Posted 12/16/2008 at 02:38:49pm

xveganx, I think you are half right.

While it is true that heavy user is probably less likely to move elsewhere, even more important is the fact that, in a fixed-priced service like Netflix, infrequent renters are far more profitable then a high-volume renter. It is crucial for Netflix to hold on to the high-margin customers. Imagine how frustrated an infrequent renter would be if they can't even get the small number of titles they want!

Myself, I have used Netflix for six years and I am a heavy-volume renter, with perhaps 15 titles sent to me in a month on my 3-disk-at-a-time-plan. This does mean that I am sometimes "throttled" and have to wait a week or two for a hot new release, even if it is at the top of my queue. Honestly, I don't really mind, as there is plenty of great content in my queue. The exact order I get stuff is not terribly important.  If I’m really dying to see something ASAP, I’ll almost certainly have paid to see it in a theater. Though, I will admit that the $1 premium for relatively scarce Blu-Rays is a tad insulting.

In all, Netflix’s breadth of offerings and generally high availability (waits are only to be expected on a minuscule fraction of their library at any given time) represents an incredible value to me and a no-brainer for $17 a month.