Wow, who expected that? Netflix announced a plan to let subscribers view content on their computer free, the free hours based on the subscriber's monthly account fee. I noticed this last night via Hacking Netflix when they posted:  Hacking NetFlix Breaking Netflix Launches Watch Now Downloads.

Nice. No extra fee was the killing grace. Brilliant.

And in Netflix' announcement they called out that their long term strategy is to have such content viewable on any device, including the big HD screen. That will hopefully address the concerns of people who don't watch shows on their PC (me) and the Mac fanboys. And fangrrrls.

If they can create a Netflix media server service that lets me connect to it through my aging Buffalo LinkTheater or other uPnP media device that would be great. And I'll reiterate that I'd love to be able to download items in my Netflix queue to my Xbox to watch. That should be a secure device.

Also, they have to figure a way to download / buffer the DVD / HD quality media even if I don't have a super-fast net connection. I'm poking along with average DSL speeds.

All in time, I imagine.

In the meantime, I'm quite happy to continue being a Netflix subscriber. I'm just waiting for that "Watch Now" tab to appear...