Let's also remember how streaming video started on Netflix. You didn't have to sign up for a new plan, you didn't have to pay an extra fee. The company just started offering streaming movies and TV shows as an addition to your existing discs-by-mail account. It was the corporate equivalent of "Hey, try out this cool new thing. Hope you like it."

One of the themes of the Web's discontent with this price change is that the selection for Netflix's Watch Instantly service sucks. Netflix won't get our $8 a month for streaming video, the critics say, until it's got the new releases of the latest blockbusters and box office champs. To which I can only say, "Really?" To think that you can get a month's worth of unlimited viewing of "The Adjustment Bureau," "Cedar Rapids" or whatever the latest hits are for less than a single ticket to a movie theater indicates that you're just not paying attention to how the entertainment industry works.

And maybe I'm a video slut (though I prefer the term video adventurer), but I've got 500 titles in my Watch Instantly queue and they're all things that I or someone in my family actually wants to watch. Sure, you'll seldom see a recent comic book blockbuster offered for streaming. But the fact is many of those movies suck. And some of the best movies - indie films, foreign classics, and documentaries - are available for instant viewing.

Here's another way of looking at that extra six bucks a month: It's virtually a rounding error on my Comcast bill. I pay more than that in mystery fees and taxes each month for my Comcast Triple Play service. But my family spends at least as much time streaming Netflix video as they do watching live cable stations. (You're probably thinking I should cancel my cable subscription. Trust me, I'm considering it.)