The Evolution of Netflix Mailers
Filed under: Fandom, Tech Stuff, Home Entertainment
Granted, staring at envelopes is very rarely
interesting/ However, when said envelopes represent the evolution of a revolutionary company, an exception can be made.
Someone on Digg came cross this
CNN Money article about how the Netflix envelope has changed over the past seven years -- it's incredible how many
tweaks have been applied to the design, and why each change has been made. In 2000 alone, the second year of Netflix's
existence, four different mailer designs were used, with changes ranging from the location of the opening (top to side,
which was "more convenient") to the material used (from paper to plastic, which was cheaper). In addition to
discovering the rationale for the dizzying parade of changes (an average of two every year), it's fun to see how many
of the envelopes you remember -- I think I came on board during the third iteration, way back in 2000.[via Digg]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-22-2006 @ 5:33PM
Dan said...
Geez. I feel so lame. I didn't start up until 2001 with Envelope #9. I missed out on plastic and on foam. I had no idea!!!
On a side note: I hate the new-ish envelopes because they cause the disk envelopes to be backwards when I open then. I was to be able to pop my disk out and immediately know what I got. The fact that I have to pop it out AND turn around the sleave? That's just MUCH too much work.
I'm a lazy, lazy man.
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4-22-2006 @ 5:42PM
Adam said...
I remember the plastic ones from 2001. We were early Netflix adopters. Not mentioned is how they used to send out both discs of a two-disc set at once, now you need to rent them seperately.
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