NETFLIX, FROM DVD RENTAL TO STREAMING SERVICE

Today, The Grandma has been watching Netflix, the American subscription streaming service that was launched as an internet DVD rental service on a day like today in 1997.

Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded on August 29, 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a film and television series library through distribution deals as well as its own productions, known as Netflix Originals.

As of June 30, 2022, Netflix had 220.7 million subscribers worldwide, including 73.3 million in the United States and Canada, 73.0 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 39.6 million in Latin America and 34.8 million in the Asia-Pacific region.

It is available worldwide aside from Mainland China, Syria, North Korea, and Russia. Netflix has played a prominent role in independent film distribution, and it is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

Netflix can be accessed via web browsers or via application software installed on smart TVs, set-top boxes connected to televisions, tablet computers, smartphones, digital media players, Blu-ray players, video game consoles and virtual reality headsets on the list of Netflix-compatible devices. It is available in 4K resolution. In the United States, the company provides DVD and Blu-ray rentals delivered individually via the United States Postal Service from regional warehouses.

Netflix initially both sold and rented DVDs by mail, but the sales were eliminated within a year to focus on the DVD rental business.

In 2007, Netflix introduced streaming media and video on demand. The company expanded to Canada in 2010, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean.

Netflix entered the content-production industry in 2013, debuting its first series House of Cards. In January 2016, it expanded to an additional 130 countries and then operated in 190 countries.

The company is ranked 115th on the Fortune 500 and 219th on the Forbes Global 2000. It is the second largest entertainment/media company by market capitalization as of February 2022.

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In 2021, Netflix was ranked as the eighth-most trusted brand globally by Morning Consult. During the 2010s, Netflix was the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 stock market index, with a total return of 3,693%.

Netflix is headquartered in Los Gatos, California, in Santa Clara County, with the two CEOs, Hastings and Ted Sarandos, split between Los Gatos and Los Angeles, respectively.

On August 29, 1997, Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings founded Netflix in Scotts Valley, California. Hastings, a computer scientist and mathematician, was a co-founder of Pure Atria, which was acquired by Rational Software Corporation in 1997 for $700 million, then the biggest acquisition in Silicon Valley history.

Netflix can be accessed via an internet browser on PCs, while Netflix apps are available on various platforms, including Blu-ray Disc players, tablet computers, mobile phones, smart TVs, digital media players, and video game consoles (including Xbox 360 and newer, and PlayStation 3 and newer). The Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation 2 were formerly compatible with Netflix as well.

In addition, a growing number of multichannel television providers, including cable television and IPTV services, have also added Netflix apps accessible within their own set-top boxes, sometimes with the ability for its content (along with those of other online video services) to be presented within a unified search interface alongside linear television programming as an all-in-one solution.

4K streaming requires a 4K-compatible device and display, both supporting HDCP 2.2. 4K streaming on personal computers requires hardware and software support of the Microsoft PlayReady 3.0 digital rights management solution, which requires a compatible CPU, graphics card, and software environment. Currently, this feature is limited to 7th generation Intel Core or later CPUs, Windows 10, Nvidia GeForce 10 series and AMD Radeon 400 series or later graphics cards, and running through Microsoft Edge web browser, or the Netflix universal app available on Microsoft Store.

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 All I do is sit at home and watch Netflix.

Kyrie Irving