Netflix or Qwikster?

[PozBrian]

Just wondering what folks are doing now that Netflix is only half what it was. I've already cut down from 2 two one dvd before the announcement yesterday. Now I don't know if I even want to keep either. Two  websites instead of one?! What are they thinking? Are they thinking at all?

[Jeff G]

To answer your question first thing I'm going to do is google mitosis .

[Basquo]

JG I think he means meiosis not mitosis, if that helps at all.

[GSOgymrat]

I'm not happy. First, I didn't like the apology letter. This is a business transaction, not a personal relationship. I don't want letters from companies saying "We are SO terribly sorry that we had to raise your bill. We are just weeping with regret!" Just set the terms and I will decide it I want to purchase your product. Given the internet response, apparently I am the only person in America who didn't go apoplectic when Netflix raised their rates. Getting DVD and streaming service for a month's worth of movies is still cheaper than two people going to see one movie with snacks and drinks.

Now, when other companies are merging their services, Netflix decides to split their services. This works out better for them somehow but it will be less convenient for me. If I am going to have to check multiple websites when I want to rent a movie maybe one of those won't be Netflix. If Qwikster is really Netflix DVD lending library with a new name I will keep it because they have a huge library and their turn around time, at least where I live, is amazingly fast.

[denb45]

maybe you should try Direct-TV w/ on demand service, if you can afford the $159.98 monthly price-tag of that service 

[Miss Philicia]

There's no voting option for: "Still goes to the movies" (... but I never buy snacks or a drink)

[mecch]

In switzerland we all pay a huge TV tax which the state company uses to buy foreign product and produce domestic product.

Besides that, all downloading is permitted and no uploading is permitted.

And you can buy unlimited entries to the movie cineplex companies for a set fee a month.

[denb45]

Just wondering what folks are doing now that Netflix is only half what it was. I've already cut down from 2 two one dvd before the announcement yesterday. Now I don't know if I even want to keep either. Two  websites instead of one?! What are they thinking? Are they thinking at all?

Well here's my take on all of this:    If they isolate discs-by-mail (one reason to rebrand the name), they can spin it off and get as much money out of it as possible while they can. If they're not going to spin it off, I agree, losing the Netflix name would be dumb. But if they spin it off, they raise cash, they're free of the distribution and service center costs, and they can watch it crash and burn as a competitor, mopping up the customer pieces,

 as demand falls further or as mail delivery becomes five times as expensive or drops to three days a week or even ends in the foreseeable future, all of which threatens to kill off discs-by-mail, anyway. These would be risky moves, and they're getting widely ripped on the web for this latest letter and move, but I still think they may be smart moves in the long run.

 Few companies this size are smart at adjusting to a rapidly changing market environment like this. BUT... they still have to figure out a way to get content providers and the pipeline on board for streaming and not fighting them. Obviou$ly, there'$ only one way to do that...

[GSOgymrat]

Nothing, though, is as damaging to customer relations as the latest decision to "complicate" the Netflix experience, says Michael Pachter, a financial analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities. The simplicity of ordering a disc or watching a movie via the Web streaming service for one low price is one of the reasons Netflix's service was so attractive to consumers. Now, Hastings has done away with that.

Hastings said in his letter to customers: "A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated."

Pachter said: "This tells me that you won't have a connection between the sites. That means at Qwikster you're not going to know what's available for streaming at Netflix and you will have to make two trips to find out. The first rule for marketers is don't make things more complicated for consumers. This is like if Amazon removed the 1-click buying button. This is the dumbest mistake I've seen the company or really anybody make in a long time...it's a joke."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20108402-261/who-stole-netflixs-mojo/?tag=TOCcarouselMain.0

[Hellraiser]

I don't know how the digital rights work, but if I were them I would've just gotten rid of the disc-by-mail option and gone into completely streaming media.  That's where the future is headed anyway so just jump the gun.  I'm also getting perturbed that the networks are now restricting what can be watched on Hulu to just the previous 5 episodes.  I even broke down and bought hulu plus which was an utter joke.  It has like maybe 1/10 the content of netflix and it was completely missing CBS.  You could also only watch the current season of a series.  LAME.

[Miss Philicia]

I don't know how the digital rights work, but if I were them I would've just gotten rid of the disc-by-mail option and gone into completely streaming media.  That's where the future is headed anyway so just jump the gun. 

There are a lot of +50 year olds that will never go to streaming, so until they're all buried in the ground any company is still going to cater to their wallets.

[Hellraiser]

There are a lot of +50 year olds that will never go to streaming, so until they're all buried in the ground any company is still going to cater to their wallets.

blockbuster made the same case about VHS and 2 years later had gone solid DVD.  At the time they were a thriving business.  I think you'd be surprised how fast the older generation will adapt to new technology.

[mecch]

Are the movies streamed to a dedicated box connected to a "TV"?

[Hellraiser]

Are the movies streamed to a dedicated box connected to a "TV"?

You have a lot of options.  You can stream to a television yes.  In fact some of the newer television don't even require a streaming device.

[GusInJune]

I don't understand any of this, I used Netflix BEFORE 2005, but nowadays, you can just hook your flat-screen up to your computer and use google correctly and find just about anything you want, for uh, free . Maybe I would pay if the product I payed for was ACTUALLY better, but when it's not, you can't expect me to pay, that's ridiculous. Make the product faster, more accessible and increase the selection size (to what it used to be when I was a Netflix subscriber). Now when I get a PS3 I may feel more obligated to spend the money on a monthly subscription of some sorts, but I don't think it will be Netflix, as they keep going down hill.

If you can't show me a decent option to pay for my shows/movies, then I am going to go the pirate route unfortunately, but I mostly feel entitled to this as I am mostly an anime fan, and the distribution for that is HORRIBLE nowadays, I only stream illegitimately because there is often no option to buy, but in general, I use the same methods to find anything even if its a blockbuster box office big studio kind of movie. I can't help it, habits are habits. I used to pay for netflix, but then their selection for my kind of stuff went way down and only offered dubbed selections of licensed foreign films I had already seen, it pissed me off. One day I logged on and couldn't find anything I wanted to add to my queue, so I cancelled.

[denb45]

There are a lot of +50 year olds that will never go to streaming, so until they're all buried in the ground any company is still going to cater to their wallets.

And you would be DEAD wrong about that, 50+ folks do stream content, just cuz I'm 50+ doesn't mean in anyway that I'm DEAD, as much as you'd like me to be  

[Hellraiser]

I don't understand any of this, I used Netflix BEFORE 2005, but nowadays, you can just hook your flat-screen up to your computer and use google correctly and find just about anything you want, for uh, free . Maybe I would pay if the product I payed for was ACTUALLY better, but when it's not, you can't expect me to pay, that's ridiculous. Make the product faster, more accessible and increase the selection size (to what it used to be when I was a Netflix subscriber). Now when I get a PS3 I may feel more obligated to spend the money on a monthly subscription of some sorts, but I don't think it will be Netflix, as they keep going down hill.

If you can't show me a decent option to pay for my shows/movies, then I am going to go the pirate route unfortunately, but I mostly feel entitled to this as I am mostly an anime fan, and the distribution for that is HORRIBLE nowadays, I only stream illegitimately because there is often no option to buy, but in general, I use the same methods to find anything even if its a blockbuster box office big studio kind of movie. I can't help it, habits are habits. I used to pay for netflix, but then their selection for my kind of stuff went way down and only offered dubbed selections of licensed foreign films I had already seen, it pissed me off. One day I logged on and couldn't find anything I wanted to add to my queue, so I cancelled.

Most of the pirated stuff is terrible quality and Netflix is only 10 bucks a month.  Worth it not to have to deal with piracy issues such as angry service providers, malware/viruses, and poor quality content.

[GusInJune]

angry service providers

Who? I used to be a much bigger data whore than I am now. I never have gotten so much as an email. Plus streaming is still technically legal, as the old clause stands you can download whatever you want and watch it so long as you don't save it for longer than 24 hours. This remains true from the old Napster days. And when you stream something (from say, Megavideo), that is exactly what you do.

malware/viruses

I use Ubuntu, so these don't exist for me. For windows users I mostly understand your beef, but responsible/aware browsing is the best protection.

and poor quality content.

Look for HD, 1080p, Blue Ray rip, etc. Its out there. I mostly don't care THAT much, but when I do I can typically find the quality I am looking for.

Mind you I left Netflix because they quit paying for the licenses to hold the selection I was looking for. But my old roommate did once have Netflix about a year, but we barely used it after a while because instant queue got slower and slower and slower (when our internet was faster and faster, topping out at 9 mbps, so I know it wasn't us).

[Miss Philicia]

blockbuster made the same case about VHS and 2 years later had gone solid DVD.  At the time they were a thriving business.  I think you'd be surprised how fast the older generation will adapt to new technology.

All things aren't equal.

Otherwise, it's articles like this that have prevented me from diving into streaming content yet. I will do it at some point but not just yet. I'm not convinced that Netflix is the better option, or rather will be the better option.

I also have considered something like Boxee Box to handle in swiss knife fashion streaming contrent from my computer which consists in varying formats -- AFAIK it's the best to do this. But my non-AIDS tech friends aren't sold on it, or rather only maybe half of them are. And it's not cheap at $180.

I still think Apple will come out with something more substantial than AppleTV that handles 1080 HD soon, and obviously Apple has the financial resources and experience level to leverage studios after their past iTunes juggernaut. As well as their highly rumored possible Apple Television hardware set top unit.

Plus once the iPhone 5 comes out on Sprint's superior WiMAX network I will swith to that, as is the only carrier with no data caps and then I could have everything integrated, possibly even ditching my iMac when it's lifespan is exhausted and going totally with and iPad 3 when it arrives, or just an MacBookAir. But you know how stuff changes within a 12-month span.

So I'm not ready to dive in -- and ideally I'd like to sever the whole Comcast cable connection and exorbitant cost but only if I can still have my requisite BranoTV insipid reality snows, which I am very addicted to and which causes me much shame.

But I'm a complete movie buff but need great selection -- obscure title mostly. I never mind seeing a new release in the cinema, but I mostly see elitist foreign selections and use it as social outing for post-flick movie dates with similar elitist homos.

And I'd love take my smallish library of actual DVDs and rip them properly to a large storage unit -- all the sorts of things that if I had money I'd hire a consultant to sort this all out for me, set itup, along with proper audio components.

The bottom line is that all this flux in the streaming industry confuses the +50 crowed -- sure some will dive in but most just switched to DVD boxes and think this constant change of media debasement in the home is one step short of a scam. My parents won't ever do it, they'd watch one Qwikster choice a month at best, and all in all would prefer going to the local cinema to use their senior citizen discount and have a social outing with their loving son (me!) and I enjoy doing so with my lovely father. Momsums isn't a big cinema enthusiast but goes maybe once annually.

[Miss Philicia]

And you would be DEAD wrong about that, 50+ folks do stream content, just cuz I'm 50+ doesn't mean in anyway that I'm DEAD, as much as you'd like me to be 

Do you have a reading disability? I said "there are a lot" not "there are no" +50 year olds that would not stream content.

[skeebo1969]

Do you have a reading disability? I said "there are a lot" not "there are no" +50 year olds that would not stream content.

So now you're saying +50 year olds with reading disabilities..... won't stream content?  hTis has got to be racism at it's tsrow.

[denb45]

Do you have a reading disability? I said "there are a lot" not "there are no" +50 year olds that would not stream content.

Of course we have more disposable incomes than most of you youngsters , what's the matter miss P you jealous dear    older folks have already found there way, and have worked for yrs. and YES we have a very large nest-egg to play around with, @ least most of us that have 2 incomes and are retired  

 so what's your excuse?
didn't you make the big-bucks in NYC, what on earth did you do with all that money you made, didn't you save any of it  

[Miss Philicia]

So now you're saying +50 year olds with reading disabilities..... won't stream content?  hTis has got to be racism at it's tsrow.

Racism -- such a low brow Skeeeeeeeeeeebzo. My 75-78 parents would ever do streaming no will any of their uppler middle class white friends, unless it's set up my their children half of hom can't do it themselves in their 40's -- and they have little to no inclination to do so to wach the plethora of Angelina putrid offerings in the film work which has little relevane to a 75 year old sipping tea.

[denb45]

Racism -- such a low brow Skeeeeeeeeeeebzo. My 75-78 parents would ever do streaming no will any of their uppler middle class white friends, unless it's set up my their children half of hom can't do it themselves in their 40's -- and they have little to no inclination to do so to wach the plethora of Angelina putrid offerings in the film work which has little relevane to a 75 year old sipping tea.

Miss  P I do hope your lucky enough to even live to be 75 sipping your tea and eating your tea-crakers 

[skeebo1969]

Racism -- such a low brow Skeeeeeeeeeeebzo.

It

twas

a

joke!

Damn Yankee

[denb45]

It

twas

a

joke!

Damn Yankee

    Oh I got the joke Tomas, too bad miss p didn't  so we won't be too hard on him now 

[Miss Philicia]

what on earth did you do with all that money you made, didn't you save any of it 

No

[GusInJune]

Who saves money nowadays? Hello, credit cards, duh.

[denb45]

Who saves money nowadays? Hello, credit cards, duh.

Well I will tell all of you THIS, if you cannot save @ least 30% of your monthly income, your gonna be in big trouble before long, Credit Cards will even dig you deeper into a hole, if you cannot pay them off in a timely manner 

[phildinftlaudy]

I got rid of my Netflix a couple of  months ago --- while it wasn't costing a lot - I only used the dvd service - I didn't watch enough per month to make it worth it.  Between work, digital cable with 80 or  90 channels (although I only watch 10 or 15 of them), and going out a lot on the weekends - it just didn't make sense to keep it.... Plus, I get the latest dvd quality bootleg movies from a friend across the street that has a thriving business (I actually had Rise of the Apes the day after it was in theaters and now have Things Fall Apart - the new 50 cent movie and it hasn't been released widely here in the states yet)

I also get my haircut in the back of a tattoo shop where my barber has his "shop." --- and yes, he is unlicensed...... Every now and then we grab a few beers, put them in brown paper bags and hang out outside of the local wash house (laundry mat) or chill at the barber shop with a few drinks....

Gotta love living in 'the hood'   

[GSOgymrat]

For me, I would drop the streaming service before the DVD/blu-ray service. Streaming from Netflix is currently too limited in content and streaming a rentals from Apple/Microsoft/Amazon too expensive. I get movies from Netflix but really enjoy getting entire seasons of TV shows, especially from HBO and Showtime. Streaming is the future and I enjoy it but the huge DVD catalog  is Netflix biggest draw and lack of streaming content their biggest problem. All the studios want more money to have their content streamed.

[PozBrian]

JG I think he means meiosis not mitosis, if that helps at all.

I guess so. I googled "cell division" and mitosis showed up, meiosis didn't. Depending on how you spin it either works. At least from this lay person's point of view.

[skeebo1969]

   I'm like Phil, I got an ex-wife who has easy access to quality boot legged stuff and totally feel this is the ethical route for people like myself. Netflix lost me when they started jacking around with their prices.. will never go back to them. 

   I use to download music too until I started seeing regular joes get busted for it.  I still won't spend 20 bucks on a CD that last 5 months tops no matter how well I take care of it, instead I get my crap off iTunes for 99 cents a song.  They have a great selection and I've even been able to find some of  the old school, underground dancehall that no one can find in some of the grittiest record shops still standing in the hood.

  But that's how I roll....

[OneTampa]

To answer your question first thing I'm going to do is google mitosis .

I think I am going to watch another episode of Word Girl with my grand niece.

 

[Jeff G]

I guess so. I googled "cell division" and mitosis showed up, meiosis didn't. Depending on how you spin it either works. At least from this lay person's point of view.

I cant count on my mitosis or fingers how many times you guys don't get my dry humor .   .

[PozBrian]

I cant count on my mitosis or fingers how many times you guys don't get my dry humor .   .

I'm usually pretty good with subtly.  Sometimes however I just need a dope slap. Can I blame it on the Atripla?

[mecch]

I am going to strap all you spendthrifts in a chair with your eyes taped open in front of the complete boxset of Suze Orman shows.

[Andy Velez]

And here I sit with 2,000 plus CDs , dozens of dvds ...mostly Hitchcock thrillers, classics and musicals (how gay arm I?) and using Netflix regularly (recent Mentalist season right now) as the constant new wave of thingies and methods continue to pass me by.

All this as I am getting tutorials from a friend on my new Mac.

Pass the tea and biscuits, please.

[poz91]

I got rid of my Netflix a couple of  months ago --- while it wasn't costing a lot - I only used the dvd service - I didn't watch enough per month to make it worth it.  Between work, digital cable with 80 or  90 channels (although I only watch 10 or 15 of them), and going out a lot on the weekends - it just didn't make sense to keep it....

We went the opposite route... kept the Netflix, ditched the cable.

It was gonna cost us nearly $150 a month to upgrade to HD service when we switched over to a digital tv, and since most of what we watch is on network television anyway which is available over the air in HD for free... didn't make any sense to keep the cable.

Got a ROKU box and added HuluPlus, Amazon, Crackle, Pandora, etc to our streaming channels... between these, Netflix, and network tv, we get more content than we ever had with cable and we're saving around $1,400 a year.

I kinda suspect, too, that sometime in the near future we'll be seeing cable channels offering subscriptions directly to non-cable customers... HBO seems to be headed in this direction with its HBO-GO service.

[GSOgymrat]

We went the opposite route... kept the Netflix, ditched the cable.

It was gonna cost us nearly $150 a month to upgrade to HD service when we switched over to a digital tv, and since most of what we watch is on network television anyway which is available over the air in HD for free... didn't make any sense to keep the cable.

Got a ROKU box and added HuluPlus, Amazon, Crackle, Pandora, etc to our streaming channels... between these, Netflix, and network tv, we get more content than we ever had with cable and we're saving around $1,400 a year.

I kinda suspect, too, that sometime in the near future we'll be seeing cable channels offering subscriptions directly to non-cable customers... HBO seems to be headed in this direction with its HBO-GO service.

Netflix to focus on acquiring TV content

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20109749-266/netflix-to-focus-on-acquiring-tv-content/?tag=mncol;5n

NEW YORK--As movie content gets more expensive and harder to come by, Internet streaming service Netflix is turning its attention to acquiring more TV content for its streaming service. ...

In addition to the evolving economics of the streaming business, Wells said the decision to go after more TV content is also being driven by user behavior. Currently, about 60 percent of the video streams viewed by Netflix members is for TV programming. And Wells said that as more deals are made with TV distributors, that an even higher percentage of content streamed will likely come from TV.
 
"There are tons of orphan shows that never got a chance to find an audience while they were on on the air," he said. Specifically, he mentioned the Fox show "Arrested Development," which only ran three seasons before getting canceled. He said the series is hugely popular among Netflix users.

Netflix is already moving in the direction of TV. Also today, Netflix announced a deal with cable network Discovery to stream some of its content. As part of the deal, Netflix streaming customers will get access to select shows from certain Discovery networks that are 18 months or older. The deal is only for two years, which, according to Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who spoke earlier at the Goldman Sachs conference, will give the cable channel time to assess whether the deal is worth it.

[pozniceguy]

I like  the  Netflix  streaming  it  is  great to  watch an entire "season"  in sequence ...watched some shows  that are  just not on regular or  cable...Like  "City Hunter"  a Korean series,  great  show,  well done  can watch a whole  season in one  sitting if  your ass can take it..or over a few days instead of  stringing it out  for a year  or  if  you are a fan of "Sons of  Anarchy"  much better to watch in sequence a few shows at a time..

Also some  fine  foreign  stuff  that otherwise  doesnt even show up at the art theaters....I will keep the  streaming service ..cheap  good value  for me..  already have  hundreds of  DVDs  ..only  buy ones that I  really like and will watch again....usually after they sell them off at  Blockbuster  for  $3 or $4  many of them  wont even be on cable yet  when Blockbuster is selling the  excess ones


My  dvd player connects  to the internet and plays all discs as well,  including Blu-ray

Agree that  streaming will overcome the  dvd business as time passes ,  even the  best  theaters  are converting to  Digital presentations  instead of  traditional film   easier and cheaper to send/receive and the quality grows every day.....

Nick

[GSOgymrat]

New rumor: Netflix split it's streaming business so it can be sold to Amazon.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20110165-93/netflix-split-to-set-up-amazon-streaming-merger/?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings may have a trick up his sleeve as he separates the streaming and DVD-by-mail businesses: a sale to Amazon. That's the theory floated by Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter today, and the idea makes sense.

"In our view, Amazon has always wanted to be in the streaming business, and has been constrained from buying Netflix due to tax considerations. The split-up of Netflix's business addresses the state sales tax issues raised for Amazon in having a "nexus." If Amazon were to acquire only Netflix's streaming business, it could triple the size of its content library, and gain traction as an industry leader. Netflix streaming has current content deals that provide it with access to movie content during the premium cable TV window, and Amazon has the financial resources to secure additional streaming rights, including Starz content. Netflix's financial flexibility is quite limited, while Amazon's is virtually unlimited."

[mecch]

Clever clever clever.  If I could cash out my business for the hundreds of millions some of these huge companies like yahoo google microsoft, pay to buy media companies, I would.

Look how many millionaires and billionaires Yahoo has made buying often crap ass companies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_Yahoo!

[poz91]

New rumor: Netflix split it's streaming business so it can be sold to Amazon.

I thought for sure it would be the dvd-by-mail model that they'd want to pawn off since many are predicting it's headed the way of the dinosaur.

They even gave it that awful name "Quikster" that's remarkably similar to Amway's "Quixtar"... not exactly a ponzi scheme brand name people trust.

I can see how the streaming service would be more valuable as a seperate entity than shackled to the dying dvd-by-mail service, but why not just phase out the dvd-by-mail service altogether? Why drag the company name through the mud, chase off customers, and kill the stock value in the process? There must be some method to their madness.

[Miss Philicia]

Well I will tell all of you THIS, if you cannot save @ least 30% of your monthly income, your gonna be in big trouble before long, Credit Cards will even dig you deeper into a hole, if you cannot pay them off in a timely manner 

It's called a $1.5 - $2 million inheritance at some point in the near future.

[phildinftlaudy]

but why not just phase out the dvd-by-mail service altogether? Why drag the company name through the mud, chase off customers, and kill the stock value in the process? There must be some method to their madness.

Why would they do this?  Simple:  Lower the value of the stock --- so that when the company is sold for much less then it is actually worth - due to the diminished stock value - the shareholders lose out, while the CEO and other top brass get backdoor bonuses from the new buyer and potentially retain their positions or acquire new ones with the newly bought company at a "hefty" salary for getting the new buyer such a good deal on the purchase of the company due to its falsely deflated value from the "bad," but actually smart business moves of a selfish CEO and top brass who probably sold off the majority of their shares a while back (slowly - so as not to raise eyebrows) when it was still at a high level.  The new company than tweaks the company slightly to make it more attractive to stock holders and buyers of stock - thus increasing its stock value quickly over a short period of time -- making them all the richer.  Unfortunately, it has become "the American way."

[GusInJune]

Why would they do this?  Simple:  Lower the value of the stock --- so that when the company is sold for much less then it is actually worth - due to the diminished stock value - the shareholders lose out, while the CEO and other top brass get backdoor bonuses from the new buyer and potentially retain their positions or acquire new ones with the newly bought company at a "hefty" salary for getting the new buyer such a good deal on the purchase of the company due to its falsely deflated value from the "bad," but actually smart business moves of a selfish CEO and top brass who probably sold off the majority of their shares a while back (slowly - so as not to raise eyebrows) when it was still at a high level.  The new company than tweaks the company slightly to make it more attractive to stock holders and buyers of stock - thus increasing its stock value quickly over a short period of time -- making them all the richer.  Unfortunately, it has become "the American way."

This ^^

[Miss Philicia]

Let's think of this way, as so many of you are incredibly myopic. Redbox makes a lot of money, but that's because it caters to folks who are in no way tech savvy and like grabbing a DVD on their way exiting a supermarket. These people (generally) will never, ever graduate to streaming video. They see NO reason to replace their $35 DVD player from Walmart that they bought 3 years ago. It's more simple than logging onto a computer, dealing with a queu and mailing packets of DVDs.  There will be a market for this for at least another decade, maybe more.

[OneTampa]

Well, I like those nonsensical Netflix radio spots.

Sample:

Mary had a little lamb.  What was his name? 

Uh, Lamar?

 

[phildinftlaudy]

Smart business move - but not for the initial obvious and CEO stated reason -

Netflix has decided not to separate their DVD and streaming into two different entities and websites (Netflix and Qwikster):

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/10/2447083/netflix-kills-plan-to-split-off.html

Now, to hear the CEO tell it, Netflix listened to its customers and recognized that customers did not want to have to have two separate accounts, two separate passwords, and pay two separate fees ----

Now, here is the actual reason I think this occurred, which is a smart, but often used business move -
Netflix customers were so pissed off at the unbundling of the service a few months back (DVD only or Streaming or DVD and streaming) and the substantial price increase that went along with that if someone wanted to maintain both streaming and dvd rentals  - that they put the Qwikster/Netflix separation idea out there to really piss people off -----   then, they are able to come back and say "we listened, we aren't going to go with Netflix/Qwikster" - thus, pleasing customers who thought this idea was insane and was the final straw --- so, they removed the "straw that broke the camels back" and allowed the other negative publicity about the price hike to fade into the background. 

They will probably even see some "old" customers return - as they are now seen as a company that listens to its customers.....

Needless to say, their stocks rose upon announcement that they would not be separating into Netflix/Qwikster ---

I guess they actually do have some business sense - and very strategic planning.  Gotta love it