I perceive NetFlix's DVD-by-mail strategy as an ingenious hack to get market penetration into a market which required eventual movement by large entities -- (1) the telcoms to provide sufficient bandwidth to consumers and (2) the studios to allow their content to be streamed. It was obvious that #1 and #2 would have to happen eventually, but only a fool would have built a business whose success was contingent on the timing of these changes. Brilliant.
