A recent article in Home Media Magazine headlined that “$1 DVD Rentals Could Cost Industry $1 Billion,” according to an industry report. The report argues that lower revenue as a result of lower prices will lead to less movie production activity, hurting the economy as a whole.

What about the customer in all of this? Let’s re-write the article’s headline from his point of view: “$1 DVD Rentals Could Save Customers $1 Billion.”

As a customer, this sounds like a good idea to me—and I can put that extra $1 billion (or however much of it is my portion) into other areas of my life that are more productive for me.

The report reeks of union protectionism and overpaid workers whining about a pay cut, as well as brick and mortar rental stores who can’t compete with cheaper and more convenient alternatives, such as Netflix and Redbox. It evades the fact that producers set the price at which they’re willing to sell their products. They sell their products to the likes of Netflix and Redbox, and they set the price for doing so. If they feel they’re not being paid enough, they are free to raise prices (and customers are free to not buy it as well). All this amounts to is a complaint that the market is not paying them enough to make movies that audiences aren’t willing to see (i.e., pay enough to see).

If it’s not profitable to make movies for some producers, fine. Those people may have to find other ways to make a living and be productive. Even if it means less movies are made, as the report argues, so what?

Let’s face it: when it comes to entertainment, quantity is the not the problem. Netflix and others throw buckets of money at research and development, trying connect you to movies that you actually want to see.

If jobs are lost as result of less revenue, those left standing and making movies will be the ones who can make a profit doing it, and ultimately that means those skilled at producing content that audiences want to consume will prevail. It means better movies for you and me, and less crap to filter through.

This report is really a sign of progress, increased efficiency and productivity based on innovation and technological progress, not a negative. So enjoy your $1 DVD rentals and Netflix subscriptions, and enjoy them guilt free.

If your Netflix queue is well over 100 movies, it could take a year or longer before that just-added title arrives in your mailbox. This creates the problem of having to remember the reason you wanted to watch something. How many times have you opened that red envelope only to discover a movie you’ve never heard of and have no interest in seeing? It’s time to put and end to these situations.

Adding an option where you can attach a note to each item in your queue would remind you why you put it there in the first place. When you get that e-mail telling you such-and-such a movie has just been mailed, it will include your note. You could write anything you want in there, such as:

“Don said this was good, call him after and discuss fight sequence.”

—Following up with friends is always a value.

“Movie torturous, hilarious with Rifftrax.”
—Don’t forget about it later when it finally arrives.

“Wife wanted this one.”

—Time to schedule a night in and prepare the snacks.

“Jessica Biel. 1 hour, 3 minutes, 15 seconds.”
—Are you beginning to see the value here?

Hopefully Netflix will add Facebook and Twitter integration soon, too. The notes feature would work well here. I might tweet: “Just added ‘Talk of the Town’ to my #Netflix queue as part of my legal-themed movies marathon.” Please, Netflix, allow us to attach little notes to the movies in our queues. It will make using your service that much more valuable, useful and rewarding.

All of us have probably been a Jerk in some capacity at some point in our lives. We may have felt guilty for it, and learned a valuable lesson as a result. If that’s you, don’t fret. You are in good company and we can still be friends.