[Porsche-O-Phile]

I think most people would buy Internet service regardless of whether or not they depend on it for TV / movie streaming. A more accurate analysis would involve determining the cost difference between faster, higher bandwidth Internet service versus a more basic option (because people need the extra capacity to support such streaming).

Using myself as an example, I pay $40 per month for high-speed Internet. I might still opt for the same package even if I didn't stream videos like I do, but for sake of argument let's assume that I would go with the most basic package otherwise. The cost of that is roughly $25 per month, meeting at differential of $15 per month. Factoring that into my earlier calculations means that the total net cost comes in around $50 per month - still considerably better than cable especially when considering (1) no commercials, (2) portability of content across devices and (3) the added bonus of having home Internet service available for non-video use.

Internet service is competitive as well - you do not need to get it from your local cable company. I happen to get mine through the phone company serving this area ("dry line" - I don't bother with a home phone, I don't need it). I looked at a few other options with local ISPs as well, also satellite Internet and cable-based Internet. I experimented briefly with cable-based Internet and got transfer speeds of 12 to 15 Mbps (pretty good). The phone line setup (ADSL) I finally settled on is less than half the cost per month and still gives me 8 to 10 Mbps. It costs less than half the cost of the cable-based service I tested out and still gives me more than adequate bandwidth for HD. Best of all it means I don't have any relationship whatsoever with Comcast - I'm not their customer and won't ever need to be their customer (unless I really, really want faster speeds - and there are other options for that too - like an in-home T1, but that's beyond the scope of this discussion).

The whole point of this of course is to say people should realize that they have options to get the programs they want - probably a better way than they're used to - and that it's well worth doing one's homework to avoid getting ripped off by companies who seem to be going the same way as Blockbuster Video (they even follow a similar, monopolistic, "screw-the-customer" model - and we all know how THEY ended up...)