Get the most out of your Netflix

Linda and I are Netflix subscribers, and we talk about Netflix frequently. The conversations are usually along the lines of "Hey, we haven't watched our Netflix movies in three months, want to do that Friday?" or "We really need to watch our Netflix so we can get the next ones in our queue. If only there were four days in every weekend."

And why shouldn't we keep them around for a while? After all, there are no late fees. But by thinking this, we are falling directly into their ingevilnous (ingenious + evil) scheme.

Oh sure, Netflix constantly brags about how you can keep your movies as long as you want. Isn't that convenient! But in this case, what's best for the customer is also best for Netflix. They actually want you to keep your movies for a long time. I doubt you'd see them admit it, but I'd be willing to bet money they do.

Think about it. They charge a fixed monthly fee for their service with no limit on the number of movies you rent. They make the same amount of money from you whether you get one movie in a month or 20, but they have to pay postage each time they mail a movie. If you keep a movie for seven months until you finish building your toothpick bridge, they will happily collect subscription fees from you while paying nothing for postage.

So if you are a Netflix customer, watch those movies like crazy and get your money's worth!