"We've gotten used to it," Netflix's chief executive, Reed Hastings, said of the doomsday predictions. But Mr. Hastings also said he understood why questions about his business kept coming up. "Because DVD is not a hundred-year format, people wonder what will Netflix's second act be.

"On Tuesday, Mr. Hastings will begin to answer that question. Netflix is introducing a service to deliver movies and television shows directly to users' PCs, not as downloads but as streaming video, which is not retained in computer memory. The service, which is free to Netflix subscribers, is meant to give the company a toehold in the embryonic world of Internet movie distribution.

I just checked my Netflix account and was disappointed to find out that wasn't one of "a select number" of Netflix's 6 million subscribers will have access to a new Watch Now tab. But no worries, the system requirements are: Windows XP SP2 or Vista. If you got picked in the Netflix "Watch Now" lottery, chime in in the comments.

Netflix to Deliver Movies to the PC - New York Times

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