Dear readers of The Daily Tar Heel,
I messed up. I owe you an explanation.
Sound familiar?
If it does, you probably also received the mid-September email from Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, announcing the company’s decision to rename its DVD mail service “Qwikster.”
The choice was made, Hastings said while on his virtual knees, in order to abate the recent displeasure after Netflix raised fees for customers who pay for both the DVD and streaming services.
Like many college students, I only subscribe to the streaming service, though I do occasionally get frustrated when it doesn’t have a title I desire. The films I need to watch for classes are consistently unavailable, as is “Grease 2”. Why else does that film exist but to be instantly viewed on the Internet by drunk people whose minds are in the gutter?
But the streaming is just enough to hinder without completely preventing my productivity, so I read this email with amusement as Hastings groveled to “regain [my] trust” and assured me that the Qwikster envelopes would still be “that lovely red,” which for him “has always been a source of joy.”
Then, yesterday, I received the antithesis of this email.
A concise, impersonal message informed me that Qwikster was no more, and Netflix would remain the source for both mailed DVDs and online streaming, though the company is “now done with price changes.”
Like the first email, this one did not affect me personally. But I did feel a sort of deflation in my soul. In the wake of Hastings’s begging my forgivness for a change that did not affect me, this message was starkly cold and unsentimental.
I felt abandoned. Where was my pal Reed, and who was this ambiguous “Netflix Team” that had taken his place? And why weren’t they apologizing profusely for their wishy-washy decision making? It wasn’t just anticlimactic — it was inconsiderate!
But, regardless of the email’s tone, its content was good news for all parties involved. Qwikster is a pretty stupid name.
Katherine Proctor is the assistant Arts editor for The Daily Tar Heel. She enjoys mid-Western accents and bears no relation to any witch-hunting puritans from “The Crucible.” Each Tuesday, she will highlight national Arts content for Canvas.
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
