Maybe it doesn't seem original now that everyone is getting in on the act, but original and novel is exactly what it was. Know of any companies that were using that business model before Netflix? I sure don't. The fact is, it was a brilliant idea that seems obvious in retrospect, as most good ideas do.
Uhm, maybe I'm missing the obvious, but all they did was take Blockbuster and throw it online. It's the same business model, i.e. rent movies, ergo the fact that you have the added setp of having to ship the product back and forth from the customer to your warehouse. Seems more like a natural progression of the business model than anything truly unique. They just eliminated the need to spend money on real-estate. *shrug*
