When fellow Fool Rick Munarriz talked about Netflix
For a very long time, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has been staving off mobile video questions with some variation of "ask again later" theme. But the tide is turning fast. Hot on the heels of releasing the Netflix application for the Apple
Yeah, Hastings wants to stream his videos to the cell phone in your pocket. Androids will just be an early step in a journey that will eventually cover Apple iPhones, Research In Motion
And it's only logical. Netflix has already conquered the living room, or at least gained every possible foothold. All three major video game platforms can do Netflix streaming now. So do connected TV sets, Blu-ray players, and home theater systems from consumer electronics giants like Sony
Digital video is the future, and Netflix is positioning itself to take an early lead in the race to keep digital entertainment consumers well-fed and happy. The installed base of potential customers across all of these devices is now many times the Rolodex of Netflix subscribers, 12.3 million names strong. There are still more USPS mailboxes than Netflix-enabled digital video endpoints, but Hastings will darken the sun with his arrows until that changes, too.
So the big Netflix news last week wasn't the renegotiated rental windows -- which by the way brought more and fresher content from those studios to the streaming interface -- but a simple job posting that revealed a wholesale change of strategy.
The future is digital, and the future starts now. I'm heading over to CAPS to give Netflix a long-term thumbs-up rating, and you're more than welcome to follow my lead if you believe in digital magic.