End of flix

It’s a sad day. I emptied out my Netflix queue today and will send back the last three movies that I have at home. I’ve realized that our life style has been needing some changes and as part of those changes, we are trying to eliminate the ’sedimentary costs’ that have been accumulating over time. NetFlix just happened to be one of those costs. It’s not event that I am un-happy with them. We have been subscribers for a long time (almost from the beginning I think) but the reality is that we’re not really turning over enough movies to justify the monthly costs.

Take those three movies I mentioned before… We’ve had those at the house for well over two months and I still haven’t had a chance or desire to watch them. Not that the movies are bad but I find that I spend more of my time reading or doing other things that having watching those movies takes a really low priority. Also since Shirley is back to school most of her evenings are devoted to keeping up with class work. Hence the opportunity cost of the service has been determined to be more that the return (for us at any rate).

I guess the sadness on my part is the break of something that has been long established. In a way the sentiment is rather out of place considering that I am a technologist and that I do keep pace with a rapidly changing landscape in my profession as a matter of course. It is also somewhat ironic as I am usually an agent for change and as such often impact users thourgh the changes that I drive in much the same way this break from my normal environment is affecting me. The scope of that impact is rather greater for the users though as process changes are often accompanied by changes in execution as well as the emotional impact of the new variance to the individuals, but I do understand the emotional component.

Ah, but such is life right?