JamesD

Physical Media Is Dying

With terabyte drives coming down to the $100 mark, physical media isn't dead - it's just not going to be optical. People are going to be making the choice between buying a download and paying less to watch it without owning it. Which way people lean will be interesting to see.

Tough Times for Netflix - Barron's

Barron's is making a habit of bashing NFLX. (Weak arguments that they'd never trot out under any other circumstances seem to be good enough when it comes to NFLX.)
Redbox and BBI can slug it out for the kiosk business all they like; it doesn't affect NFLX. Different business, different market. As NFLX moves to online distribution, the kiosks will become even less relevant.

BTW, the 'saving gas' argument is a bit bogus: nobody is expected to hop into the car for a 5-mile expedition to the nearest kiosk. The whole idea behind a kiosk is to snag the consumer while (s)he's already out of the house ... that's why they're located in malls and retail stores. And they're counting on impulse rentals ("Hey, look! Star Trek LXVII is out ... let's watch it tonight!"), a type of demand that NFLX can't meet. I think there's room for kiosks and for NFLX to make money in parallel. There will be some competition, but they won't need to be at each other's throats.