Don't know why it took so long, but Netflix is finally offering movies and TV shows via download, rather than by its DVD-by-mail service. 

Guess they finally took their collective eyes off of Blockbuster and now are contending with such other online movie delivery services as CinemaNow, MovieFlix, Movielink and Vongo. Oh, and how about  Amazon.com's recently launched Unbox.  Or Oh!, how about Apple's iTunes?

Any, Netflix's Watch Now service is available today to some of its 6 million subscribers, who will get immediate access -- and at no additional charge.

(How about that?)

How does it work? Listen up. After accepting a quick applet, Netflixers will be able to watch six hours to 48 hours of material each month; viewing time is linked to how much customers already pay for their DVD rentals. Under the most popular $17.99 monthly package, subscribers will receive 18 hours of Internet viewing time. (With discs and Internet, that's a lot of movies to watch!)

Only approximately 1,000 movies and TV shows will initially be available for online delivery -- small change compareed to Netflix's DVD library of more than 70,000 titles.

Want another drawback? The system only works on PCs computers and laptops with a high-speed Internet connection and Microsoft's Windows OS.

 Check this out for more details on the movies and the service or the New York Times here.