said by Titus Pullo
:The problem with BB is that they're stuck to the left of the net curve catering to their storefronts. Netflix tries to look forward, but the economy in the coming year will dictate what survives and what doesn't. Inet access costs, I think, will be the make or break variable in streaming TV.
I'm confident netflix has a market as long as (a) the technology doesn't continually degrade (there are already problems with stream quality) and (b) the delivery system (ISPs) doesn't end with severely metered bandwidth in response to demand and fear of competition. Netflix subs are buying up TV devices at a good clip, and cablecos aren't going to sit idly by and watch their PPV model wither.
I have the NF box, and it's so-so at this point. Without tricking it into giving me full stream quality, I get less than decent quality streams. I watch, maybe ... three streamed movies a week along with my DVD subscription. I find cable TV horrid, and one movie or premium TV show a night delivered by either of the two alternatives suits my needs. The DVDs choices are plentiful, and you can find something in the limited instant selections.
I considered Apple TV and others, but since I have Netflix it's a no-brainer. Plus, why on earth would I DL a movie at $3 or $4 bucks (like Apple TV) when I can order DVDs by mail supplemented with free streaming? Makes no sense other than the gadgety cool factor of box fever.
EDIT: typo
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I agree, I have an AppleTV that I use to stream videos from my home office to my living room as well as streaming music. But I couldn't see myeslf using their video rental service since I can get 3 bluray discs per month from Netflix for cheaper than I can rent 3 HD movies from Apple. I typically watch about 4-5 movies per month, so the choice to go with Netflix is easy. If Apple came out with a movie subscription service I'd probably ditch Netflix.