Netflix

I've never subscribed to Netflix, although I was considering it recently. I have Satellite and I was maybe going to cancel a few movie channels(not HBO, never HBO!) to substitute Netflix. Now, with their price hike announcement, I'm re-considering considering them!

First of all, I'd have to upgrade my DSL anyway to ensure proper streaming.

Secondly, I don't have a wireless system in my house to run streaming from my Wii. I don't want to watch streaming strictly on my laptop. I like watching movies on my nice 40 inch HDTV. So a lot of things would have to change in order for me to change my service. Their previous ten dollar deal could have offset the extra costs.

And third, with their streaming not having as much selection as their DVD plan, I wouldn't sign up for one or the other. I'd want both. $10 bucks would have been okay as a supplement to my satellite service.

Why don't I just dump the satellite? Well, I like getting multiple channels in multiple time zones so I can watch favorite programs when I choose. I also like watching current TV programs as they come out, not days or months later. And my TV is often on as background, so I don't want to concentrate on finding stuff to stream. I just want to flip to known channels I want to, er, listen to, while I do other things.

Back to the Netflix thing. I think the real discouragement, beyond the price change, is the principle.

It is tiresome to hear big corporations who release record earnings reports, scream about costs when it is their business practices which have caused their problems.

Corporate greed has:

**Screwed over the housing market and our economy because of unethical business practices. Swaps/derivatives anyone? Yes, I know these issues are more complicated- the greedy homeowner, the government/politicians, etc. But the homeowner wouldn't have had access to the loans if the banks hadn't disregarded their standards. And politicians, let's face it, are owned by the corporations, so lets just skip the middle man, shall we?

**De-regulated, allowing the big fish to swallow up their competition. How can you claim a free market, which is supposed to regulate itself, if you ARE the market? When I was a tot, we had basically ten watchable channels, but they were independently owned. Now there are thousands of channels that are all owned by basically six corporations. More channels less ownership. Of course they are going to screw with prices.

**Adopted hiring practices like making employees do more for less or same pay, in-sourcing cheap foreign labor, and outsourcing to boost their bottom lines so that the average American earns less or the same for years on end if they are lucky enough to have a job at all. The movie industry consistently outsources. They go to Canada or other countries offering tax breaks. But this isn't enough. Most of their profits/salaries go to 'above the line' people(producers, actors, studio heads, etc.) but they claim rising costs of production(i.e. the little guy) cuts into their billions so they have to raise prices. Meanwhile, those highly compensated people are responsible for the often poor product that is causing their loss of customers. Of course most people will wait until dvd or streaming to watch the formulaic junk they put out. Original product went out the window with studio moguls and FCC ownership rules. Now the industry is saturated with corporate stooges who have no interest in art and are only concerned with bottom line. They don't realize that much of the good, profitable cinema came from non-marketable, un-chartable ideas. The kind of movies I couldn't wait to see in a cinema. They are conditioning people to not want to go to the theater. Also known as cutting their own throats. But, alas, I digress...

Netflix might very well become the lightening rod for Americans who are fed up with corporate greed. At a time of record unemployment in a poor economy, which corporations are highly responsible for, they jack up our prices. The little guy is hurting these days. They see the middle class disappearing while Ebenezer Corp is sitting in the back room counting his gold. Netflix raising their costs 60% is seen as shooting an American while they are down. Yes, TV is a luxury, but for some people that escape is the only thing they have. Salary-challenged people can't afford vacations or concerts or even a movie ticket. It is one more pleasure being yanked out of their hands by a society more interested in a bottom line than the bottoms in line.

What do you think? I'd really like to hear, so please comment below.