Netflix Lays Off Workers Because of Good Usability
Netflix will lay off 50 tech support workers not because of the recession, but because they simply don’t need them. The Los Gatos-based company claims that their Web-based player is so easy to use that they don’t need all of the tech support staff that they hired.
While this is clear proof that usability can improve profits, the Netflix blog announcement does not exactly make neither the company, nor usability look good. The announcement is sympathetic toward the workers, but it fails to discuss how the savings will impact the company. Can they invest in more servers to host up streaming movies? Can they procure more movies? Can they improve delivery times? Can they afford to fill more jobs in other departments? Netflix should have communicated what they will do with the savings.
In other Netflix related news, customers can now watch streaming movies on TiVos and Xbox360s. The company is still light years ahead of Blockbuster, who just announced plans to stream movies via a 2Wire set-top box.
There will always be a hard-copy DVD market, but digital rentals will soon be the norm as they become more affordable and widespread. On my Apple TV, I probably average two HD movies per month. If I could subscribe for unlimited movies in a month for $10-15, I would sign up without hesitation.
[via Gizmodo]
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