I Thought This Was America!: Netflix Raises Prices 60%

Ok...well maybe the I Thought This was America bit is a little misinformed here. I mean, what else are we to expect from American businesses nowadays? Netflix is going to begin charging 60% extra for their basic Watch Instantly + 1 DVD subscription. It's a jump from $10 a month to $16 and while one may argue that you get a bevy of television shows and movies to watch, I'm still going to call bullshit. Bullshit!

Let's examine the facts.

1.LOOK WHAT THERE IS TO CHOOSE FROM ON NETFLIX INSTANT
Listen, I DO appreciate the occasional b-movie, the occasional drunk decision to watch something like Mac and Me with a few glasses of whiskey, only to get bored eventually and in drunken fashion dust off the ol' Sega Genesis. I will not pay $16 a month to have the opportunity to catch up on the Steven Seagal filmography. It's ridiculous, I have over 400 movies in my Instant Queue and I still can't find anything good to watch. Ever.
2.DO YOU NEED THE DVD ANYWAY?
Yeah, seriously. Let's say there's a new release you want to catch as it comes out, knowing that you have a choice between renting it for an arm and leg on cable or seeking out one of the last remaining Blockbusters of this world or going to your old pal Netflix for the movie. Well Netflix would make the most sense, but you will soon realize that that same movie you waited for Netflix, instead of getting rammed in the ass by the movie theatre cost of the movie, will be available sometime between next week and the fall of mankind. Look into other alternatives instead. Apple's iTunes store usually carries movies a bit cheaper than cable, and in HD to boot.
3.BUT THERE'S SO MANY TV SHOWS!
This is a tough one. I did have the opportunity to catch all of Battlestar Galactica, which was very nice. Yet for every Battlestar or Twilight Zone season available there are 10 BJ and The Bear's and old re-runs of Dallas. The only people who would ever watch these shows are the same people who are too old to turn on the damn computer and sign in to an e-mail account!

Ok maybe this isn't so bad after all. For some people, myself included, Netflix and Hulu Plus have become welcome substitutions to a monthly cable bill. My problem is that when will these prices stop going up? There's no doubt that these online video streaming services are getting more and more popular, and there's always some so called "competition" soon to come. But really, what's the mark-up on this service? How much does it really cost to send cheaply made b-movies to my computer? I don't think the rights to stream Ishtar to me at any time of the day justify a six buck increase.

Netflix apparently wishes to wean off of their DVD service and go to a more full-blown Streaming service. Great! But what's to stop them from raising their prices again? What happens when it costs $20 just to stream the same old shitty videos? Will people cancel in that case?

Netflix also claims that the cost of shipping DVD's has skyrocketed. This is another sign of bullshit. After all, only a few Summers ago, I remember receiving Three DVD's at a time with my Watch Instant subscription and only paying $17 to do so. Surely the boom of new customers has risen over the years, and there would still be a huge profit margin in keeping all subscriptions at the same price they have been. Right?

Obviously I'm missing something. Was it that time I cut Economy class in high school? Maybe I missed something then? Oh wait, no, it's just capitalism. Silly me. This has gotta be America. Whew! For a second there I thought we were in a Communist country.