[jandrewrogers]

My source is that I worked at Netflix in the early days, it was always part of the strategy. We were discussing streaming internally almost a decade before they actually delivered it.

While streaming technology was early and teetering on the edge of viability, the real challenge was maneuvering the studios to license content that they didn't want to license because they wanted to retain absolute control. They were very averse to streaming for multiple reasons. The gambit of using DVDs in a series of Hobson's choices for the studios almost worked but ultimately failed at the late stages for an important reason that was difficult to bridge.