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Red Envelope

This post from Netflix reminded me of the free AOL CDs I used to receive in the mail when I first got here. The first few times I was bemused by them and then started to wonder if there were things I could do with them instead of just tossing them in trash. There is only so many coasters a person can use. The AOL CD was profoundly aggravating because they would not stop coming and there was nowhere for them to go. Not everyone has what it takes to turn those into a throne

"AOL...takes the saturation-marketing concept and the creation of needless waste to an unprecedented level," McKenna said. "As (the discs) are not recyclable and last for centuries, they are desperately in need of changing their practice. Others do it too, but everyone has received many unwanted AOL CDs, multiple times, from multiple sources."

The Netflix DVD in the signature red envelope was nothing like it. Those red envelopes got the recipient excited and in the mood for movie night. It was a significant step up from the experience of renting from Blockbusters and the like. The idea that the customer did not have to go somewhere to get the thing they wanted, instead the thing could come to them was not a novel one by the time the red envelopes started to come in the mail. Yet, what was inside it made the difference and the fact that you could effortlessly return it once done. 

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