North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 18 20, 2013 – 8 in-depth a serious Net-flix-tion The addicitve sensation that’s sweeping the nation By Lauren Semack Web content editor

2006 - develops the Netflix 1997 - Netflix is born in ScottsV alley, Calif. 2002 – Netflix ends the year with 857,000 Prize, a contest promising $1 million by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. It’s to the first team to accurately recom- members. That’s approximately 614 not until 1999 that Netlfix started a free mend movies and TV shows based times our student population. trial, renting out unlimited movies. on personal preferences.

2010 - Netflix launches in Canada. In 2012 - Netflix holds more than the next year, it surpasses 20 million 2007 - Netflix introduces the concept 30 million subscribers. That is the subscribers with Canada and United of streaming in addition to sending same as the population of Peru. States. That’s bigger than the popula- movies to viewers’ homes. tion of Australia.

Recently watched by North’s faculty (From most to least watched)

Graphic By sydney thompson & Haley Reid dauntless.media.net collider.com vidiot.com commons.wikimedia.com fanart.tv logos.wikia.com A look into the lives of binge watchers clker.com The reformed watcher Productive procrastinator Netflix roulette

Gabrielle Shimko Dan gilleran Jonathan hawring Senior Social studies teacher Freshman Favorite show: Favorite show: Favorite show: Breaking Bad Series followed: Five Series followed: Five Series followed: Two Episodes a week: Six Episodes a week: Three-Seven Episodes a week: Five

It’s been three years since Productive procrasti- It’s a game he plays. His she’s seen the login screen nation: getting through fingers toggle past TV se- of Netflix. as many Netflix episodes ries after TV series. Which Senior Gabrielle Shimko as possible while avoid- one to choose? That’s up cut herself off from the ser- ing daily tasks. That’s to fate, a sort of Netflix vice at the end of freshman year, though it had filled what social studies teacher Dan Gilleran has roulette. Just wrapping up Family Guy, he is her late-night hours with endless entertainment. dubbed binge watching. now in search of a fresh series. “It would get to the point where I would be on “It’s not the healthiest thing you A Netflix member for approximately two it for four hours every night in the summer, and it can do because you’re just a total couch po- years, freshman Jonathan Hawring said his would be late at night time where it’s like you get tato for that whole day, or for those hours. But choices are largely undirected. He picks his really bored but you’re not tired so it would just get sometimes I think your body says that you series on impulse, finishes and moves onto a to the point where it would take over my night life,” need to take it easy,” Gilleran said. “You can new one after. Shimko said. watch the entire first series in a weekend, and “Well I just started Grey’s Anatomy. I actu- From horror to comedy, Shimko would watch then you end up doing just that.” ally like it. It’s cool. It’s entertaining,” he said. about three episodes of a show plus one or two mov- Gilleran watches TV shows along with doc- Hawring said that his whole family watches ies per night. umentaries for school purposes. Netflix, and while he is watching his shows, “I watched countless movies on Netflix but I “They are usually, obviously, more social they are often watching something else – a se- watched basically Family Guy, South Park and like in the aspect ... I just watched one that was ries like Friday Night Lights, an NBC TV pro- maybe three other series so it’s like five series,” on ‘happiness’ and what makes people happy, gram that ended in 2011. she said. which was really cool. I watched one on in- Although his family tends to gravitate to- Shimko said she would watch her shows, particu- equality of income, which was looking at so- wards a different genre, Hawring said he ap- larly horror movies, off a gaming console which im- cial classes,” Gilleran said. preciates that Netflix has shows that stopped proved viewability. To Gilleran, there is nothing wrong with airing on TV and can be found in his family’s “I watched them alone,” Shimko said. “We used watching an entire series at once. “Recently Watched” section. to have an Xbox so I watched it on the big TV and it “Well personally, I love it. I know some peo- “I think it’s a nice thing to have. If you would kind of make it more scary.” ple may disagree. There was an article in the heard about a TV show, but you never got into Shimko’s family is divided on Netflix usage. paper saying that you shouldn’t do it because it, most of the time it will be on there. It’s a While her cousin isn’t a fan, her mother gets a movie the writers meant it to be episodic. You know, good resource to watch shows,” he said. mailed to their house every once in a while. that it should be weeks at a time, and you’re Hawring said that since returning to school, “My cousin Jacob, he just doesn’t see the point just watching it all at once,” Gilleran said. he hasn’t watched it as much as he did in the in it ... it takes over your life, like you know?” “But I like the equation that if you’re reading summer, when he frequented the service dai- Shimko said. a good book, you don’t . You don’t ly. A self-proclaimed addict, he claims to keep Shimko has been Netflix-free for three years, but stop chapter after chapter, you continue to going back to the show Family Guy. admits she will likely use it again sometime in the read it, and so I thought that was a neat anal- Overall, Hawring said that the appeal to near future. ogy because if you want to watch it, you can Netflix is the affordability and accessibility. “I feel l like I will get another one (account) espe- watch it.” “It’s an easy way to watch shows and mov- cially for college, like if there’s just down time I will ies, and it’s cheap.” end up watching it.”

by Emma Brock By Sydney Thompson By Lauren Semack