I've frequently raved about Netflix's streaming service, which is offered as a free add-on to most of its DVD rental plans: When you subscribe to Netflix, you not only get good old-fashioned DVDs sent to your house, you also get to watch 6,000 movies and TV shows on the Web, anytime you want.
This service is not ideal -- unlike with Apple's movie rental plan, you've got to watch Netflix's streaming films on your computer (and though it's possible to connect a computer to a TV, most of us haven't, and won't). (But Apple's movie plan forces you to watch the whole movie in a day; Netflix give you all the time in the world.)
The computer thing is not really a deal-killer. Watching a movie in bed on your laptop screen isn't so bad a way for a date to end, for instance.
The deal-killer for many, though, has been the specific computer Netflix forces upon you. Watch Instantly, the straightforwardly named streaming service, only works on Windows (and only on Internet Explorer in Windows).
But that's changing. During a conference call to announce its quarterly earnings, the company said that it would bring Watch Instantly to Mac users within the year.
Other news from the earnings call, as reported by Silicon Alley Insider: Though Netflix has announced a deal to stream its movies to set-top boxes made by LG, it likely won't be announcing deals with other manufacturers soon. Also, the company doesn't think download rentals -- i.e., services like Apple's -- will present much competition.
The world in the iPod
The microchip that runs Apple's popular music player is made in India, Taiwan, China and Silicon Valley. Is this an example of how globalization works to everyone's benefit -- or a sign that the world economy is about to roll over America?
By Andrew Leonard, Salon
iLove it or iHate it
Is Apple's new blue bombshell a hit or a dud?
By Janelle Brown and Scott Rosenberg, Salon
An end to the Apple turnover
Steve Jobs accepts the inevitable -- and embraces the CEO title.
By Lydia Lee, Salon
Steve Jobs' iTunes dance
Now the Apple CEO says he would gladly sell songs without digital restrictions, if the record companies let him. That's hardly a brave defiance, and besides, I don't believe him.
By Cory Doctorow, Salon
Apple's iTunes sells 5 billion songs, but you don't own them
Why DRM means your music isn't really yours.
By Farhad Manjoo, Salon
Steve Jobs’ 2009 letter to the community about his health.
Terse and obfuscatory, this thing is Jobs all over.
Apple's obsession with secrecy grows stronger
Apple’s decision to limit communication with the media, shareholders and the public is at odds with the approach of other companies, which are embracing online outlets like blogs and Twitter.
By Brad Stone and Ashlee Vance, The New York Times
The Untold Story: How the iPhone blew Up the wireless industry
This 4.8-ounce sliver of glass and aluminum is an explosive device that has forever changed the mobile-phone business.
By Fred Vogelstein, Wired
A list of Steve Jobs' best quotes
An example: "The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament."
By Owen Linzmayer, Wired
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs
Fake Steve Jobs tells all in this hilarious and often informative act of fraudulent auto-blography.
Apple Announces New iPhone OS 3.1 at Keynote
Good Vibrations Sold Everywhere
