Netflix

Remember the whole Netflix price increase of a couple of months back?

Sure, you remember.

Well, okay, it wasn't actually so much a price increase as it was a cessation of a discounted bundle. Which made prices go up. Which is a price increase. So, yeah, it was a price increase.

Netflix was offering 1 DVD a month for $8 (actually, $7.99, but that might as well be $8; we'll round up to the dollar from here on out). As I was saying, 1 DVD a month for $8. They also had unlimited streaming for $8 a month.

And they still do.

Here's what changed: If you had a combined service -- 1 DVD a month plus unlimited streaming -- it was $10 a month. That's what went away. Everything is separate now. They stopped the combined package for a discounted rate. And, that ticked off a lot of people. Including me.

Now, it seems that there will be no more Netflix DVDs. Instead, they're changing the DVD service to Quikster. Netflix will remain streaming movies. Flicks. Or "flix" if you will. On the 'Net. Netflix will actually be Net flix.

About that whole mess where everybody got mad at Netflix? The founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings, wrote a blog post about it, apologizing, and explaining the separation of services into two different companies.

How's that going over? Not too good. At least, based on the thousands and thousands of comments left to his blog post.

How's business?

Netflix itself has estimated that its customer base is declining by about 1 million people during the current quarter, which ends Sept. 30.

I haven't seen this much blowback on screwing up business since ... New Coke. Or Obama.

How Netflix handles it will be interesting. Will they do like Coke did and bring back the Classic formula that made them a success?

Or will they give another speech.

I'm betting on the latter.

Now, the question is, which is out of work first, Netlfix or Obama?

And does this make Rick Perry Hulu?

Testing

I'm not your business blogger. Jack Yoest has that title wrapped up.

But, there are some things I've learned over the years that I wish more people would learn. Particularly when I tell them, and a situation happens that proves my point, and they still won't do it.

For example, testing.

When you work on a project, it's not done until you test it.

That may seem obvious to you, but really, it's not obvious to some people. Or not as important to some people.

I've run into people who write code, and then never fully test it. They'll do a half-ass job of testing. Or when they do a decent job of testing, find a problem and fix it, they won't fully re-test.

I try to tell people that testing is important. It's at least as important as any other part of development.

Then, one day, I thought of an example that seems to have clicked. I told them this story, and it was like a light went off.

I told them about December 17, 1903.

You should already know that's the day the Wright Brothers made their first flight.

What's that got to do with anything?

Well, think about it.

That first flight was the test.

Sure, they did lots of other tests, but there was a problem and they made adjustments. They did that over the years before 1903, using gliders. And, when they added an engine, they did lots of tests. On December 14, they actually flew ... for 3 seconds. That wasn't a true flight, because it wasn't long enough to allow for any kind of maneuvering. Then there was the crash.

So, the test wasn't a complete success, and they made adjustments.

Three days later, they tried again. This time, they flew.

The first flight was 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. The next two flights went 175-200 feet. The fourth flight, around noon, was 852 feet over 59 seconds.

What's the big deal about this history lesson?

Those flights on December 17, 1903 ... were test flights. Tests.

And don't forget that on October 14, 1947, test pilot Capt. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. Test pilot. Doing testing.

The first powered flight was a test.

The first faster than sound flight was a test.

Many events that you think of as milestones in history were tests.

Testing is important. That's why, whether you ever thought about it or not, it's the tests that make the history books.

UPS delivers ... if you wait long enough

UPS finally delivered that item I've been waiting on.

On the 9th, their tracking Website reported from Montgomery that it was delayed because of "adverse weather conditions." Which ended up meaning that it would sit in Montgomery for 5 days before they put it on a truck for the 66-1/2 mile trek to Opelika, where they'd put it on another truck to take the package to me.

Pulled into the yard last night right behind the truck. The driver is a nice guy and didn't have a problem finding the house. He never does. Our driver isn't the problem with UPS. But a company where something can sit in a trailer 80 miles from the house because it's cold? That's messed up.

Anyway, the package came. And it's part of my big TV project I've been doing. Not the final piece, but a key component. I spent some time working with it last night. I'll need to spend some more time testing and seeing how things go. If I had it this past weekend, I'd have been a lot happier. But, so far, things are going well with this last phase of the project.

I just hope the final piece of equipment that's coming in doesn't get delayed in a trailer in Montgomery because the wind is blowing or there's frost on the ground.

UPS: Utterly Poor Service

I bought an item from Dell the other day. Overall I like buying from Dell. There stuff is good stuff ... at least that's the experience I've had.

What I don't like about buying from Dell is that they use UPS. And UPS sucks.

Here's the tracking information for the package:

United States
02/08/2011 3:03 A.M. Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Fort Worth, TX, United States
02/08/2011 10:45 P.M. Departure Scan
02/08/2011 7:34 P.M. Origin Scan

Montgomery, AL, United States
02/09/2011 6:00 A.M. Adverse weather conditions.

And it's been in Montgomery, 80 miles away, since Wednesday morning. Because of "adverse weather conditions." I've been out in this weather everyday this week. I know just how adverse the weather is. But, it's too cold for that bunch at UPS to get out and sort and deliver packages.

I got tired of waiting tonight, and called UPS. That's a treat.

After waiting for several minutes, the CSR came on and took my information. Then went through the whole spiel about how bad the weather has been and that I should just be patient and blah blah blah.

I listened. Then I explained that I knew exactly how adverse the weather was and could drive to Montgomery and pick up the package myself.

Oh, no, I couldn't do that, because it's in some trailer or something and they'll get it shipped out to me as soon as they can.

Okay, I said, I understand, but do please note that I am very dissatisfied with UPS' performance regarding the delivery of this package.

Oh, no, they don't have a way of doing that.

Well, then, I said, let me speak to the manager.

But, there's none available.

Well, I know there's someone in charge there, and I want to be connected.

Can I put you down for a callback?

I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Would you repeat that?

Could I be put on hold?

Sure.

After a few minutes on hold, a supervisor came on. I explained it all, that I had no problem with the CSR until I was told that it wasn't possible to note that I was unhappy with UPS' performance.

Turns out it is possible, and she'd make a note on the records regarding my package.

So, UPS still has my package -- who know when they'll get around to delivering it -- and I'm unhappy.

And I'm not just unhappy with UPS. I'm unhappy with Dell. They need to put FedEx on speed-dial.