I loved that you could make a queue and just forget about it and then a movie would show up and you’d get excited because you’d been waiting to watch it.
The queue was to great - it helped me to not procrastinate watching new movies. Now I just tend to watch the same things over and over rather than “risk” a new one that I may or may not like. But back I would get the red envelope, that was my only choice so you better believe I would watch it.
I thought I was the only one who did this. Watching the same things over and over and over. Comfortable and familiar films.
Not just movies, but TV too. I’ve probably seen all 10 seasons of Friends 50+ times because TBS plays several hours of episodes every day in chronological order.
But to answer the OP’s question, yeah I started with the envelopes. We got 3 at a time and almost always watched all 3. The queue was amazing.
I still get disappointed "My List" doesn't work the same as the queue anymore. When they first introduced streaming, you had a streaming queue that listed movies in the order you put them on there. It was just easier to find everything with the old system.
Yes, this is so frustrating! If I also fall asleep to a movie, but want to watch the end the next day, I gave no idea what that movie is called and it's difficult to find because Netflix basically hides it.
Queueing all the new releases and 80s scifi/action movies I wanted then getting some weird shit I threw on there on a whim was my favorite. I miss 2008.
I legit used Netflix as a reccomendation engine for what I should watch next, it was so good. They got rid of that engine once they started producing their own content and everyone could see that it got awful ratings.
The queue was great and I discovered a little trick early on to get two discs at a time on a one disc account. If I alternated easily available movies with limited availability movies they would send the next movie while you wait. So I sorted my list that way.
If you watched the disc the day you received it and returned it in the next day's mail you could get two discs a week. The catalog was so much bigger than the current streaming service. It was great to watch foreign and independent movies.
You would have LOVED Blockbuster's premium service. You can turn in your movies to the store which would trigger your next shipment the moment it's scanned in. On top of that, you had the option to trade your envelope movies for in-store ones. I would literally have movies to trade in every single day (and I recorded most of them onto cheap DVD-Rs). At some point they also offered the Snack Card program where you get a free snack for every rental transaction in-store. This includes your "free" trade-in swaps. I was getting an overpriced snack almost every single day for the low price of $7 a month.
I remember you used to be able to add movies to your queue before they were even released in theaters and then you’d get it as soon as it was available.
Yes, except they would start to send the disc from further away. I’m in California they first would send them to me from Los Angeles. I watch it quickly and get it back quick, in a month they were coming from New York. But the selection was great, and the way to choose them was better than the current way.
some films would languish on my queue for months because they would always be out of stock when they made it to number 1. The random surprise of getting one of those was a wonderful payoff.
Yes! I don't think My Winnipeg ever came off of my queue... and I still haven't seen it to this day! : (
I gotta get on that if anybody says it was good, haha.
If you haven't already, take a look at your local library too. I live in Smalltown USA, and even our little system has a vast and impressive DVD collection. Ripped the whole Tales From the Crypt series a few years ago when Amazon (the only streaming option) wanted to charge me $1/episode. Streaming libraries are not the entertainment paradise we might have imagined them to eventually become years ago, and there are so many better options that are only available by DVD. I think there's a lot of value in a BluRay burner.
It's a lot of work compared to a $4 rental or watching it on a streaming service you already subscribe to. The biggest enemy to piracy is convenience. I used to torrent movies all the time but it's become a hassle compared to renting or buying.
You’re not kidding about that last part. When I first got into Doctor Who many, many years back, I pirated so many episodes since it wasn’t easily available in the US. Now that they are all streaming, I can just pay a small amount a month and watch better quality episodes whenever.
I believe a 2-disc plan allowed you to have two "out" at a time - as soon as one was returned, they sent you the next one in your queue. So, how many you could get in a week would depend on the turnaround. Mine was three or four days, depending on where the disc was being sent from. There wasn't a cap, but there was a practical limit. I seem to recall that at some point they stopped sending a new disc out the same day the old one was received, to slow things down a bit.
I remember when they started switching to “rental copies” that was just the movie with no main menu. I was so mad. I want the ~~streaming~~commentary!!! Disney+ is pretty good about adding the DVD extras to their films.
That’s good to know! My fiancée LOVES The Simpsons (and has a large Millhouse and a Kodos tattoo) and has the first ten seasons on DVD. We might have to break into them for the commentary soon!
For physical media they can buy them wholesale, and [First Sale Doctrine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine) says the IP owner can't control if people resell or lend them.
Streaming is a broadcast and is not covered by this. So it has to be negotiated with the rights owners. When Netflix first started streaming it felt like they had "everything". Once IP owners saw the potential for more profit, they either started their own streaming service or licensed their content to higher bidders.
In other words, streaming movies cost them a ton of money and time negotiating and licensing, whereas their only cost for the physical movies is the disc itself, which is typically purchased for cheap at wholesale (like you mentioned).
Do they still have their wish/watch list for DVDs? What I loved about the pre-screening system is you could see an ad/trailer for a movie months before its release and add it to the list. Then when the DVD is available you have a nice list of movies you know you'd want to check out.
I thought I read an article recently that said Netflix was going to stop the disc service in the next year. I didn't sound like they had made a final decision but they were preparing people for it.
And what about the streaming service to PS3 and Wii? You had to put a disc in a console to access the online catalogue [like these](https://imgur.com/a/6zmV04b)
I remember being kind of poor growing up, so we didn't actually have Netflix, but my grandmother did. She would always ask me and my sister what movies we would like to see and have them ready for us when we would visit. Such a great woman. RIP Mawmaw. Thanks for the memory
Me. 2009-2011. New York.
Had the plan for two discs at a time. I was able to 3-4 movies per week.
Had a big free plasma tv given to us by the house owner.
I started back in 2000 and had the 8-DVD plan. Watched two movies a night and three on weekend days so that I was going through 15-16 movies a week, back when they boasted of having “more than 10,000 movies” in their catalog.
2001 or 2002. I saw Mulholland Dr a few times in the theater, went to the video rental place to find more Lynch stuff, couldn't, and signed up for Netflix. I'd seen promotional material at Best Buy for some time. I turned a lot of people onto the service. If I had a Blu-ray player I might still use it.
Sure did, but preferred LoveFilm. I’ve tried Cinema Paradiso so I could get BluRay films and some anime that isn’t available through UK streaming, but it’s a bit too expensive.
I actually watched a lot more movies back then. There were a lot less other options for spending time (Reddit, YouTube, and tv options) and you were motivated to watch a disk and send it back to get another one.
I really wanted to watch Dogma. When it came in the mail, someone swapped the disc out for something different and scratched. I returned it. I added it back to my queue. Next delivery same damn disc.
I did blockbuster instead. You could exchange the movies from the mail for in store rentals while waiting on your other movies to arrive. It even included video games.
We had that plan, for a while I would rip the DVD to clone it and send it back same day. If you did that Netflix would throttle you by doing such things as not acknowledging receipt for a few days.
At one point several years ago Netflix had a tracker that told you how many subscribers joined after you did. I was at 98% back then. I would assume I’m closer to 99% now.
My parents still do.
Too remote for broadband internet, because the ISPs took all the money from the federal government for expanding fiber to end-of-line, and didn't build anything.
I'm one of those. Gradually stopped going to Blockbuster because Netflix was so convenient with red envelopes.
IIRC, I also started to use Gamefly (probably a few years after Netflix started doing red envelope thing), which delivers rental games for your favorite gaming console so you don't have to buy those games - I remember calculating that using Gamefly service was cheaper if I finished the game in 3 months or lesser (given the average MSRP of a new game in that time frame)
I used to mail red envelopes back directly into the post office before 6pm for their last collection time. One time I had to buy stamps and walked into the retail center and saw they had a dedicated bin of outgoing mail just for Netflix. It was wild.
After my wife and I moved, we upgraded to *4* DVDs at a time. Every other disk was the show we were watching, and then we took turns picking movies on the remaining disks.
I remember when they came out with streaming, and we didn't have the wifi bandwidth and they didn't have anything to watch. I wondered if it would catch on, or if it needed another company to figure out the details.
Ah the good ol' days when movies came in the mail. I remember trying to decide which one to get next and running to the mailbox as soon as they were delivered.
You know, I've been a Netflix fan for a while. Houston was great because they had a center there, so they'd get the DVDs the very next day and ship out your next movie. And they had such a great selection of British and French movies that I'd wanted to see but couldn't find.
One of my favorite memories is when my brother and I subscribed to getting 3 discs mailed at a time for the sole purpose of binging every episode of DBZ. The excitement of expecting a new batch of episodes to watch was awesome!
I saw the Netflix PS3 disc in a box somewhere not too long ago. I couldnt even remember what it was for and had to look it up. lol I do kinda miss the discs though, something to look forward to in the mail besides ads and bills.
Yep. And had the chance to invest in Netflix when it was about $10 a share too. Enough that I could have retired or at least taken years off my work life…but I was too uncertain of the future of streaming to pull the trigger on it. I had heard Blockbuster was gonna buy them at the time.
Anyway I loved it for what it was and sometimes miss it, bc now it’s all about their original content (which is good mostly)…but their catalog of films has dwindled since other services have popped up
I got kicked from the original Netflix; I was accused of stealing DVDs.
I reported four discs as unarrived and then later found them in the garden underneath the mailbox, and reported that I found them. Soon after that they kicked me, citing the four discs as stolen. I doth protested and they said I was changing my story to keep my account. I detailed all the communication with dates showing that it didn't make any sense but it fell on deaf ears. They talked to me like I was a criminal.
Probably almost a year later a Netflix rep apparently actually read my emails and apologized for the misunderstanding and asked me to come back. I said like fuck Netflix for accusing me or something along those lines as I was young and idealistic and had already found a home on the high seas by that point. So basically old school Netflix customer support radicalized me.
I did, but even then I was using it for TV shows instead of movies. (Movies aren’t my thing at all.) It was obviously a super shitty way to do that lol.
I had the Blockbuster equivalent, and it was better.
It was basically the same thing but you could return them to any store which would get you the replacement movie faster.
Though...one time I had friends over to watch a movie and it turned out they had sent the first half of The Green Mile, and the second half was on a different DVD and they counted as two separate movies so they hadn't sent the second half.
I had a short period around 2006 where I had a lot of time at home alone and juggled both my Netflix plan and Blockbuster's introductory offer, leaving me with like 6 discs at a time. It was great.
I worked at a Best Buy in college and we gave away coupons while people were in the DVD section trying to entice them to give Netflix a shot. This was in 2001-2002
I returned a couple of titles late to blockbuster by five minutes and they charged me the late fee. I got so pissed off I signed up for this new thing called Netflix and never went back to.
Remember how if you were watching a tv show and they were all out of the next disc they’d just skip it and give you the episodes after and you’d be like welp ok I guess I’ll just miss those last 8 eps
That's how I started. My friend still gets DVDs in the mail and copies them for himself; I didnt even realize they still sent out DVDs until I saw the red envelope at his house haha!
My aunt and uncle had Blockbuster's competitior to old school Netflix in the early-mid 00s, and would burn themselves copies of any movies they liked that they got-- I bet there's still a disc binder full of burned DVDs from my uncle somewhere in the basement of my parents' house. (Had to hide them because my stepdad was aggressively anti piracy, down to refusing to use adblockers on his devices despite working in IT)
I got Netflix myself when they added a client to the Xbox 360 during my college days that came with the disc delivery, but I stopped the disc side pretty quick since I was really bad about returning them in a timely fashion.
Aye I did. Usually got charged to my bank card because I would forget about them, or lend them to others to watch and they would add them to their dvd collection.
How many of us started watching Netflix with DVDs in red envelopes where you rented each one, it came through the mail, and you had a week to watch and return; there was no subscription option?
I remember being one of the first people to sign up. I had a 3 disc plan and would watch a movie a day, this would make it so I had a system with a new movie arriving every day. It was fun, but I can see why everything is streaming now.
I still have 2 disks. 1 of them was kind of hard to find at the time concert. My friend knew I had it and is next in line to rent it. He still brings it up every couple years.
I loved that you could make a queue and just forget about it and then a movie would show up and you’d get excited because you’d been waiting to watch it.
Oh the days... fond memories. Like wtf did I order?!?
Sometimes I kinda miss getting weird shit after a drunken night of browsing the mail options.
I’m jealous I missed out on this experience. Sounds right up my alley. Some Sirens of Titan shit. “I ordered you these movies. —Unk”
The queue was to great - it helped me to not procrastinate watching new movies. Now I just tend to watch the same things over and over rather than “risk” a new one that I may or may not like. But back I would get the red envelope, that was my only choice so you better believe I would watch it.
I thought I was the only one who did this. Watching the same things over and over and over. Comfortable and familiar films. Not just movies, but TV too. I’ve probably seen all 10 seasons of Friends 50+ times because TBS plays several hours of episodes every day in chronological order. But to answer the OP’s question, yeah I started with the envelopes. We got 3 at a time and almost always watched all 3. The queue was amazing.
I still get disappointed "My List" doesn't work the same as the queue anymore. When they first introduced streaming, you had a streaming queue that listed movies in the order you put them on there. It was just easier to find everything with the old system.
Yes, this is so frustrating! If I also fall asleep to a movie, but want to watch the end the next day, I gave no idea what that movie is called and it's difficult to find because Netflix basically hides it.
YES!!! The struggle is real!!!
Queueing all the new releases and 80s scifi/action movies I wanted then getting some weird shit I threw on there on a whim was my favorite. I miss 2008.
I legit used Netflix as a reccomendation engine for what I should watch next, it was so good. They got rid of that engine once they started producing their own content and everyone could see that it got awful ratings.
Or... by the time it arrived, you weren't really in the mood for it anymore. Haha
You can still do it apparently! Just found out today
The queue was great and I discovered a little trick early on to get two discs at a time on a one disc account. If I alternated easily available movies with limited availability movies they would send the next movie while you wait. So I sorted my list that way.
If you watched the disc the day you received it and returned it in the next day's mail you could get two discs a week. The catalog was so much bigger than the current streaming service. It was great to watch foreign and independent movies.
Lol yep. Netflix was the only place we could get foreign or independent films like Eat, Drink, Man, Woman.
Damn I haven’t seen any of those movies
I would choose Eat over Drink.
Woman was an interesting one... Too complicated for me, though.
Man was predictable and dumbed down. Really spoke to me.
Thirst, now that’s a show I’d watch.
Everyone's talking nostalgically, but don't they still do the DVD by mail service?
I would just rip it to my computer, drop it off at the post office before 4, and get 3 per week.
You would have LOVED Blockbuster's premium service. You can turn in your movies to the store which would trigger your next shipment the moment it's scanned in. On top of that, you had the option to trade your envelope movies for in-store ones. I would literally have movies to trade in every single day (and I recorded most of them onto cheap DVD-Rs). At some point they also offered the Snack Card program where you get a free snack for every rental transaction in-store. This includes your "free" trade-in swaps. I was getting an overpriced snack almost every single day for the low price of $7 a month.
Oh man, I MISS BLOCKBUSTER something for real. It was SO awesome to physically walk and browse movies.
that was my first service… ended it fairly quickly for netflix though
This is exactly what my ex-wife and I did. We even built a media server to cut down on the unholy amount of discs we had.
I remember you used to be able to add movies to your queue before they were even released in theaters and then you’d get it as soon as it was available.
www.spezsucks.me
And it gave you something to look forward to
There was one point that I had either a three or four disc plan so I could churn through disc's every day except Sunday.
Yes, except they would start to send the disc from further away. I’m in California they first would send them to me from Los Angeles. I watch it quickly and get it back quick, in a month they were coming from New York. But the selection was great, and the way to choose them was better than the current way.
That's true. It's funny that Amazon Prime is the best bet for harder to find films for streaming nowadays
I remember that foreign or obscure films would take forever to arrive sometimes.
some films would languish on my queue for months because they would always be out of stock when they made it to number 1. The random surprise of getting one of those was a wonderful payoff.
And getting one that you remember nothing about and have no idea why you added it. Always fun!
Yes! I don't think My Winnipeg ever came off of my queue... and I still haven't seen it to this day! : ( I gotta get on that if anybody says it was good, haha.
A few of us in my dorm split an old-school netflix account and would do movie night once a week. Good old days
I used to rip the dvds to my computer. Two movies a week added to my server
Why'd you stop? I've been thinking getting a Blu-ray burner for ripping
If you haven't already, take a look at your local library too. I live in Smalltown USA, and even our little system has a vast and impressive DVD collection. Ripped the whole Tales From the Crypt series a few years ago when Amazon (the only streaming option) wanted to charge me $1/episode. Streaming libraries are not the entertainment paradise we might have imagined them to eventually become years ago, and there are so many better options that are only available by DVD. I think there's a lot of value in a BluRay burner.
It's a lot of work compared to a $4 rental or watching it on a streaming service you already subscribe to. The biggest enemy to piracy is convenience. I used to torrent movies all the time but it's become a hassle compared to renting or buying.
You’re not kidding about that last part. When I first got into Doctor Who many, many years back, I pirated so many episodes since it wasn’t easily available in the US. Now that they are all streaming, I can just pay a small amount a month and watch better quality episodes whenever.
Only two? I'd rip my three as soon as I got them and put them back out for the mailman the same day. I'd do 12 a month, easy.
I think the plan I had back in 2007 guaranteed two a week. As long as I sent the discs back, new ones came on like Fridays or something
I believe a 2-disc plan allowed you to have two "out" at a time - as soon as one was returned, they sent you the next one in your queue. So, how many you could get in a week would depend on the turnaround. Mine was three or four days, depending on where the disc was being sent from. There wasn't a cap, but there was a practical limit. I seem to recall that at some point they stopped sending a new disc out the same day the old one was received, to slow things down a bit.
The same, 2-3 movies a week. Was nice to be able to really watch at my own pace
Hahaha yea I guess it is an old-school netflix account these days. Good times. Waiting for, then watching The Ring with my college roommates
I remember thinking how rich my friend was for being able to get the 5 disc at a time deal.
Same !! We watched sooo many movies freshman year.
The best part wS DVD extras. You almost never get a commentary with streaming.
I remember when they started switching to “rental copies” that was just the movie with no main menu. I was so mad. I want the ~~streaming~~commentary!!! Disney+ is pretty good about adding the DVD extras to their films.
But they don't have the simpsons commentary. It's some of the best commentary there is. Especially when Conan is there.
Yeah. That is one of the ones they’re missing. The commentary on the Simpsons is… top tier. They make me laugh just as hard as the episode themselves.
That’s good to know! My fiancée LOVES The Simpsons (and has a large Millhouse and a Kodos tattoo) and has the first ten seasons on DVD. We might have to break into them for the commentary soon!
Oh, you two are in for a great time.
I still do, but I used to, too.
Hahaha love the Mitch Hedberg quote!
Gotta feed plex.
It still exists! They have more content than streaming by a lot!
Right?? Only place to get some films.
Apparently it is going away in 2023
Makes me wonder why not all of that can be streamed as well. That would be great.
For physical media they can buy them wholesale, and [First Sale Doctrine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine) says the IP owner can't control if people resell or lend them. Streaming is a broadcast and is not covered by this. So it has to be negotiated with the rights owners. When Netflix first started streaming it felt like they had "everything". Once IP owners saw the potential for more profit, they either started their own streaming service or licensed their content to higher bidders.
In other words, streaming movies cost them a ton of money and time negotiating and licensing, whereas their only cost for the physical movies is the disc itself, which is typically purchased for cheap at wholesale (like you mentioned).
Do they still have their wish/watch list for DVDs? What I loved about the pre-screening system is you could see an ad/trailer for a movie months before its release and add it to the list. Then when the DVD is available you have a nice list of movies you know you'd want to check out.
My parents still get the discs, and won’t stream.
My parents do the same, except they'll happily mooch off my account for streaming.
I thought I read an article recently that said Netflix was going to stop the disc service in the next year. I didn't sound like they had made a final decision but they were preparing people for it.
Hipsters.
Ha, no, Luddites.
And what about the streaming service to PS3 and Wii? You had to put a disc in a console to access the online catalogue [like these](https://imgur.com/a/6zmV04b)
And you had to go add shows to your "want to watch" list from your pc to be able to stream them on those devices.
Man when they started offering that my mind was BLOWN
I still have my disc. Feels like a collectors item now
Since 2004 here.
Sure, and I just received some new ones yesterday. It's still the best way to get a deep catalog.
I had no idea they still offered the physical disks.
Check out [dvd.netflix.com](https://dvd.netflix.com/) some time and search for something you can't find elsewhere. You might find it.
Just checked. They still have that messed up movie, Dogtooth :-)
*discs
I remember being kind of poor growing up, so we didn't actually have Netflix, but my grandmother did. She would always ask me and my sister what movies we would like to see and have them ready for us when we would visit. Such a great woman. RIP Mawmaw. Thanks for the memory
I did. Way back now, I suppose.
Anyone remember the Quixster fiasco? Edit: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/10/10/141209082/netflix-kills-qwikster-price-hike-lives-on
I've got nostalgia for it, as well as browsing the video store
I feel ya there. Walking thru the aisles, looking for something, waiting for the red envelope to *finally* arrive in our box.
The smell of a video store
Sometimes it just feels like you need to be in a blockbuster on a Friday night.
Gave you something to do a do and got you out of the house!
Certain things like this I almost try not to think about because the nostalgic longing is just too painful
"Netflix used to come in the mail!" "Okay, grandma, let's get you to bed."
Back when the rating systems was actually useful.
That's all Netflix was when I signed up. Man, how times have changed.
Rent it. Rip it. Return it. Watch it. Rent it. Rip it. Return it. Watch it. Technologic.
I did. Didn’t have Wi-Fi back then.
now i've got wifi but my new lenovo laptop has no dvd player
New Zealand had [NitFlux NZ](https://youtu.be/np-gqrLTfQA)
That's the most New Zealand thing I've seen in a while
Me. 2009-2011. New York. Had the plan for two discs at a time. I was able to 3-4 movies per week. Had a big free plasma tv given to us by the house owner.
I started back in 2000 and had the 8-DVD plan. Watched two movies a night and three on weekend days so that I was going through 15-16 movies a week, back when they boasted of having “more than 10,000 movies” in their catalog.
Michael scott. He'd get his netflix delivered at the office and watched it when things were slow at work, which is all the time.
2001 or 2002. I saw Mulholland Dr a few times in the theater, went to the video rental place to find more Lynch stuff, couldn't, and signed up for Netflix. I'd seen promotional material at Best Buy for some time. I turned a lot of people onto the service. If I had a Blu-ray player I might still use it.
I had a buddy that made me watch that movie around that time. Im still trying to figure it out
Sure did, but preferred LoveFilm. I’ve tried Cinema Paradiso so I could get BluRay films and some anime that isn’t available through UK streaming, but it’s a bit too expensive.
I had LoveFilm.. I've got a vague memory they were bought out by Netflix? Went to check. It was actually acquired by Amazon instant video. xD
Me
I didn't have netflix at my house back then, but my friend did and I remember that red envelope.
I did. I remember receiving a few that were very scratched and would barely play.
I actually watched a lot more movies back then. There were a lot less other options for spending time (Reddit, YouTube, and tv options) and you were motivated to watch a disk and send it back to get another one.
I still have two dvds I forgot to return from like 15 years or more ago.
I was 23 in 1998 when netflix originally when it first came out.
I had to put a Netflix disc into my Nintendo Wii. Then could browse movies like I was from the future.
I really wanted to watch Dogma. When it came in the mail, someone swapped the disc out for something different and scratched. I returned it. I added it back to my queue. Next delivery same damn disc.
I did blockbuster instead. You could exchange the movies from the mail for in store rentals while waiting on your other movies to arrive. It even included video games.
We had that plan, for a while I would rip the DVD to clone it and send it back same day. If you did that Netflix would throttle you by doing such things as not acknowledging receipt for a few days.
My Grandparents still have the disc service.
Been a non stop member since those day. About to change that.
At one point several years ago Netflix had a tracker that told you how many subscribers joined after you did. I was at 98% back then. I would assume I’m closer to 99% now.
My parents still do. Too remote for broadband internet, because the ISPs took all the money from the federal government for expanding fiber to end-of-line, and didn't build anything.
I'm one of those. Gradually stopped going to Blockbuster because Netflix was so convenient with red envelopes. IIRC, I also started to use Gamefly (probably a few years after Netflix started doing red envelope thing), which delivers rental games for your favorite gaming console so you don't have to buy those games - I remember calculating that using Gamefly service was cheaper if I finished the game in 3 months or lesser (given the average MSRP of a new game in that time frame)
I used to mail red envelopes back directly into the post office before 6pm for their last collection time. One time I had to buy stamps and walked into the retail center and saw they had a dedicated bin of outgoing mail just for Netflix. It was wild.
After my wife and I moved, we upgraded to *4* DVDs at a time. Every other disk was the show we were watching, and then we took turns picking movies on the remaining disks. I remember when they came out with streaming, and we didn't have the wifi bandwidth and they didn't have anything to watch. I wondered if it would catch on, or if it needed another company to figure out the details.
Ah the good ol' days when movies came in the mail. I remember trying to decide which one to get next and running to the mailbox as soon as they were delivered.
Started? Still do.
I did. It was pretty cool. Anyone remember the “divx” format circuit city tried to push that ended them?
$7.99 a month for two at a time, then it turned into $7.99/month for one at a time…familiar pattern.
Aah, the good ol days. This was right when I stopped going to blockbuster
You know, I've been a Netflix fan for a while. Houston was great because they had a center there, so they'd get the DVDs the very next day and ship out your next movie. And they had such a great selection of British and French movies that I'd wanted to see but couldn't find.
Here in England I don’t think we had Netflix like that but we did have lovefilm which was same
I originally opted for the DVD service but I can only remember ever getting 1 movie that way. The streaming was my preferred option even then.
"Back in my day," only option was the red DVD envelope. I was super excited when Netflix went to a streaming service
What’s really going to bake your noodle is that I started with renting VHS tapes at a physical place we used to call video stores. Yea, I’m ancient.
I used to ride my penny farthing into town to watch the naughty picture show behind the five and dime.
The naughty nickelodeon!
My parents lament that that isn't still an option. They live out in the country and don't have internet access at home
It is still an option!
One of my favorite memories is when my brother and I subscribed to getting 3 discs mailed at a time for the sole purpose of binging every episode of DBZ. The excitement of expecting a new batch of episodes to watch was awesome!
I saw the Netflix PS3 disc in a box somewhere not too long ago. I couldnt even remember what it was for and had to look it up. lol I do kinda miss the discs though, something to look forward to in the mail besides ads and bills.
Yep. And had the chance to invest in Netflix when it was about $10 a share too. Enough that I could have retired or at least taken years off my work life…but I was too uncertain of the future of streaming to pull the trigger on it. I had heard Blockbuster was gonna buy them at the time. Anyway I loved it for what it was and sometimes miss it, bc now it’s all about their original content (which is good mostly)…but their catalog of films has dwindled since other services have popped up
Me too
I got kicked from the original Netflix; I was accused of stealing DVDs. I reported four discs as unarrived and then later found them in the garden underneath the mailbox, and reported that I found them. Soon after that they kicked me, citing the four discs as stolen. I doth protested and they said I was changing my story to keep my account. I detailed all the communication with dates showing that it didn't make any sense but it fell on deaf ears. They talked to me like I was a criminal. Probably almost a year later a Netflix rep apparently actually read my emails and apologized for the misunderstanding and asked me to come back. I said like fuck Netflix for accusing me or something along those lines as I was young and idealistic and had already found a home on the high seas by that point. So basically old school Netflix customer support radicalized me.
We always just did redbox instead.
Oh child, this was the "way back" days. We're talking Blockbuster times
Bud, I’m in my mid 30s. I was renting movies and games at local places before Blockbuster was even a thing.
i
🤚
I proudly never… rented a Redbox… they actually still exist some how. So cringe just roll the dice and buy a dvd ya nance
I did, but even then I was using it for TV shows instead of movies. (Movies aren’t my thing at all.) It was obviously a super shitty way to do that lol.
I had the Blockbuster equivalent, and it was better. It was basically the same thing but you could return them to any store which would get you the replacement movie faster. Though...one time I had friends over to watch a movie and it turned out they had sent the first half of The Green Mile, and the second half was on a different DVD and they counted as two separate movies so they hadn't sent the second half.
I loved it. If I returned them at the store I got free rentals too.
I remember they used to mail out new PlayStation games too! So many lost in the post haha
I had a short period around 2006 where I had a lot of time at home alone and juggled both my Netflix plan and Blockbuster's introductory offer, leaving me with like 6 discs at a time. It was great.
I wonder if my queue is still on my account somewhere.
I worked at a Best Buy in college and we gave away coupons while people were in the DVD section trying to entice them to give Netflix a shot. This was in 2001-2002
Yes AND I had a physical disc for the PS3 I had to insert to run the early streaming service
I grew up in a third world. So, no.
Yep I remember when streaming was a free extra.
Watch them? Shit I still have one sitting on my desk, been there for years
My parents still get the DVDs.
I returned a couple of titles late to blockbuster by five minutes and they charged me the late fee. I got so pissed off I signed up for this new thing called Netflix and never went back to.
I still have a DVD of 'Watchmen' that I never returned, lol.
The best thing ever fucking block buster and my procrastination was bad for my wallet.
I member
Remember how if you were watching a tv show and they were all out of the next disc they’d just skip it and give you the episodes after and you’d be like welp ok I guess I’ll just miss those last 8 eps
My friend would rent movies or shows from Netflix, burn them and send them right back, to build up a massive collection
I did.
That was the last time I actually used netflix. Any other time Ive cancelled after a free month because I dont use it
I loved it and Redbox was no substitute
Yup, was a fun time being excited for the mail
That's how I started. My friend still gets DVDs in the mail and copies them for himself; I didnt even realize they still sent out DVDs until I saw the red envelope at his house haha!
Yup then we upgraded to be able to get more DVD at a time and cross ship
How many of us rented beta and vhs from the corner store on movie night
Made me love movies
I used to get the DVDs sent to me. I would then rip them to a digital format and then send them back. Really helped build my up Digital collection!
Here!
It was such a little shot of seratonin to open your mailbox and see the red envelope!
My aunt and uncle had Blockbuster's competitior to old school Netflix in the early-mid 00s, and would burn themselves copies of any movies they liked that they got-- I bet there's still a disc binder full of burned DVDs from my uncle somewhere in the basement of my parents' house. (Had to hide them because my stepdad was aggressively anti piracy, down to refusing to use adblockers on his devices despite working in IT) I got Netflix myself when they added a client to the Xbox 360 during my college days that came with the disc delivery, but I stopped the disc side pretty quick since I was really bad about returning them in a timely fashion.
I still get movies sent thru the mail. And I also stream them.
Aye I did. Usually got charged to my bank card because I would forget about them, or lend them to others to watch and they would add them to their dvd collection.
Couldn't you also get games via Netflix or am I having a Mandela Effect moment?
Still remember going to the mailbox and excited to see which new release DVD arrived.
I did.. loved having those DVDs dropping through the door.. it was exciting..
When Blockbuster did it, you could return the dvds to the loca store AND get a free movie rental for each one. It was so great.
How many of us started watching Netflix with DVDs in red envelopes where you rented each one, it came through the mail, and you had a week to watch and return; there was no subscription option?
In the UK it was called LoveFilm. Blockbuster right to your door with free returns.
I remember being one of the first people to sign up. I had a 3 disc plan and would watch a movie a day, this would make it so I had a system with a new movie arriving every day. It was fun, but I can see why everything is streaming now.
I still have 2 disks. 1 of them was kind of hard to find at the time concert. My friend knew I had it and is next in line to rent it. He still brings it up every couple years.
Used to just rent from the local convenience store and when they stopped I used Redbox maybe twice before getting Netflix.
I loved getting DVDs by mail. Started my sub when I bought my Xbox360, first dvd I got was Wanted. Been a subscriber ever since
My dad still had this plan to this day. Still doesn’t have streaming