Little Red Blurs: The Secret Of Netflix’s DVD Turn-Around Speed

As somebody who uses his Netflix account almost exclusively for instant streaming to his 360 these days, I tend to forget about how efficient the earthbound service is. The speed with which each new movie appears inside my mailbox suggests unseen squads of roving, stealthy Netflix gnomes. The truth is perhaps not quite as entertaining, but still pretty damn interesting.

If you’ve ever wondered just how Netflix gets all those little red envelopes where they need to be, the Chicago Tribune has posted a fascinating look inside the secretive DVD-by-mail operation. With its imagery of hidden warehouses, confidentiality agreements, and unmarked trucks, the piece reads like one part Robert Ludlum, one part Dan Brown. Go ahead and minimize that Excel spreadsheet and spend a few nonproductive minutes reading about people way, way more productive than you.