Top 5 Well Kept Secrets About Netflix

Judging by the look of things, it could be only a few years before people ultimately stop going to the theatre to premiere the latest movies. I say this because we have so many companies that offer blockbuster movies to their audience a few days after they’re released. This means you’re actually able to stream a movie that hasn’t even finished two weeks on the box office list.

It goes without saying that such a service will cost you a good amount every month, but with streaming giants like Netflix who charge close to $8 for their lowest monthly subscription package, things could be heading for a change. In fact, with their constant increase in the number of movies and TV shows they produce, Netflix could be setting the stage for what an online streaming company should really be about.

Netflix HQ, Los Gatos, California
photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

On the flipside, here are 5 unknown facts about Netflix that you might find interesting:

1. Netflix vs Pirates

Netflix is known for being the number one target for piracy websites since the content they put out is always very popular with the global audience. Because of this, Netflix have to do a lot to keep their content exclusive, and such efforts have resulted to them making their shows and movies inaccessible through P2P sites and some VPN apps.

2. Varying Netflix Content Libraries

If you’re used to streaming Netflix from the US, and at one time maybe during a business trip or holiday visit you tried to access Netflix from another country, you might have noticed the difference in content available to stream, compared to what you’d get from within the US. This is because Netflix provides content to its audience based on where they reside. This is one aspect that is controlled by the licensing agreement signed by the entities involved in movie and TV show production.

If you Australia, UK, Germany, Mexico or Canada and want to bypass the Netflix proxy error, there are many guides you can find online.

3. How It All Began

Most of us aren’t aware of how Netflix started out before it became the global giant that we all know of today. The CEO, Reed Hastings, once got so frustrated by the $40 late fee that he paid while returning a movie to a Blockbuster, which was a big movie rental service back in 1997. This is ultimately what made him start his own company. He also made sure his customers could pay using their debit cards; an option that Blockbuster didn’t really provide.

Netflix TV

4. Netflix Storage

If you thought that the vast collection of Netflix movies and TV shows only existed as large chunks of data stored in a cloud service, you thought wrong. Netflix stores a large amount of its collection in solid state at warehouses that are kept a secret from the general public. This is because these disks are very costly and if at any point they got lost and picked up by a random individual, he or she would have so much to ask for in selling them back to Netflix.

5. Working At Netflix

For those lucky enough to secure a job with Netflix, an agreement must be signed stating that you are to keep the location of their warehouses a secret, should you be working at any of them. This is done to protect the company from any potential loss that could occur as a result of outside parties finding out where their libraries are.

Winding Up On The Top 5 Well Kept Secrets About Netflix

One thing that’s for sure is that Netflix is slowly breaking the boundaries set by previous online streaming companies to carve out a niche of its own. This need to venture into unchartered waters continues to impress their current audience, and even win more since Netflix can be considered as one of the first streaming services to be directly involved in the production of its streamable content, straight from inception. They very well might be setting a precedent for the next big online content providers of the future.