> Meta for all the seemingly unnecessary internal stuff they do.

Netflix would like to have a word.

Netflix’s situation is caused by their business model.

Is it? It seems like 90% of what Netflix is (from a technical PoV), is a CDN + video playback. There's a lot more value in the content library they've negotiated and the business agreements with ISPs than there is in the software stack.

Apologies if this response is delayed, 6 posts today is "too fast."

I'm not sure anyone has access to the real data, but I've had a suspicion that Netflix is able to remain a lot more profitable due to their superior tech. Cloud hosting and streaming (not to mention labor) can get very expensive, and I think while it's easier to set up nowadays (in comparison to when they started) a lot of the other companies are burning cash to try to keep up. HBO Max (just Max now?) has always had poor streaming quality compared to netflix and I imagine they're paying a lot more for it.

Surely that has more to do with having a fleet of edge nodes that mirror content close to consumers? There are only so many ways to ship video bytes across the internet. Best way to save money is to move fewer bytes.

Yep its simply a money problem not some sort of tech genius by netflix. Max would be as good as netflix if they were willing to spend money on edge.

And, Netflix likely got cheaper deals than Max and others, because they were the first ones to ask for it at such a scale.

Netflix now builds many of the video production tools they need to produce their own content. This now includes games as well.

sure but i was alluding to stuff like this

https://netflixtechblog.com/maestro-netflixs-workflow-orches...

Internal startups have the same value proposition as external ones, I think; most fail, but every once in a while you hit a React or a Gmail.