The curtain is finally coming down on Netflix's once-iconic DVD-by-mail service.
LOS GATOS -- The curtain is finally coming down on Netflix's once-iconic DVD-by-mail service, a quarter century after two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs came up with a concept that obliterated Blockbuster video stores while providing a springboard into video streaming that has transformed entertainment.
"It's sad," longtime Netflix DVD subscriber Amanda Konkle said Thursday as she waited the arrival for her final disc,"The Nightcomers," a 1971 British horror film featuring Marlon Brando."It's makes me feel nostalgic. Getting these DVDs has been part of my routine for decades." The DVD service, in contrast, brought in just $146 million in revenue last year, making its eventual closure inevitable against a backdrop of stiffening competition in video streaming that has forced Netflix to whittle expenses to boost its profits.
Back when Randolph and Hastings were mulling the concept, the DVD format was such a nascent technology that there were only about 300 titles available at the time. Netflix quickly built a base of loyal movie fans while relying on a then-novel monthly subscription model that allowed customers to keep discs for as long as they wanted without facing the late fees that Blockbuster imposed for tardy returns. Renting DVDs through the mail became so popular that Netflix once ranked as the U.S. Postal Service's fifth largest customer while mailing millions of discs each week from nearly 60 U.S. distribution centers at its peak.
Fusco, 36, got his money's worth, especially in August when he watched 32 DVDs sent to him by Netflix.
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