I think you're over-discounting the zeitgeist effect. Breaking Bad, for example, is fantastic TV on its own, but the fact that lots of people I know (even those who aren't caught up in the current season) are watching it right now makes it a lot more fun to consume. There are thousands and thousands of books, films, etc in the archives, so why do we all get so excited about new stuff? Because there's something about enjoying these things together that's a big part of the human experience.

In other words, access to specific parts of the culture is still a big deal.

"For example, if HBO won't let me watch a special on the web for a fair price I don't care if I miss it."

Completely agree. I get annoyed when people argue for piracy because they don't have a legal way of getting something (because of say regional restriction) or the legal way is more annoying (i.e. DRM). There is a sense of entitlement to all entertainment despite the fact that there are incredible amounts of alternatives available.

That's probably true but what if I am in a country where I can't have Netflix and the new AD episodes are just a click away on TPB or some newsgroups ?

Should I just wait for an hypothetic way to see them in the future like the old days ? Maybe I should, I know I won't because I just not think like that anymore, for better or worse.

I'm going through that negotiation with my fiancee right now, I don't have cable she does. The only thing is, she really really likes watching tennis, and sports in general is seems to be the thing still holding her to a cable subscription.

There isn't a way past this yet unfortunately. If you're stuck with someone who wants sports access, you're stuck with some form of cable.

The worst part is even if it's a high profile sport, and the league itself will accept some ridiculous amount of money for access, you're STILL at the beck and call of regional blackouts and restrictions.

What is hulu+ for? I checked it last week and the content does not seem more uptodate than netflix.

I used to have a subscription, which I placed on hold for a while before finally cancelling.

Hulu is an attempt by NBC/Fox/Disney to dip their toes into the waters of online streaming. I appreciate the effort, but in the end, Netflix is a much better service for the price, and plenty of people would just as soon use the free options available instead.

It allowed access to older episodes of some shows (in some cases, the full series was available whereas only the last 5 episodes were available free).

But you still had to watch the advertisments, and the price was on par with Netflix (which made it substantially more expensive before Netflix's pricing switch). Nothing makes $10/month sting like being forced to watch the same advertisment over and over as a 'premium' member. Hulu's advertisements are far less varied than regular television, so I always half-felt like they were going for the subliminal-message-manipulation angle, since I would see the same ad during all three commercial breaks for the same show.

Also, they arbitrarily blocked access from certain mobile devices, which meant that I couldn't always watch it when I wanted to.

In the end, it wasn't worth the money, by a long shot.

Hulu = current content on TV.

Netflix = old content not currently on TV.

Two different uses. If you want to watch current television without cable, you need Hulu.

It is up-to-date during the season, while Netflix is always a season behind. In the summer off-season, not much different.

I subscribe to Netflix streaming and Hulu+.

The Daily Show

Also, you can get access to HBO shows via Netflix's DVDs. Of course you won't get the current season, and you have to order each disc one by one. But for an extra ~8 a month, I have gotten a good value out of it.

This argument doesn't work for everyone, and you've basically said why — there is so much stuff out there, so if I'm going to spend my time on entertainment, I want to watch the best of the best. My time is an expense, so I want to get back the best I can for the time I lose.

In this sense, there is "must have" entertainment. I'm not going to waste time on anything but that I'm most interested in.