In all seriousness, this doesn't scale; if the number of Netflix users started watching all their movies this way, there would be a huge and swift move towards either changing the libraries an insanely large fee for content (on top of their current structure) or some other legislative move to block it. Libraries are shielded by their perceived social capital, but that only goes so far.
Honestly, the only thing that a local well-funded library does not give you is instant gratification like Netflix streaming. If you are willing to setup a queue and allow most content 2-4 weeks for delivery, you should not have to pay for any music, [hard|soft|comic] books, magazines, or movies on DVD.
Granted, this is also for non-current releases.
Also, you may be underestimating the legal protections that libraries have, and also the voting power (and uncanny monetary resources) of the common library patron.
I am not an expert in the subject, but it would be interesting to see recent legislation for/against library systems (budget cuts notwithstanding).
Comments
In all seriousness, this doesn't scale; if the number of Netflix users started watching all their movies this way, there would be a huge and swift move towards either changing the libraries an insanely large fee for content (on top of their current structure) or some other legislative move to block it. Libraries are shielded by their perceived social capital, but that only goes so far.
Honestly, the only thing that a local well-funded library does not give you is instant gratification like Netflix streaming. If you are willing to setup a queue and allow most content 2-4 weeks for delivery, you should not have to pay for any music, [hard|soft|comic] books, magazines, or movies on DVD.
Granted, this is also for non-current releases.
Also, you may be underestimating the legal protections that libraries have, and also the voting power (and uncanny monetary resources) of the common library patron.
I am not an expert in the subject, but it would be interesting to see recent legislation for/against library systems (budget cuts notwithstanding).