June 12, 1998

Digital video disc rentals are as rare as rocking-horse droppings around D.C. (the Georgetown Blockbuster and Chevy Chase Potomac Video stores have small selections), but several hundred DVD movies are just a click away at NetFlix http://www.netflix.com. Discs cost $4 each for a seven-day rental, plus $2 – $1 for each additional disc – for shipping via the U.S. Postal Service; afterward, you can send the disc back in its pre-paid mailer or buy it outright, with the rental fee discounted off the price. (The movie we ordered arrived on time and in one piece.) The site even lets you pre-order new titles, so you'll be the first DVD owner on your block to get them. Even if you're the only DVD owner on your block.

— Daniel Greenberg, greenberg@erols.com