Netflix provides a great service and as a result I have been a Netflix member for 5+ years. I originally tried Netflix, like most people, on a free membership basis. At the time I had no idea if I would stick with the service, but Netflix has been such a great service provider, I can not imagine being without it.

By way of background, I am one of those few people who only has basic cable tv. We just don't watch TV programs in our house. That said we do enjoy movies and watch ~2 movies per week. For years we just traveled to the local Block Buster store a picked up a movie whenever we felt like watching one. The process of going to the video store to pick up and return movies never seemed like a hassle.

But then a little over 5 years ago, I was given a 90 day trial of the service. I was immediately amazed by how quickly I received the movies I requested at Netflix. I was then even more pleased with the return process of dropping a pre-paid envelope in the mail. Again I never thought of returning a movie as a hassle. But inevitably, it was never convenient to remember to have the video in the car at a time when I was near a blockbuster. Its just far easier to drop the video in a mail-box or more likely, in my case, at my work's mail drop.

Reserving a Netflix movie is just as easy as receiving them in the mail. When I hear about a new movie being released I typically go to the Netflix site and search on the movie. When the requested movie comes up in my search results, I click on that film to add it to my queue which typically contains 5-10 movies which I cycle through every month or so. Movies get delivered to my home within 1-2 days of being requested. Netflix clearly has their logistics nailed. No more darting out to the video store after dinner, I now rip open an envelope that was delivered to my door earlier that week.

I also find Netflix economical. I'm on the 17.99 per month plan which allows me to keep 3 movies in the house at a time and turn those movies as frequently as I want. Given that I typically watch ~8 movies per month, the rental fee at a Block Buster would be $30-$40 which is twice as much. Likewise premium cable channels would cost a lot more than $17.99 per month.

The only thing I don't completely like about Netflix is their website experience. My biggest complaint here is that they do a poor job of letting members know about the biggest releases on a timely basis. It almost seems as if to keep demand minimized, they are intentionally slow to update their new releases section. As a result, I will often visit IMDB.com to see what new releases are coming then find (you can find it if and only if you search for it) and reserve it in my Netflix queue. I also wish Netflix did a better job with managing the movies I have reserved in the past and making new recommendations.

My minor complaints aside, Netflix provides an amazing service. Netflix is cost0effective and extremely convenient. I have been a happy Netflix customer for 5 years and will continue a loyal customer for the foreseeable future.