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Comment by ctdonath | Hacker News Reader

Netflix doesn't carry all movies, and rarely streams recent big budget ones. Typical rental of a recent (or obscure) release from the convenience of wherever you happen to be is typically about $5, the price you're complaining of.

Nice to see a major studio delivering their goods practically direct to viewers. About time! The licensing wars are irritating.

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That's also a perspective I hadn't considered, but it doesn't explicitly say anywhere that they'll publish newer releases right away, and then there's the localization thing where UK gets a grand total of 11 movies. That's still in stark contrast to Mr. Packer's statement, which promised “commitment to remain at the cutting edge of innovation in delivering content to online audiences around the world.”

> and then there's the localization thing where UK gets a grand total of 11 movies

My, my, the irony is jarring. The UK has localization problems? Then the rest of the world is screwed :p

Localization doesn't just refer to translation but more importantly to distribution rights. Even the publisher can't give away distribution rights in regions where they previously already promised exclusivity.

This is the anachronism that results in paradoxical situations like being able to only offer Lord of the Rings part 1 and 3 but not part 2 because some obscure TV channel has the exclusive rights in your country for the next five years.

I wouldn't be surprised if for lots of the content like this the UK is actually in the worst group.

The example that is currently annoying me: Sky has an exclusive deal with HBO for some of their shows, so I can't legally watch some of the best TV currently being made without paying for a mountain of other stuff I'll never watch.

Netflix DVD is still a useful option if you want to keep up with recent or obscure movies / TV series on the 'cheap'. Streaming, IMO is much more for killing time than watching a specific movie / series.

If you want to be really cheap you can add and drop the DVD section for a few months a year like say summer break.

I'd rather pay $8 a month for access to thousands of TV shows and movies I might want to watch versus paying $4 one time for a movie I know I want to watch. Especially when the movie I want to see will likely eventually show up on my $8 service at no additional cost.

I suppose it matters on whether you are willing to wait or not.

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