But it was also a social currency. If you saw a red envelope sticking out of a friend’s bag, you didn't ask for their password. You asked, “Did the next disc of Weeds come yet?” You’d trade envelopes at parties like drug deals. “Here, take The Departed . I finished it. Just mail it back to me when you’re done.”
You then had to log onto the Netflix website (no app) and click the button of shame: Netflix would graciously send a replacement disc, but by the time it arrived, you had forgotten the plot. You were living in the past , waiting for the mailman to deliver your future. normal 2007 netflix
To understand how "normal" Netflix was in 2007, you have to delete the word "streaming" from your brain. It didn't exist yet. Instead, the ritual looked like this: You sat at a chunky Dell desktop, connected to the internet via a cable that made a high-pitched shriek, and you browsed a clunky grid of DVD covers. You clicked “Add to Queue.” That queue was a sacred document. But it was also a social currency
It was slower. It was clunkier. And ironically, it made you watch things more carefully. You watched the credits. You watched the special features. Because by the time the next disc arrived, you’d need to remember exactly what happened. “Here, take The Departed