LONG before Netflix had its 238million global streaming customers scrolling endlessly to find that hidden gem they haven’t seen yet, it was just a mere DVD mailing service.

And while its origins 25 years ago may be surprising, what’s perhaps even more shocking is that this dated DVD delivery operation was still alive and kicking until last week, when the streaming giant finally switched off the shipment life support machine.

The remaining five distribution centres have now mailed out their last digital video discs to customers.

These loyal DVD diehards will have the opportunity to keep these titles rather than returning them, receiving as many as 10 discs as a parting gift from a company that once boasted a peak of 16million subscribers.

“It is very bittersweet,” Marc Randolph, Netflix’s co-founder and the chief executive when the company shipped its first DVD, told Associated Press. “We knew this day was coming, but the miraculous thing is that it didn’t come 15 years ago.”

Netflix was developed as a challenge to Blockbuster, the reigning rental market leader at the time. Randolph, along with his friend and fellow entrepreneur Reed Hastings, who eventually took over as CEO, shipped the first Netflix DVD, Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice,’ in March 1998.

Since then, the company has mailed out a staggering 5.2 billion DVDs, with the most popular title being ‘The Blind Side,’ featuring Sandra Bullock.

In 2000 Blockbuster quite incredibly passed up an opportunity to purchase Netflix for £41million instead of competing against it. Today, the streaming giant is valued at approximately £140billion (yes billion).

Despite this success, Randolph always knew that DVDs would not be the long-term focus of the business, and that streaming content over the internet would eventually take over.

In 2011, Netflix made the strategic decision to separate its DVD rental business from its streaming service, a move that came a year after Blockbuster’s bankruptcy.