The Red Envelope era officially comes to an end.

From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech.

I'm Lily Jamale. In 2003 we said goodbye to a service you might not have known was still around.

DVD delivery from now streaming giant Netflix.

Netflix found a simple low-cost formula, free trials, and unlimited rentals delivered by

plain old US mail for a flat fee. And we've always been obsessed by an economic

model that works. That was one Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix, speaking to CNN in 2002.

With a collection of more than 100,000 titles delivered in those red paper envelopes, the DVD service still had utility even years

into the company's shift to streaming. When Marketplace listener Shreve Adacholam's mom

visited the US from India in 2011.

To keep her entertained, he considered streaming as a possibility.

But it had limited options for ethnic Indian movies.

And the DVD package actually had a lot more exhaustive

collection. They only stayed for you know a couple months but it was a fun little

memory that they have. Netflix pulled the plug on the service in September.

We asked Slates, Sam Adams, what he'll remember most.

I had my local art house video store that I loved.

I had a blockbuster that I would go to occasionally.

And Netflix was kind of a supplement to those things.

It was like, it was the place that had everything.

You know, they had a hundred thousand titles.

They would have the stuff that was too obscure for your local art house store.

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