The company is splitting in two: the streaming service will retain the name Netflix while the DVD-by-mail service will be renamed Qwikster. Brian Barrett explains the logic:
There are two main benefits to cordoning off the mail service in the Qwikster ghetto. First, it keeps streaming customers shielded from the inevitable DVD price increases that will come with fewer subscribers and ever-increasing postal rates. And—maybe more importantly—Netflix is able to limit the constant reminders of all the movies that you can't add to your Instant queue. Streaming customers won't be able to see DVD availabilities any more, which means you won't get that feeling that you're staring at an unattainable ocean of truffles and bonbons with nothing but a Werther's Original in your hand.
Mark Suster defends the change. Tim Carmody weighs the pros and cons. Henry Blodget thinks the move is good for Netflix but bad for its customers. Gizmodo lists "names that would be better for Netflix’s DVD business than Qwikster." And Alyssa Rosenberg connects this change to the problems of the USPS:
What happens if the Postal Service stops Saturday delivery? Losing 17 percent of your delivery days isn’t minor. Or what happens if delivery suddenly gets considerably more expensive in a way that would have forced Netflix to significantly increase the prices for DVD delivery, at a time when ISPs are complaining about the amount of bandwidth eaten up by Netflix users?
The Dish 