Netflix and the cost of movie testing...

My dad and I share a NetFlix account. What I realized today is that with the marginal cost of putting a movie on my queue at zero, the cost of "testing out a movie" has dropped significantly. It's made me less risk averse.

Before, you'd go to the video store and have to consider whether the $4 was worth it for a movie you'd either never heard of or someone recommended to you. Now, you ask for it, it comes and you can test it out.

I did this the other day with "The Terminal." After 30 minutes, I could tell it was a movie I didn't want to watch. I just put it back in the mail and waited for the next one.

What NetFlix has done, in this respect, is helped me to take more chances in the movies I'm willing to screen. I'll give it 20 minutes and if I like it, great. If not, send it back.

Another dramatic impact of the Internet.