Little boy made a mistake

Oh, Netflix.  This just keeps getting better and better.

And by "better," I actually mean the exact opposite of that.

This morning, we got an email from Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix titled "An Explanation and Some Reflections."  He apparently sent this missive at 6:01 a.m.  I like to think he was up all night, fanatically writing, trying to get down all of his thoughts and feelings, and finally coming to the conclusion it was as good as it was going to get and hitting "send."  Probably it was just some intern and a scheduled mailing to millions, but I think my version is better.  More romantic, anyway.

The letter begins:

I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology.

He messed up, all right.  He apparently has no idea that all that feedback was actually about how he took a great service, broke it apart, and turned it to crap.

The rest of the letter is designed to make me feel better, as a consumer, about the increased prices with less service.  (Fail!)  But what really stands out for me is this:

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. 

It's equally hard to read.  I'll bet your fourth-grade teacher is going nuts right now.  That is so not how you spell "quickster."  Actually, "quickster" isn't even a word.  May I suggest "quicker," or "quickly," or "quickest."  Those?  Are real words.

That "Qwik" combo just makes me sad.  I mean, it's bad enough that you've completely ruined something that I enjoyed.  Do you need to ruin spelling, too?

Where's your humanity, Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix?

P.S. Okay, this is sort of awesome.  Maggy Patrick?  You are funny.

Alice in Chains, "Angry Chair."  There are so many great lines in that song that it's hard to pick out just a couple.  I will try: Corporate prison we stay.  Serenity is far away.  I'm also a fan of: Feed me your lies, open wide.  Oh, Alice in Chains.  I want to give you a hug.