Let’s get this out of the way. Netflix will not do any of the following anytime soon:

Show ads, like Hulu.

Make games, like Fortnite.

Produce news, like television.

Create short-form content, like Quibi.

Show sports.

That fast-forward button? That’s real. But just an experiment — for now.

Reed Hastings, the chief executive of Netflix, made all that clear in his appearance at the DealBook conference Wednesday. He shook his head, offered his trademark grin and waved off the possibilities.

“That’s not what we do,” he said.

He seemed most at ease when talking about Netflix’s new competitors: Apple TV Plus (started last week); Disney Plus (next week); HBO Max (early next year). Even Quibi.

“There are lots of competitors throughout the world,” he said.

The idea of fighting for subscribers is nothing new. Netflix has faced off against Amazon, Hulu and YouTube for the past decade. “The four of us have been competing hard all this time, and now it’s like ‘Wow this internet thing really works,’” he quipped.

Disney and Apple and AT&T are only now getting in the game.

“The tricky thing in this streaming war is Apple and Disney are not going to break out revenue,” he said. Unlike Netflix, both Apple and Disney own several businesses, and sales figures for streaming will be mixed in with other divisions.

“The real measurement will be time,” Mr. Hastings said. “How do consumers vote with their evenings.”

— Edmund Lee

Bill Gates is “all for super progressive tax systems.”