My take is their DVD service was in recognition that they were an overly early mover: streaming content would be the dominant delivery service eventually, inten

My take is their DVD service was in recognition that they were an overly early mover: streaming content would be the dominant delivery service eventually, intended as their core competency, but they couldn't get there AND assure having a massive customer base without starting the (rather profitable, can't sneeze at that) DVD mailing service to get people on-board and ready to switch to streaming when the technology finally caught up. Methinks that's why they tried to sever the DVD service when streaming finally "arrived" - it's not what they wanted to do originally, it was just a means to an end. Netflix getting into the moviemaking business is like the Post Office getting into the magazine business.