Give Netflix this much credit at least: When they make a completely horrible decision that everyone hates, they have the good sense to admit it.
The company on its blog today announced that it was scrapping its universally maligned plan to spin off its DVD-rental business under the name Qwikster, mostly because of the instant revulsion the idea inspired in everyone who heard it. Wrote Netflix CEO Reed Hastings:
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.
Score one for the forces of simplicity, but also lose one for the forces of billion-dollar companies knowing what in the hell they are doing. If everyone outside Netflix knew the Qwikster plan was a nightmare, what was going on inside it?
(On the plus side, though, Hastings also admits that, “While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.” So basically Netflix has heard your complaints, and is now going to sink into a deep and dark depression, glumly saying “OK…” to whatever its customers want.)
