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Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings was the opening day keynote interview at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this evening, with questions posed by the BBC’s Francine Stock.

The questions Stock put forward were fairly gentle, there was none of the Wall Street questions about how fast subscribers can be added, or what the actual viewership is of shows. Nor was there much about telecom companies merging with content players, which was conspicuous given it’s a telecom conference.

The takeaways were that mobile devices have amazing screens for watching Netflix stuff; that the Internet is making stuff that used to be a niche play globally; and that in twenty or so years, it may be robots that are watching all this stuff.

Stock began by congratulating Hastings on the company winning its first Oscar, for the documentary about the Syrian crisis, "White Helmets."

After Hastings gave an extensive endorsement of the 45-minute doc, and asked people to check it out, Stock asked what he's learned from Netflix now being available just about everywhere.

"It's exciting to release content globally,” said Hastings, "We just released "UltimateBeastmasters,” which is hosted by Sylvester Stallone, and it's this global intense competition, and its exciting to see all the commentary, as people around the world engage with these characters. And it’s interesting to see, What does content mean, as you do it around the world?"

Stock took a swipe at people binge watching shows, but Hastings replied "Who hates bing watching? The original binge view was the novel. You got to stay up late, you could do it at your leisure, it was portable, you could take it to the beach. The Internet has brought back binge viewing."

"You're going to see most linear networks convert to binge viewing,” he predicted.

What about competition from Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) and others? Hastings said those companies really weren’t trying to take down Netflix. Rather, “they're really trying to serve consumers, and it's kind of wonderful in a way."

"All the content you consume will be in the Internet, and Netflix will be a small slice of that."

Hastings repeatedly pressed his view the company just wants to make great stuff you’ll want to see, but that Netflix also remains at the “forefront,” of things. He cited a forthcoming title on teen suicide.

"We have a very controversial show coming out in about six weeks, called "13 Reasons Why." It will be very controversial because it deals honestly with suicide. It will bring into the open the conversation about teens and suicide."

"We just have so much we want to share,” he said.

Since it’s a telecom show, Stock asked about how Netflix can get along with all these network operators as Netflix use chews up bandwidth. He pointed out that operators are finding new business models to make it work.

"A number of companies are pioneering new ways to offer video to consumers, where you get unlimited video viewing, but you get it at a lower speed."

“Now, what we've done is invest in codecs so that at half a megabit [per second], you get incredible picture quality."

“We're now at about 300 kilobits per second, and we're hoping some day to get down to 200 kilobits. So we're being more and more efficient with operators networks."

What about the quality, though, asked Stock, on mobile?

“As mobile phones get better and better, it’s all improving. We just announced with LG [Electronics] how we are integrating HDR [high def video] into phones, so you get a fuller color spectrum, so these advanced screens you see in mobile are really progressing."

What about how some people don’t want to watch stuff on mobile devices, Stock asked.

Hastings defended watching stuff on a phone.

"I watch "The Crown" on mobile, and it's incredible. But I told that to the director, Peter Morgan, and he was aghast when I told him that."

"There are people who are very classical about what they want. But the screens on mobile these days I think are just amazing. I would bet older people will watch on larger screens forever, and younger people will be focused on mobile."

"We want to be very flexible, so we can design for any screen you have,” he continued. "We are focused on stories you watch on any screen."

What about video piracy? asked Stock.

“Hopefully, they are pirating White Helmets,” he quipped. Then, he added "By offering a service like Netflix, that helps, because then there's all this amazing content. The Netherlands was one of the major hotspots for piracy, but now consumers are more and more turning to legal, inexpensive means of getting content."

"We are focused on the carrot of offering great content around the world,” he said.

Stock returned to what it’s like to offer content globally. Hastings observed, "We want to be collecting and sharing stories around the world.” He gave an example of a forthcoming show, "Cable Girls,” which is about the “first professional women in Spain,” who were working the switchboards. Netflix is also filming "a Sci-Fi story in Germany."

Netflix want to “give local producers a global audience.”

Asked about shows such as “Narcos,” the drug lords drama, Hastings observed “we spent the first couple years with mostly Hollywood content, but now we are working with Turkish, and Japanese, and Korean — that part is rapidly expending."

“We are coming up on 100 million members around the world,” he noted, “and that gives us a bigger platform that becomes more attractive because it can give you global reach."

Is this stuff original or different, Stock seemed to query.

Said Hastings, "You could say it's all content, but it's really so different. Dave Chappell is coming back to TV for first time in a decade, to do a stand-up for Netflix."

What about the fears of the cable operators? she posed.

Hastings replied that cable operators are less threatened now.

"The total number of cable households has stayed pretty much steady despite the fact we are in about half of U.S. homes."

“And so Comcast (CMCSA), and others, have realized we are one more source of entertainment, and so they could embrace it. And recently, they rolled it out on the X1 set-top."

So, the "Idea of Netflix as one more experience is really taking hold."

Stock asked about the “American” experience being imported overseas, which prompted Hastings to reflect on the way the Internet is changing everything:

You know, I think binge watching is really the biggest change. I don't know if I would call it an American experience. The Internet is the most global medium we've ever seen. I know many of you say, I love Netflix, but there are too many choices. Make the choice for me. We have a lot we are learning on the internet. In five or ten years from now, the quality of Netflix in all of your devices will be just incredible. And we don't know what that is, but the Internet is allowing us all to get creative.

Had Hastings anticipated all of this when he started with DVDs? asked Stock. He seems to have, based on his anecdote about being a computer science major in college:

When I was a computer science student, I took the classic course everyone takes on networking technology. And one of the things that is mentioned in that is this example of, what is the speed of the transfer of bits in a station wagon that is filled with backup tapes and driving across the U.S. When I heard about the DVD, I realized, that's a digital distribution network. We knew that over time, the Internet would overtake the postal service. It didn’t happen till ten years later. In 2007 was the very first streaming. But now, we have nearly a hundred million streaming members around the world, and a little less than five million DVD members.

Stock again asked about international trends.

The “most surprising thing,” said Hastings, “has been the tastes of people around the world.” He seemed to have been surprised that “that Norwegian dark” sensibility has been "well received around the world."

Again, Hastings made the point that the Internet is changing the distribution possibilities, citing Narcos as “a show made in Colombia, with a Brazilian actor, and it's popular around the world."

"That's the Internet,” said Hastings. "And there's so much more to go."

How does he feel, wondered Stock, that “Netflix” is now not just a noun, but also a verb, which allowed Hastings a salacious chuckle about certain uses of “*flix” that are not suitable for a family audience.

"Some verb uses of Netflix are not from us,” he quipped, which drew laughter from the audience.

Asked Stock, "If you are starting to look ahead, what do you see?"

Hastings cited the work of Charlie Booker on “Black Mirror,” saying "He tells many strange and wonderful stories on tech,” and that “what's amazing about tech is, it's very hard to predict."

"What we do is try to learn and adapt,” said Hastings. "Rather than commit to one particular point of view, we will adapt to that."

"If it's contact lenses with amazing capabilities, at some point, we will adapt to that."

Hastings said the Internet’s importance in one sense is that watching things on streaming is "so easy and convenient,” with the result that “a show like The Crown, which would have been a niche before, is spreading around the world."

"I just can't emphasize enough how much it's just beginning,” he repeated. But, pressed Stock, what about ten years out or twenty years out? Hastings said at that point there will be “some serious virtual reality” to contend with.

And past twenty years?

"Over twenty to fifty years, you get into some serious debate over humans,” mused Hastings. “I don’t know if you can really talk about entertaining at that point. I’m not sure if in twenty to fifty years we are going to be entertaining you, or entertaining A.I.s."

Netflix shares today are up 19 cents at $143.44.