Source: http://www.slideshare.net/reed2002/netflix-business-opportunity#40

There has been much press about the fall of newspapers and book publishing in this country.  Truth be told, I feel no sympathy for either one.  The writing was on the wall and they did nothing.  I hope they find a way to succeed, because I think they serve a valuable purpose, but if they don’t they’ll have no one to blame but themselves.

I’ve said this for a long time, but today I ran across a story that shows a solid case in point.  Look at what Netflix, a publicly traded company, says is going to happen to their bread and butter business (mailing DVDs to customers).  I’m sure Netflix executives don’t hope that their stock goes down in the short term, but they also are aware that unless they’re honest about what’s going to happen in their industry, they won’t be able to survive the next 5 years.  Is this what publishing companies and newspapers were doing in 2000?  No, but it’s what they should have been doing.