Granted, staring at envelopes is very rarely interesting/ However, when said envelopes represent the evolution of a revolutionary company, an exception can be made. Someone on Digg came cross this CNN Money article about how the Netflix envelope has changed over the past seven years -- it's incredible how many tweaks have been applied to the design, and why each change has been made. In 2000 alone, the second year of Netflix's existence, four different mailer designs were used, with changes ranging from the location of the opening (top to side, which was "more convenient") to the material used (from paper to plastic, which was cheaper). In addition to discovering the rationale for the dizzying parade of changes (an average of two every year), it's fun to see how many of the envelopes you remember -- I think I came on board during the third iteration, way back in 2000.

[via Digg]