Source: Netflix blog
In a September 18th blog post, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced that the company would be separating its DVD-by-mail service from the streaming service and calling it Qwikster. Clearly, there was fan-outrage at the decision as it added unnecessary complications for members who wanted to stay subscribed to both services. Hastings has now backpedaled by posting a new blog announcing that Netflix will not be separating their DVD and streaming services after all. While the Qwikster name was announced, it never officially launched, and going to qwikster.com currently redirects back to netflix.com.
In a statement to the The New York Times, Hastings added, “Consumers value the simplicity Netflix has always offered and we respect that. There is a difference between moving quickly — which Netflix has done very well for years — and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.”
Another representative from the company told the Times that the previously announced plan to offer video games rentals is now “to be determined.”
Here’s the complete blog post:
It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.
This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster.
While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.
We’re constantly improving our streaming selection. We’ve recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we’ve added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.
We value our members, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get movies & TV shows.
Thank you.
-Reed
Looks like they finally had their “oh shit” moment.
And now we don’t have Steve Jobs to fix anything 🙁