The Power of Retail

While we’re on the subject of movies, onto news about Netflix, which changed the way home movie rentals were conducted. The company is now offering its 8.2 million subscribers the option to watch movies on their televisions without receiving any movies in the mail. Since Netflix owns part of Roku, which makes a small box for viewing movies on the television, the company will be incorporating the technology for their current subscribers.

The company will begin selling this device which costs $99 through which customers will be able to play movies and shows on the televisions and not have to pay anything else beyond their annual subscription fee. The company had earlier allowd its subscribers to watch moves over streaming Internet.

“It is the most impressive product we’ve seen attached to a TV this decade,” said Richard Doherty, the director of the Envisioneering Group, a consumer electronics consulting firm. He said that the device is easier to use, with better picture and sound, than competing devices. And it costs much less. “There is nothing like this,” he said.

The biggest drawback to the Roku device is the selection available. Right now, Netflix offers instant Internet viewing of 10,000 movies and television episodes, compared with its inventory of 100,000 DVD titles.

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