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online video
Netflix DVD-rental business to peak in 2013
The trade in DVDs by mail that Netflix pioneered will be a business in decline within five to ten years according to CEO Reed Hastings. But he's bullish about online delivery, not surprising considering the recent release of the Roku set-top box. "Our key challenge is growing earnings per share and subscribers while funding streaming (online video) which should give us years of subscriber and earnings expansion." [Reuters] (Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)
online video
Netflix and Roku hope to avoid the curse of the set-top box
What makes Netflix's new living-room box for Internet video downloads different from all the other set-top flops? Everything. The price is low: At $99, it's much cheaper than the $229 Apple TV. It connects to regular TVs as well as HDTVs, and can stream video in variable quality depending on your Internet connection speed. And you can eat all you want from the buffet of available titles on Netflix, with movies available online that happen to be in your Netflix queue already lined up and ready to go. Hardware partner Roku has introduced it with a chipset that other manufacturers can license, and Netflix has a huge domestic subscriber base as potential customers. So what three things could doom this product to the same fate as every other Internet-video set-top? More »
10 best workspaces
After reviewing our post "Tech's top 10 workspaces" commenter Dweezil complained that our choices were full of "to much modernism bullshit." Commenter Web2PointOhShit tore at everybody:
Rank tech's 10 best workspaces
After reviewing our post "Tech's top 10 workspaces" commenter Dweezil complained that our choices were full of "to much modernism bullshit." Commenter Web2PointOhShit tore at everybody: Six Apart's offices seem pretty ordinary to me. Their meeting space is *tiny*. Googleplex's niceties are all about enticing their workers to stay at work longer — yeah, that's real HAWT!. Valleywag offices look like a dump to me.So, OK, not everybody goes for our taste in brick, exposed ceilings and Googley amenities. Let's find out who's in the minority. Below, vote for your favorites and help us rank tech's 10 best workspaces. More »
cubicle culture
What makes for an appealing workspace? The envelopes they leave in your mailbox every two weeks. But after that, it comes down to design and amenities. Also, we like windows and brick. Lots and lots of brick. After spending some time on Office Snapshots, we present the ten best-looking offices in tech, below.
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Tech's top 10 workspaces
What makes for an appealing workspace? The envelopes they leave in your mailbox every two weeks. But after that, it comes down to design and amenities. Also, we like windows and brick. Lots and lots of brick. After spending some time on Office Snapshots, we present the ten best-looking offices in tech, below.
More »
6:00 PM on Tue May 6 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
202,411 views,
22 comments
Latest by ampersand: What about Threadless? They have an Airstream inside their offices! more »
10 best workspaces
Googleplex
Most of the Googleplex is ugly — gray and corporate. But then there's the gym, swimming pools and vollyball courts. Photos by jyri, spanaut, FrameSniper and kikidonk
10 best workspaces
Netflix
There's a movie theater at Netflix HQ. That and movie quotes from Dr. Strangelove will put you n this list every time. Photos by HackingNetflix
online video
Netflix signs deals with manufacturers to offer movies on demand
In a conference call yesterday, CEO Reed Hastings of Netflix explained to analysts that the company's profits were down partly due to investment in the online delivery of movies. He also revealed that the company has signed deals with four manufacturers, including LG, the large Korean conglomerate. Netflix's partners have agreed to build the ability to watch movies downloaded from Netflix directly into their hardware, and promised to deliver these products by the fourth quarter — just in time for the holiday shopping season. Netflix customers wouldn't have to pay for individual titles, just their normal monthly subscription fee, similar to Netflix's current Web-based movie distribution service. What he didn't say, but we're wondering: Will LG and the others get a cut of the fees, as Apple does from AT&T for the IPhone? (Photo by AP/John Todd)
online video
Blockbuster wants to clutter your set-top
When not bawdlerizing movies or trying, and failing, to kill Netflix, Blockbuster has been busy planning to develop and ship a set-top box that will allow customers to download movies at home. The company purchased online movie download service Movielink for $6.6 million last August. But it still hasn't integrated Movielink into Blockbuster.com after seven months. The chances they can come out with an inexpensive, easy-to-use hardware device in the foreseeable future seems slim — look for the company to partner with or acquire an existing manufacturer, such as struggling startup Vudu. (Photo by AP/Ron Heflin)
Microsoft and Netflix may partner to offer movie downloads over Xbox Live. An announcement would likely come tomorrow, at the Game Developer's Conference. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is a member of Microsoft's board of directors. [MSNBC]
stocks
Wall Street unimpressed with Jobs, less impressed with competition
Stock traders weren't blown away by Steve Jobs's Macworld announcements, sending Apple shares down 5 percent. Rivals faired even worse, however. From the numbers, they expect Apple's movie-rental service with support from all of the major studios to pummel brick-and-mortar competitor Blockbuster, and to a lesser extent Netflix. Blockbuster is trading down more than 15 percent in after hours while Netflix is down 3 percent.
netflix
Netflix removes limits on online rentals ahead of Apple's news
Is Apple CEO Steve Jobs prepared to announce iTunes movie rentals tomorrow? Netflix is sure acting like it. Over the weekend, it announced that it will remove restrictions on how many movies its customers can stream in a month. More »
Netflix has ditched plans to enter the hardware market in favor of partnering with LG Electronics — and every other set-top box manufacturer on the planet. So far, Netflix's streaming subscription will support LG's combo Blu-ray and HD-DVD player and a standalone box, but it plans to market the service to makers of DVRs and game consoles. [Reuters]
netflix
Netflix envelopes jam post office, Wall Street
DVD rent-by-mail operation Netflix may be kicking rival Blockbuster where it hurts, but all is not well with the company. According to the U.S. Postal Service, the ubiquitous red return envelopes used by Netflix, hailed for saving the company millions of dollars, are prone to jamming mail sorting machines. The USPS estimates the cost at $21 million per year. To recoup that amount, the postmen propose a 17-cent surcharge per mailer. Such a charge would cost Netflix two-thirds of its operating income and lower its monthly profit per subscriber from $1.05 to $0.35. Netflix is likely to redesign its return mailer, yet again, to mitigate the burden. A company so vulnerable to the price of postage must be thinking that video downloads are looking better and better.
online video
Netflix stomps Blockbuster in movies by mail and digital downloads
Through-the-mail movie rental outfit Netflix has been very aggressive in fighting Blockbuster's competitive advances — and winning. Analytics firm Compete has a rundown of Netflix vs. Blockbuster and lists Netflix.com as having four times the visitors Blockbuster.com does. Also, Netflix's download strategy seems to be having some success with 450,000 "Watch Instantly" users in November. Blockbuster is still attempting to roll out a download service it gained from its purchase of movie download site Movielink. Good luck to both of them. Apple is rumored to be introducting movie rentals to iTunes. Will they be battle-tested veterans by the time Steve Jobs shows up — or so bloodied from fighting each other they'll fall victim to his shiny white-plastic machine?
online video
NBC wins Netflix's hand
NBC Universal, in its ongoing effort to throw Steve Jobs into a jealous rage, is wooing every other feller with a video service in sight. In its man-harem: Jeff Bezos, with Amazon Unbox, and Jason Kilar, CEO of its joint venture with News Corp. Hulu. Add to the list Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. NBC has wooed Hastings into a syndication deal. As Apple used to do on iTunes, Netflix will offer new episodes of Heroes the day after they air, alongside a library of prior 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, and The Office shows. Looks like someone can finally stop whining about the gaping hole left by the iTunes pullout.
online video
ITunes to offer movie rentals?
Apple fanatics have uncovered some code in an iTunes software update hinting at a video rental service. Now every blogger on the planet is running around like decapitated chickens. Why the fuss? We all know iTunes video sales aren't rocking. This is an inevitable move on Apple's part as rivals move in. Rental is the business model of choice for Vudu, Microsoft's Xbox 360, and most likely Sony's PlayStation 3. For some reason, content producers feel it's more piracy-proof than direct sales. Don't cancel your Netflix memebership just yet, though. Building the code into iTunes is one thing. Striking agreements with balky Hollywood studios is quite another.
In the third quarter, NetFlix's net income gained 23 percent year-over-year. The DVD rent-by-mail company added 286,000 new subscribers after dropping subscription prices by $1 a month. [AP]
