I just recently rejoined Netflix and was pleased to see they have added a "Watch Instantly" feature where you can stream a movie over the internet. The selection of movies/shows is subpar, but it's free baby! Well, free as in no extra charge. You can watch 1 hour for every dollar/month your subscription is and it doesn't affect your queued/shipped movies at all. Minuses are that you have to be running Windows and Internet Explorer, but the quality is great! I have a garbage laptop, but it looks the same as a DVD to me and it hasn't skipped/paused/hiccuped once so far.

I like the idea, but I just wasn't able to find much that I want to watch.

Watching Jim Gaffigan's "Beyond the Pale" right now. Thanks for the tip.

Yeah it's mostly stuff you missed awhile back or want to rewatch. Some examples: Happy Gilmore, Law & Order, The Office Seasons 1-2, Team America.

Also, I'm guessing this is like the testing grounds for a massive switchover from DVDs. This would be a win-win for both the company and customers. Any speculation on when that will occur?

I can't wait til every movie and television show ever made are just a click away on on my computer/tv.

This is a step in the right direction, and definitely a bonus, but still not major news yet.

I semi-disagree, if only because some people like to watch stuff on their big screen TVs, and something that's formatted to be watched on a small computer screen might come out all pixel-y on a big screen. At least at this point.

except part of this would obviously be increasing resolution to dvd quality.

the future

bandwith is going to prevent this from happening for quite some time, if ever.

LOL at the idea that bandwidth could prevent DVD-quality streaming video from ever happening.

I've noticed some pauses. Generally liked the quality, though. Good for documentaries.

I don't really enjoy watching movies on my computer, though, so it's of limited use to me. I sit in a chair in an office all day already.

bandwidth would not prevent this from becoming standard. If it was free, yes, the site would go broke. But if you charge money it will work.

I hope blockbuster takes this approach as well. Competition is good.

agreed, some very entertaining documentaries on there