What's The Point?

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Debbie shuffled from one envelope to the next, making mental notes as she made her way back to her house from the mailbox. "Water bill, Visa, Danbury Mint catalog," she mumbled. Suddenly her brow furrowed when a familiar, yet unfamiliar, red envelope caught her attention. "Honey," she said, making her way into the kitchen, "Did you sign us up for a new DVD service?"

"Huh?" David grunted from behind his newspaper.

"A new DVD service," she repeated, and held out the envelope. "It looks like a Netflix envelope, but it says Qwickster."

David folded his paper and said, "Oh, that," while giving a pleasant chuckle. "Netflix is Qwickster now."

"They changed their name? Why?"

"Because they raised their prices," he said.

"I don't follow," Debbie said. "What does one have to do with the other?"

David released a long sigh and motioned for Debbie to seat herself on the breakfast stool next to his. "As you know, people have been able to rent disks AND watch videos online from Netflix under a single price package."

"Right," Debbie said with an attentive nod.

"Well, at the end of August, Netflix announced they were going to sell the services separately. Each service would cost less than what people were currently paying, but ordering the two services together would cost more. People were outraged; blogs flamed the plan, Twitter was all atweet with disgruntled customers. It was a PR nightmare."

"Where does Qwickster fit in?" Debbie asked with a cocked head.

"I'm getting to that," David reassured her. "On September 19th, around 2am, CEO Reed Hastings sent what initially looked like an apology email all the customers of Netflix. Once, customers read the message though, they discovered a plan to split Netflix into two companies. Netflix would stream video online, and Qwickster would mail the DVDs."

"Wait," Debbie said. "Didn't Netflix start as a DVD mailing service and add the streaming video later?"

"Yup," David said.

"So, the new company will provide the original service, and the original company will provide the additional streaming service?"

"Yup," David said.

"And, the prices will go back down to their original levels?"

"Nope," David said. "The newly announced prices still stand, only now they'll appear as two line items on people's bank statements instead of a single total."

"Billing people twice won't increase overhead and their costs?"

"Probably will," David said.

"Will people's queues still be tied together?"

"Don't know," David said.

"What makes the separation of companies worth the higher prices and increased book keeping?"

"Qwickster will rent video games as well as movies."

"They couldn't have offered games as an additional paid service under Netflix, and kept the rest of the prices the same?"

"Probably could've," David said.

"Why are they increasing prices, bureaucracy, and over head simply to add a new service to their product line."

"Don't know," David said.

"Then, what made CEO Reed Hastings think the announcement of the split would put people's minds at ease over the price bump?"

"Don't know," David said.
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Epilogue:

On October 10th, 2011 the following letter was sent to all Netflix users.

Dear David,

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster.

While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.

We're constantly improving our streaming selection. We've recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we've added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.

We value you as a member, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get your movies & TV shows.

Respectfully,

The Netflix Team
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Summer's End

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Last year I posted a poem about the coming of autumn. Today I'm posting a poem of mine about the end of summer.

Summer's End

A fluffy white blanket covers the familiar blue,
Of hot lazy days spent trading comic books and sliding into home plate.
Sporadic spits of rain slowly erase streets of chalk,
Which once carried busy bicycles racing to and from make believe shops.

Naked sticks of brittle wood are all that remain of,
Fruity frozen confections of sticky juice which decorated small lips.
School books replace tales of heroic adventures in heavy
Nap sacks of students trying to find their way from home room their next class.

Sweaters hand on bodies once adorned in light tank tops,
As boots incase previously sandaled feet sprinkled in cool beach sand.
Thoughts of clear nights spent star gazing as bug zappers snap,
Morph into aspirations of full meals and rich holiday suppers.

Colored leaves smother previously soft green grass blades,
As we prepare for the cold short days and long nights which lie just ahead.

Lest We Forget

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I love ordering pizza to be delivered. One evening, I ordered an anchovy & onion pizza with extra cheese. Unfortunately, I didn't open the box until the delivery guy left, and I found a pepperoni & jalapeno pizza. Foolishly, I tried to eat the thing, but I realized it was to spicy to choke down, without having my nose run and my eyes water. Thus, I called the restaurant to inform them of their error, but they wouldn't exchange it because I'd eaten a few bites. I fumed all night. I was going to write to corporate headquarters, that manager was NEVER going to work in this town again; I was going to make sure of it. The next morning, my brother rushed into my room and switched my TV on, just in time for me to see the second tower collapse.

Suddenly, the pizza seemed absurdly trivial.

2,977 innocent people, and 19 hijackers, died as America watched. Among the 2,977 victims were the 246 passengers and crew of the four planes, from which there were no survivors, the 2,606 people who'd been going about their business in the towers and on the ground below, and the 125 people who were killed at the Pentagon.

Approximately 200 people fell or jumped to their deaths from the burning towers, landing on the streets, and rooftops of adjacent buildings, hundreds of feet below. Some victims, desperate to live, tried to make their way upward toward the roof in the hope of a helicopter rescue, but the roof's access doors were locked. 411 emergency workers; 341 firefighters, 37 Port Authority officers, 23 police officers, 8 privately paid EMTs, and 2 paramedics; died as they tried to rescue people and fight the fires.

Everything else became secondary in importance, as Americans reeled in horror at the events of that day. A nation, which hadn't suffered a foreign attack upon its shores, was suddenly vulnerable. We were vulnerable.

We were vulnerable, we were scared, and WE WERE ANGRY! In a way I've never seen before or since, that vulnerability, fear, and anger morphed into a sense of hyper-patriotism. For six months we wore images of flags and eagles with pride. We weren't Democrats and Republicans divided by party lines, WE WERE AMERICANS. As Americans, we roared with a collective rage; we were going to get "them."

This Sunday is the 10th anniversary of that fatefully tragic day. Many TV & Cable networks are planning special programming to mark the occasion and cartoonists are planning September 11th anniversary tributes in Sunday's funnies, as rumors of a "credible but unconfirmed" terrorist threat to New York and Washington, D.C. dominate the media. Nobody knows quite what to expect on Sunday. We wait with baited breath to see if it will be a day of reverent remembrance honoring those who were lost, a day of speeches and political posturing, or a bloody catalyst to another period of hysteria and increased violence.

Many Americans plan to use Sunday as an opportunity to reflect upon the tragedy and the resulting decade of war. Personally, I plan to watch my copy of "A Tribute To Heroes," the televised all-star concert which raised money for victims' families, and do some reflecting of my own. In fact, I can't help but reflect as I write this, and a question occurs to me. On 9/12, if we'd known our collective rage would lead to ten years of war, and arguably the passage of the constitutionally devastating Patriot Act, would we have reigned in our anger during the 6 months which followed?

What do you think?

9/11 MEMORIAL VIDEO

The Value Of Literature In An Education

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"How will a class in English Literature help me land a job?" is a question I've heard time and time again, from friends attending university. My answer is always the same, "It's not, nor is it supposed to."

The point of literature, in education is to expose readers to new ideas, and new ways of thinking about something. Those merely seeking training for a job can attend an inexpensive trade school. One attends a university to obtain a well rounded education, and improve one's mind and understanding of the world.

I've believed this since I graduated, with a degree in psychology, back in '94. Even though I majored in a "soft science," I made a point to take as much philosophy, history, literature, and creative writing as I could. At the time, and for years afterward, I patted myself on the back for having obtained such a well rounded education. Yet, recently it's become clear to me just how many gaps there are in my literary repertoire.

Somehow, I maintained honor roll worthy grades through high school, and graduated from university with a B average, without having to read A Tale Of Two Cities, Les Misérables, As I Lay Dying, The Jungle, The Dead, A Moveable Feast, and a number of other important works. Before you shrug and say, "They're just stories," rest assured they're more than that. Some of these, though fictional, are glimpses into the customs and beliefs of people in the midst of history. Others are inspections of segments of life, which can aid the reader in putting personal and social issues into perspective.

Jarvis Lorry and Madame Defarge are, of course, fictional characters. However, as A Tale Of Two Cities unfolds, we come to understand the level of hypocrisy and legalized barbarity which sparked the French Revolution. Likewise, the hounding of Victor Hugo's Jean Valjean, by Inspector Javert, over a loaf of bread allows readers to understand the necessity of waging the June Rebellion in order to thwart such a grotesque level of institutionalized cruelty. While key events, such as battles and shifts in power, were sufficiently documented, it's only through works of literature that these moments in history are given human faces.

Not all good books are about understanding historical big pictures though. Faulkner shows us the events surrounding Addie Bundren's death in order to examine the various reactions people have to the death of someone close. Rather than focusing on life's emotional issues, Sinclair used The Jungle to call attention to health and safety issues within the meat packing industry, which had largely been ignored before the book's release. In both cases, readers are challenged to reassess matters, which many people typically avoid thinking about, because they're too unpleasant to look at directly.

Frankly, I'm more than a bit irked to have taken as much literature and history as I have, without having been exposed to such works. It's never too late though. This year, I've made a point to devour such classics. Whether or not the endeavor will improve my writing remains to be seen. Nevertheless, I strongly suspect it will improve my mind and fill a few of the gaps in my catalog of knowledge.

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Those of you who read this entry between 08/17/11 & 08/19/11 will notice some major editing has taken place. It just goes to show, I should NEVER post a first draft.