arithmetic

Johnson leaving is also a lesson that cut-and-paste strategy (applying what worked at Apple as-is to JC Penny without considering the differences between the two target customer bases - like the 'no sale' strategy) almost never works.

If you had to pick between DVD and streaming service, and make one of them phenomenally better than what it is now, which one would you pick? DVD, because everyone knows and loves it? Or streaming, because it's growing rapidly? You get to pick one.

With the split, Netflix gets to focus entirely on streaming - make it better for the customer. Which means, more (and better) content, faster and better streaming service, Netflix on more devices, providing Netflix outside US and Canada etc.

And Qwikster gets to focus entirely on DVD service - which means expanding the DVD catalog, getting video game rentals for Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360.

As a customer, you get a much better Netflix and/or Qwikster experience. As a Netflix employee, I get to focus entirely on making streaming better, faster, available on more devices, and in more regions than we have today, without having to worry about compatibility with the DVD service.

Netflix employee here.

I've been reading all the comments here and at Reed's blog to understand what everyone has to say about the split. Internally, we've known about the split for some time now.

Why do you think this is a terrible move? Your comment has a lot of unflattering comparisons, but doesn't explain why the move is stupid.

Also, you're probably right that DVD as a service will not last forever, and Reed understands that too (he mentions this in the post as well - http://blog.netflix.com/2011/09/explanation-and-some-reflect...). DVD service may not last very long, but right now, it is a growing business.

Disclaimer: Netflix employee here

The main reason for the split is the realization that streaming service and DVD service are two completely different businesses that need to grow in completely different ways. For example, in case of streaming service, we've just expanded to Latin America and the Caribbean (to 43 new countries). In case of the DVD service, we're adding a new video games catalog.

DVD service is still growing - it probably won't grow at the same rate for very long, but right now, it's growing. Streaming, on the other hand, is growing at a phenomenal rate. Therefore it makes sense to not hold up the growth of one service for the other to catch up.

In the time (about 6 months) I've been at Netflix, the one thing I'll have to call out is the absolute, undeterred focus that the company has. Simply put, Netflix fundamentally believes that it's best to do one thing really, really, really well, than to do many things reasonably well.

Splitting the streaming and DVD service isn't so much due to lack of ability to design the website to suit both options, but really as an indication that they are turning out to be different businesses altogether.

Comments have been pouring in for the last couple of hours on the Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/jonathanscard

Actually the other comment from b0b0b0b is pretty accurate - Netflix tries to gracefully degrade functionality when 'stuff goes down', so that people can still get the basic streaming service. Netflix also uses Chaos Monkey (http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2010/12/chaos-monkey-how-n...)

P.S. I work there.

Thanks! let us know if you have any feedback (support@bubblegum.me)

You made my day when you said you liked the filters :) We put in a lot of effort to make sure the filters made the photos look pretty.

And I'm "the wife" ;-) Follow the app on twitter @bubblegumapp

As a side note, if you're learning Clojure and you're interested in statistical computing, you might want to look at Incanter as well (http://incanter.org/ and https://github.com/liebke/incanter).

When I read the article, I was a bit suprised by how he almost seemed proud of his tactics to rip people off and later bully them. Particularly, the part where he said "I’ve exploited this opportunity because it works. No matter where they post their negative comments, it helps my return on investment. So I decided, why not use that negativity to my advantage?"

This guy should be the dumbest criminal in modern times. He understood how powerful the internet was, and then decided to ignore it.

I still don't get it. Why can't I drink a full can of Red Bull? The article doesn't say anything about drinking a full can versus a part of the contents.

I love the UI for signing up for an account (the bank check-like interface). That's a nice touch.

You already have a bunch of valuable comments to wade through. One tip though - do not think of large companies as one monolithic organization. If you look around, you will spot those smaller 'startup'y teams inside big orgs where you'll learn a ton and have a lot of fun in the process.

Also, write down what you want to achieve in your first job. Financial stability? Engineering skills? Proficiency in a particular platform, framework? Ability to work in a team? Narrowing down what you really hope to get out of this job will really help you focus on finding the right workplace.

And finally, never say never. Both of them (large companies and startups) have their ups and downs. You'll learn _something_ from both.

This is completely nuts. I'm surprised that this company gets away (and actually be pretty successful) with it's predatorial behavior towards it's customers. I searched for DecorMyEyes, and while the first result is the company itself, the rest of the page is filled with "My bad experience with DecorMyEyes" and "Consumer complaints against DecorMyEyes". Now I get that people are usually searching for the name of the company that makes the glasses (like Ciba Vision) and not DecorMyEyes, but doesn't one usually buy things online from fairly reputed sources (and you'd look up the company if you didn't know them)?

>>If someone receives an iPod with personalized engraving they would possibly be more likely to hold onto the device longer since the object now has some sentimental value.

You're right - I still hold on to my old engraved iPod because it was a gift. It's not something I'd want to dispose of, even though it looks terribly out of fashion now (what with new models of iPods releasing every year).

Well, this advice didn't mess me up but pushed me in the opposite direction.

When I was a kid, my parents told me that little girls like me should study in a local college, get good grades, find a comfortable job (preferably an accountant), settle down in the same city (as my parents) and get married by 21 (years).

My college was in a different city as compared to where I grew up. This really helped in teaching me how to live on my own. I took to computers, interned at a couple of companies and got hired by another software company, moved to the United States, and dated and married a fellow computer nerd a little over a month ago (let's just say I'm way over 21 now).

I think I did well.

As a person living in Seattle (rains a lot!) who is of a darker skin color because of my race, I get told every now and then that I must be very lucky because I'm never going to be Vit D deficient.

I'm surprised that people think having darker skin color means I already have oodles of Vit D, when it's quite the opposite - people with dark skin color synthesize less Vitamin D on exposure to sunlight. I probably need lot more of that big ass star :)

This is great! Thank you!

It's nice to be able to go to one place to look for some .NET API. I no longer need to Google search a topic, and then open multiple tabs, each for MSDN, SO, experts-exchange, and other forums.

I used to drink 3 cups of coffee a day. I've now brought it down to twice a week, and it's stayed that way for almost a year. I'm very happy about that.

When I do drink coffee, I prefer french press coffee. I live in Seattle and there are plenty of great coffee shops within a couple of blocks of where I live.

I've also started running quite a bit recently, and I drink Nuun when I crave salt/electrolytes. It's refreshing (I pick lemon-lime flavor) and super low-calorie drink.

I've learnt to drink water (instead of carbonated drinks) when I'm thirsty at work.

And finally, I love port wine and have a glass of really good port once or so a month.

As I was reading this article, I was thinking, "Really? You can ask that and they do it for you?". It just never occurred to me that I would need a personal assistant to help me find a tub of nachos (or help me with a crossword or any other chores). I just find it..weird.

On the other hand, this article pretty much sold me into determining if I need a Visa Signature card.

I'd like to call bullshit on this one. Disclaimer: I'm probably one of those insane women who wants to do a startup.

1) I'm tired of articles like these which have little to no research backing up their claims on why there are so few women doing startups. Penelope isn't making a sweeping generalization in the article, but she might as well make a generalization here - the effect is quite the same.

2) I'm also tired of the set of women I refer to as "the angry feminists" who are easily insulted everytime someone (especially a male author/speaker) points out that there are so few women in tech or that women lack qualities X and Y to do a startup. To all the women of the afore-mentioned category, you're wasting your time. An ounce of action is better than a ton of theories.

3) And last, I honestly don't know why there are so few women in tech. I don't have theories. All I know is that there ARE few women in tech (and fewer doing startups). I don't think we are all risk-averse. Sure, some of us may not like taking chances, but I'm pretty sure it's not every one of us.

I've been involved in writing software all my adult life. I'd like to do a startup one day. It's a tough world out there if you're doing anything on your own, irrespective of your gender. So stop analyzing and start doing.

That's great advice! Thanks so much. I have a couple of ideas, but they aren't terribly big ideas. They are neat, and I would use them if they were available as a product today. I'm OK with building small products from a few neat ideas - I just want to get started.

As for moving, I've always been told that you need to be in the Valley to be able to do a reasonably successful startup. How much of it is true? I live in Seattle, and there's a pretty good (albeit small) startup community here.

I'm getting married in a little over a month and my thoughts resonate a lot with your statement on not spending a lot on the cards. I'm designing the cards on my own (using Gimp, Lightroom and Sketchbook app on iPad - never done this before) and getting it printed locally. I don't think it's worth spending a ton of cash on fancy cards and pricey printing costs.

I agree. $200 is a lot of money for some people. It doesn't matter who you are - as long as you are selling something, you need to respect the fact that your customer was willing to spend time and money in purchasing and using your product. You need to respect the fact that they paid for your product. Orthogonal to that, I would be angry if I bought a phone and it didn't let me make phone calls consistently.

When my friend from college visited me (it's been many years since college, and now we both have jobs), I couldn't understand why I just couldn't hang out like before. I mean, sure, I could spend a couple of days and show my friend around the city, but I realized that for some reason, I had moved on. I kept thinking that I had become a snobbish, snooty SOB. I now know that I've just changed - I have a different circle of friends (for better or worse) and I can no longer go back to who I was in college. And I think it's OK (and in many ways, good).

There. _Now_ it's a kitchen sink!

Considering how badly the stock market did today, that's pretty impressive!

>But, with the exception of a rare few, it seems that neither male nor female programmers give a rat’s ass about fashion.

Being what this post would refer to as a "programming woman", I can attest to this. And I think this is one of the primary reasons I (and other women I know in the computer industry) got drawn into computers - no one cares what you look like or where you're from. Heck, most people in your industry might not even see you physically. You don't have to dress up (if you do, that's totally fine). That's just crazy cool for an introverted nerd.