Why Is Netflix So Slow Lately?

A lot of customers have complained lately about slowdowns on Netflix.  So why exactly is Netflix so slow?  Reddit picked up on a story by BGR.com, and there are some concrete reasons.

• Added traffic demand from Netflix offering Super HD quality to all customers
• Behind the scenes wrangling over who will pick up the tab for the new traffic
• "Peering" problems - internet providers often swap traffic ("peering") to handle those peak periods of internet use.  But streaming video has "upset the balance" that they've struck in the past.  The question becomes: Who foots the bill for these extra users?

Sooooo, in a word: money.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see internet service providers start coming up with ways to charge for data usage.  It might be similar to phone carriers -- and remember that companies like Verizon offer both internet AND phone plans, so it may not be much of a stretch to implement such a strategy.