A little over ten years ago, when people were still dismissing the internet as a fad that would never catch on*, I read in some magazine a prediction that the only way the internet would be useful was by allowing us to watch any movie ever made whenever we felt like it. (Of course, we’ve all found out since that know the most useful thing to come from the internet is access to pr0n, but the movie-watching thing is a close second, amIright?)

Until recently, Netflix has dominated the internet-streaming movie niche but as of today Amazon.com is making a serious run for the crown with its free, unlimited instant movie and TV-shows for Amazon Prime members.

If you aren’t familiar with the Prime program, it’s a $79/year membership that provides you with unlimited 2-day shipping from Amazon. (Click here to get a one-month free trial.) In our house, just about every day something arrives that we’ve ordered from Amazon — paper towels or TP by the case, books, the 35-lbs of gummy bears I bought one night after taking an Ambien. Our UPS guy is here so often he now recognizes when I’ve bought a new pair of pajamas. So, not surprisingly, the cost of our Prime membership paid for itself the first month.

Granted, Amazon’s free offerings are rather slim compared to Netflix so far, and hopefully they’ll expand their catalogue in the very near future. For those who haven’t signed up with either service, Amazon’s Prime program is a good way to get familiar (and addicted to) instant video streaming and, hey, if you don’t like it you still get unlimited 2-day shipping on anything you order from Amazon for an entire year!

AND NOW, FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:

Bryant Gumball tries to explain “that little a with the circle around it” (@) sign to Katie Couric in 1994, asking “What is the internet, anyway?”

Now, if you’ll pardon me, I’m going to go burn all of the old photos in which I sported that same haircut that Katie’s wearing. What were we thinking????