One would expect that when prices go up, product quality follows. Sadly, this is not the case far more often than we would like.

Renowned video rental/streaming service Netflix recently underwent an overhaul in service plan options. Subscribers originally paid $9.99 a month for one DVD rental at a time with unlimited online streaming, but they must now choose either one DVD at a time or unlimited streaming for $7.99 per month for each service.

This essentially means that if you want unlimited streaming OR DVDs by mail and not both, you will save a couple of bucks. However, if you want both options, be prepared to pay a total of $15.98 per month.

Of course, companies raising their prices is as much a part of everyday life as the sun going down at night. The real issue here is that despite the price increase, Netflix’s online selection of titles is still inferior to the physical DVD library. The cost of the total Netflix experience has been made significantly higher, but the overall quality of that experience has not seen any substantial improvement.

Responding to a tough economy as a business is understandable, but perhaps some more effort could be put into expanding the online inventory before implementing such a price hike.

The above editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater Editorial board.