B&N is looking to spin off the Nook, soon after saying that it is "recasting itself as a technology company with emphasis on its Nook e-reading devices".

This looks like Quikster all over again to me.

B&N = Quikster Nook = Netflix

Dear Netflix,

You came really close to blowing it, but then you brought it back from the edge. Way to almost botch it up completely and then reign it in. That was so close to just awful.

Love,

Reed Hastings on the Netflix blog:

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster.

Splitting the DVD by mail business from the streaming business makes perfect sense, but whether that split would have been better off embodied in two separately branded identities — Quikster for DVD by mail and Netflix for streaming — is debatable.

Clearly, consumers like me who subscribe to both services would have been inconvenienced with a broken experience by having to manage two distinct accounts. On the other hand, continuing to offer both services under the Netflix brand severely undermines the vision that Netflix is synonymous with streaming. Obfuscating identity is a slippery slope for any company, especially for a forward-thinking one in an industry so resistant to change.

The apology sounded sincere, but to me it was obvious to be money driven. Announcing a new company name while splitting Netflix, saying people canceled their subscriptions because they "felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes."

To be honest, I think Netflix is just wakking out on purpose.

Rumor on the street is they want to dump their DVD service, 'cause they're losing money on it, while their streaming service is banking.

They tried to split it to plans, but not enough people switched off.  My guess is that splitting the services will complicate things enough to piss people off, and the new WAK name "Qwikster", which has almost no relation to DVDs or movies (except I guess the speed of delivery), is another way to slow down new business.

This is one of the few times ending up on Wakisimo is actually a sign of success!  Congrats, Netflix!