My 2cents
Netflix was a great online video service they provided as you would receive a choice of 3 videos by mail and you can stream unlimited movies online for $20. However, due to the poor choice of decisions made by the executives of the company, Netflix sacrificed their customers for profits, which is why their stocks fell exponentially after their financial reports were published. The company should have kept the losses and satisfied their customers. In sacrificing their customers over profits, Netflix reduced their offering on the amount of dvd's you get by 1. So you'd be paying $20 for a choice of 2 dvd by mail and unlimited streaming. It is a big sacrifice especially if you like watching movies, but it is better than the alternative such as Blockbuster.
I find that Blockbuster is even costlier than Netflix. Looking at Blockbusters service/rental plans, it is mainly a mail service. They do provide streaming services, but they are at a higher price range. For each movie you stream, you are paying about $2. $2 may not sound alot, but when you start adding it up within a single month, it exceeds the price of what you pay with Netflix. One of the best features of Blockbuster is the ability to return a video to a local store and getting a new video. It's great because you can stop by locally instead of waiting for it by mail, which takes 2-3 days. However, where can one find a local Blockbuster store near them?! We used to have a Blockbuster store, but the company have shut most of them down. This was a great idea, but it failed because it's become nearly impossible to find a local store around you.
Overall, Netflix is still a prefered choice over the other video services that are out there in the market. It is competitively priced and gives the best value overall. However, with the emergence of Redbox and their experimentation of streaming with their local video service, it may actually become the new prefered choice for renting videos. Keep your eyes open for Redbox.
With Redbox, you get the lastest movies and games for $1 a video/game for a day, which is a plus as it's directly from the video vending machine and you don't have to wait by mail. Because they are testing the streaming service, I am curious on the selection of videos that they will provide.
