Netflix Ships Out Last DVDs, Letting Customers Keep Them

Netflix has shipped out the company's last DVDs and customers are allowed to keep whatever they get. On social media, the streaming giant filmed the process of sending out those final discs for people to keep. It's truly the end of an era for Netflix as they got their start sending out movies that way before streaming took over the marketplace. Despite the changes in users habits, there were still a number of users who were getting DVDs mailed to them as a part of the service. It was not only a fun throwback to the previous era of entertainment, but a necessity for Netflix account holders who didn't have the kind of access to technology that allowed them to stream films and TV shows easily. Now, they'll be without this small convenience.

In the fun little video that Netflix released today, the process of old DVD rentals comes into view. The dial-up modem sounds and lo-fi graphics help communicate the mid-Aughts memories of logging onto the service. (And the web in general really…) However, the long process from your ever-evolving movie queue to the mailbox was involved. There was a ton of cataloging infrastructure in place to help maintain that massive DVD and Blu-ray collection.

For a lot of Millennial and Gen X viewers, the service came along at a formative time where they sunk into physical media as the membership costs were cheap and sending a DVD back was very simple. Some critics have called for another service to step-in and fill this role with Netflix bowing out.

Netflix Says Goodbye To DVDs

Sadly, Netflix announced that DVD service would be closing up shop earlier this year. CEO Ted Sarandos penned a post explaining the decision. "After an incredible 25 year run, we've decided to wind down DVD.com later this year. Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members but as the business continues to shrink that's going to become increasingly difficult. So we want to go out on a high, and will be shipping our final discs on September 29, 2023," Sarandos began. 

"Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home — and they paved the way for the shift to streaming. From the beginning, our members loved the choice and control that direct-to-consumer entertainment offered: the wide variety of the titles and the ability to binge watch entire series," he continued. "DVDs also led to our first foray into original programming — with Red Envelope Entertainment titles including Sherrybaby and Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion." 

"We feel so privileged to have been able to share movie nights with our DVD members for so long, so proud of what our employees achieved and excited to continue pleasing entertainment fans for many more decades to come," the executive wrote. "To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: thank you."

Why Did People Still Rent DVDs From Netflix?

Well, there's a number of factors for why people still rented DVDs from Netflix. Number one was the selection for a long time. Until the most recent years, the streaming library for the company was smaller than the DVD pool. In the early days of Netflix this made a ton of sense as server storage can be costly and the DVD warehouse is comparatively cheaper to manage. However, after an influx of content, the difference shrunk a bit. But, really, the answer really comes down to people who want that physical experience with movies. Here's what Netflix spokeswoman Annie Jung said to CNN in 2019.

Jung began, "People assume that our customers must either be super seniors or folks that live in the boonies with no internet access, [but] actually, our biggest hot spots are the coasts, like the Bay Area and New York."

Are you sad to see the DVDs go? Let us know down in the comments!