I don’t know how many of you remember this, but a few years ago there was a big debacle when Netflix wanted to separate out its streaming and disc delivery services, and to be fair the Qwikster name by which it would do so was a bad choice. It barely worked for SpongeBob, it would never work for Netflix.

You see, what happened was, Netflix allowed for people to have an account that included both delivering DVDs and streaming, however they wanted to split those services into two separate things. That’s completely understandable, however clumsy name aside, it would also require re-registering two accounts with them and include a price hike as well.

I remember as though it was yesterday asking my class of sixty-five students at UNLV what they thought. Little did I realize that question would all but incite a riot. They screamed and yelled, swore they would never give Netflix another red cent, and everyone predicted Netflix’s doom.

The Quikster (really, that *is* a dumb name) service only lasted a month, but with the move to streaming Netflix really took off.

It uses more bandwidth than any other service out there, it has more than one original series, and now has increased profits, increased subscriber base, and increased stock price. On top of that, they’re far larger than any other streaming service, including Amazon Prime and Hulu. Where are all those naysayers now?

There are even more now

We may even be getting more goodness form Netflix, as they now support the merger that *may* happen of Charter and Time-Warner Cable. I’m very much against the merger, however Netflix won’t have to pay for access to those network pipes, something it would have had to do under the Comcast/Time-Warner merger which it, and everyone else on earth, disapproved.

Of course, in typical cable-company fashion, that agreement only lasts until 2018. Cable companies love giving that introductory price, then then pouncing on you with a huge increase six months later. I’m surprised Netflix is ok with that, although they may see it as better than nothing.

One thing I should mention about Netflix using so much bandwidth: That’s less an issue of its popularity and more an issue of the type of content it delivers. Video requires a lot of data be sent back and forth and can use up whatever capacity is there. Facebook, on the other hand, has way more users than Netflix, however it mainly transmits text and to a lesser extend images, which requires much less data. Still, they’re good numbers.

Plus, they have Big Ass Spider. It was way better than it had any right to be.