Why the Netflix guys will never go hungry

Netflix, as you all know, is one of those very very select few internet ideas (like eBay, Google, or porn) that actually made money and still does.

You know why? I do.

It's the damned queue. As soon as you sign up, you're encouraged to pile as many movies onto your queue as possible. I think they let you hold something like 300 on there. In other words, you could sign up, give them your credit card, spend about half an hour choosing a few hundred flicks, and then never log into the website again, because every time you send something back they're just going to send the next thing on your queue.

The queue is a brilliant idea. It's well-organized and easy to use. More than that, it's seductive. There's no holding up two movies in the video store and having to decide which one you're taking home. You can have them both, as well as the entire first season of Nip/Tuck, as well as almost every Bjork concert ever filmed. You just toss them into the queue and forget about them.

There's a problem, though. The queue is so great, so enticing, that the movies you have on it look a whole lot better than they do in real life. Having a movie on your queue actually shipped to you is like getting the same haircut that your favorite actor/actress had in that one movie where he/she looked really hot. It's nice, but it just doesn't look the same on you (or in your DVD player).

I'll probably keep Netflix forever because I have about 50 movies in my queue and I'm psyched about every one of them. Really, they're all awesome. I, um, can't wait to watch them.