Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America's Eyeballs
Founded in 1997 by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings, Netflix became one of the biggest dot-com success stories. But at the time, the idea of renting DVD movies by mail was considered a long shot, as DVD was barely an established format. Keating separates fact from legend in this story of how the tiny upstart, Netflix, took on and ultimately decimated the goliaths of the industry, Blockbuster Video and Hollywood Video. Although consumers caught on to the service and benefited from the price wars between Netflix and Blockbuster’s rival online service, the companies strained under the pressure of competing at a loss to see who could outlast the other. Fans of either service will be amazed at the machinations that went on behind the scenes while they were blithely enjoying movie after movie on the industry’s dime. It seems that only Apple Computer rivals Netflix in how its customers hold a deep personal attachment to the brand “experience,” and fans of the service will get a lot of insight into how much risk, dedication, and commitment it took to bring that experience into being. --David Siegfried