As Reed says, the streaming business is global, but the DVD business is US-only. Maintaining code that services functions that apply in some locales but not others will slow down Netflix's ability to innovate.
Again, Apple runs businesses (eg. Macs) that operate in some jurisdictions that their other businesses (eg. iTunes) do not. You don't need a structural separation to 'innovate', you need a structural separation to ease a sale of a business.
I honestly don't care how Apple runs it's business. I don't work for apple, I do, on the other hand, work for netflix, and not having to worry about DVDs will be a nice relief.
^^ This is why Netflix is fubar'd. Totally internally looking -- not giving a shit what it means for their customers.
Yeah, we all love paying two bills each month, having to search for content two places, having our ratings queues forked and kept out of sync. Thanks, we're all so glad to hear that it's easier for you.
We'll make it even easier: find new customers. We're gone.
I would be interested in what you find as a good replacement because I might consider a switch if it were good enough. I just killed my cable and that was costing me ~$70/ month.
I might agree with you if Netflix ran their DVD business in a few other countries. That is not the case however. The DVD business is still profitable. Reed said it's unlikely he'll sell it for a long time.
The dvd-streaming divide difficulty is nothing compared to the difficulty around licensing content for different territories, as the studios are just a nightmare.
