NetFlix: Get Online Movies with NetFlix

The amazing story of NetFlix is a tale of intrigue, guts, glory, and millions of prepaid mailing labels. Some people said it couldn't be done; they were wrong most of the time. Let's look at the early days of NetFlix and examine how the company came to be the king of online movies.

Believe it or not, once upon a time there was no possible way to watch movies online. There was no 'online' at all. It certainly sounds strange, but prehistoric man spent his days staring at cave walls that didn't have movies playing on them. Nothing was more important than the daily hunt or the weekly trip to go gathering. To be historically correct, even if movies were playing on the cave wall, cave dwellers would probably have run screaming into the tiny ineffective arms of the nearest T-Rex. Cave man society simply was not prepared for the technology that would someday become NetFlix.

Early vestiges of NetFlix first appeared in the form of specially trained parrots who chiseled still images of prehistoric family life onto specially prepared tablets of stone. This technique worked extremely well in the little community of "Bedrock", where flocks of highly intelligent chiseling birds earned a comfortable living chipping out landscapes, portraits, and the occasional fake ID. One particular family enjoyed decorating their humble cave with the voluminous output of their parrot. The Flintstones were extremely proud of what their little birdie produced.

Unfortunately, parrot picture technology proved problematic for attaching to emails or posting on FaceBook. More technology was needed. The seeds of NetFlix were being sown.

Many years passed; parrot technology waxed and waned with the price of bird food. One day a very clever fellow surmised that a mixture of volatile chemicals could be used in conjunction with gunpowder to contrive a rudimentary "camera". Parrot unions across the world were horrified and enraged, but most of the working birds saw the writing on the wall. They taught themselves to talk and became very valuable as simple house pets. The pay wasn't as good, but their beak care expenses dropped precipitously, so it all worked out.

Modern society now possessed a relatively inexpensive system by which still photographs could be captured and stored in wallets. NetFlix was still a long way off, but hopefully you see where all this is headed.

Despite falling in love with 'still photography', the demand for more visually stimulating graphics continued to grow. People wearied of staring at static images. Backed by public demand, 'movies' were invented. Air-conditioned movie theaters spring up on every street corner formerly occupied by a parrots. Enraptured customers flocked to see images that actually moved. They purchased massive trash-bag sized containers of popcorn and jugs of Dr. Pepper. They enjoyed trailers, cartoons, feature films, new reels, and travelogues.

As luck would have it, moviegoers soon realized that they were spending more on popcorn and Dr. Pepper than they made in salary. Families were rent asunder beneath the prodigious debt incurred at Saturday Matinees. Folks demanded a way to watch movies without actually walking around the corner and purchasing a seat. They longed to stay home and eat their own popcorn while still being able to pay the mortgage.

It's not NetFlix, yet. Stay tuned!