There's another argument in favor of the author's point. It's true that online purchases on Netflix or the app store are abstract and not immediately verifiable

There's another argument in favor of the author's point. It's true that online purchases on Netflix or the app store are abstract and not immediately verifiable as "good" buys, there's also the danger of overspending. The former might actually be an intrinsic reaction to curb the latter. I've personally seen many people buy things just because they're shiny and they could. On the app store, this translated them to buying hundreds of dollars of apps just because they were 1. "cool" (i.e. never open them again), 2. well marketed, and 3. trendy. Because they couldn't feel their wallet emptying, they just kept buying and were surprised at the iTunes receipt they later received, shocked really. That's an extreme example, but it illustrates my point well.