ok.
The only think I hate is the little window where the barcode shows through. Reason being that my envelopes always come with that little window ripped up because I assume people in the postal service are curious to see what I rented, as the title of the movie is right above the barcode on the tyvek inner sleeve. Nosey bastards lol. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think BB Online gives you 2 free vouchers a month for rentals at their regular video stores. So, if you have to have a movie right away, you can use your free voucher. I'm not sure if they still do that? I almost join BB Online for this, but remembered I hate BB video stores and the people who work there.
- JoeDonH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was wondering if that was the case as far as scanning the movies in quicker when they come back if the barcode is showing, as I always put the Tyvek DVD sleeve back in the return envelope with the barcode showing through. Maybe it's just my imagination, but my turnaround time seems to be pretty good on movies considering how many I go through in a month (I've never felt the "throttling effect").
- webfiji, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Netflix doesn't advertise movies on the outside of their mailers any more. They also do not stray from the red envelopes because of the experience they had with the Shrek mailers. Customers were throwing away the envelopes because they thought it was junk mail. They were expecting red envelopes with their movies.
- hokieaudi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@koshak
I've been a Netflix customer for over six years now. I have had the opportunity to discover all sorts of amazing movies that were little heralded when they were first released thanks to Netflix. Rather than feeling constrained to watch only the movies I feel are really "worth" renting I'll happily take a chance on something unusual. Your friends shouldn't feel obligated to watch everything they rent if they don't like it, they should use the service however they see fit. Watching four movies a month is the breakeven point in terms of cost, throw in the convenience of delivery and no late fees and Netflix is well worth the price. And as an added bonus Netflix does not alter the content of their movies, unlike Blockbuster movies. One example off the top of my head is John Woo's The Killer which had at least one scene cut out, despite it clearly carrying an R rating. - peerk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"I cannot FATHOM wasting my college years watching even THREE movies on am onth on DVD"
"Yeah..wathcing a movie. Not renting 20 movies or more a month you ***** virdinal idiot."
You seem to be changing your argument a lot Mr. Wizard.
Obviously you have no game. So I'll explain it to you.
You invite a girl over to watch a DVD. Then some cuddling occurs. Then some kissing and rubbing. Then...wait I don't want your parents to get mad at me. I don't want to ruin their birds and the bees speech.
Peace out Mr. Wizard. - webfiji, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I believe BB Online now offers one voucher a week to their members so essentially you get up to 4 free rentals a month in a store.
- stranflow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I started with Netflix a couple of years back after some horrendous late fees from BB. I dig (no pun intended) Netflix because they have more obscure, indie and foreign films. My girlfriend is from Spain and it seems Netflix has more titles available. Delivery is fast too. I send on Monday and get them on Wednesday. The thing I hate is that I seem to have to wait longer for the popular films. I've read articles where Netflix applies some formula on how much your affects your wait time for new releases.
- ripter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Works just fine in my firefox
- roastedbagel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Pop-up blocker probably, try holding CTRL while clicking the photo gallery
- KilgoreCarp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was amazed at how many revisions they made (4 in 2001!). As they built more and more subscribers I'm guessing each fraction of a cent difference in packaging started to have a significant impact on the bottom line.
- jumjum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Now the return envelope also has the "bar code window", not just the sending envelope. They probably tag it into their system without even opening it when you return it if you pack it correctly.
- sidebuster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah no kidding, I just lost a gamefly envelope this week and got a magazine in the mail missing its plastic and it looks like some one threw it under a lawn mower.
- rtcreg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I work in a USPS automation unit where we put thousands of red Netflix envelopes through the big meat grinders, oops, I mean mail sorting machines that get mail out to local post offices. I am surprised that the DVD's are even watchable after they've been through those monsters. As for the envelopes, same comment.
- Noloco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Heh I like Netflix..Just wish that I could add more then 5k movies to my que..I mean honestly.. I have alot ot watch and Im determine on doing just that. Most though are tv shows and what not from the past..What I can't afford it..Yes but right now however Im on hold with Netflix untill I can afford the subscription again. Sure do miss it. But you know what I find very funny. It always took two days to get the movies and send them back..Yet when we sent the movies back the last time they had those movies the next day bright and early..Hmmm
- wjglenn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I never feel obligated to watch them. That's just silly. And to hint that people with a life rent in person is equally silly. Driving to and from the video store is a huge waste of my time. Add in the late fees (cause you know we all have them) and Netflix easily wins out in terms of cost and convenience.
- samgab, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1good points peerk.
- samgab, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Work out how much you've spent in membership all that time. Now imagine how many more DVD's would be in your collection if you had spent that money on buying DVDs rather than renting! Wow!
- digiteyes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I saw this in the Business 2.0 magazine a while back.. its kinda interesting the evolution of their envelopes..I remmember there was a primetime special a while back too about how Netflix does it business in its processing centers.. supposedly their works works through thousands of dvd's a day..it kinda reminds me of the squirrels in charlie and the chocolate factory..
- cleverboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There's beauty in a job well done.
- Migdilio, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@koshak
Keep in mind, that's 4.2 million _homes_. If you were to average it out to 2 people per household (which is a conservative estimate), that's about 8.4 million people "using" Netflix. It would be redundant for a family of four to have four separate Netflix accounts, when they could easily share the same membership. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@TheCount
No. you wont have the same. Trust me. with music youll go back to downloading while netflixing is better than downloading the divx - Noloco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Btw I forgot to say I also enjoyed the little history.
- TimmyGUNZ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The vast majority of McDonald's don't have Redbox, and I'd hardly consider them big competition to Netflix. To Blockbuster's physical stores, yes.
- rspeed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Heh. I don't think this is exactly what they mean for the "movies" category. Design would probably be a lot more fitting, but eh.
- peerk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You hit the nail right on the head Mr. Wizard! A bunch of college kids sitting around watching a movie doesn't happen.
Also, I can guarantee you tens of thousands of colleges guys have gotten laid by inviting a girl over to watch a movie.
You seem a little out of touch with this thing we call reality. -
Show 51 - 94 of 94 discussions
Browsing Digg on your phone just got easier with our enhancements to the 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is