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Netflix (Nasdaq:NFLX) has taken their first shot at the direct-to-TV Web streaming sector, by offering up a branded set-top TV box made by Roku. It was something they had to do, as eventually the home delivery business model of DVDs will completely dry up. You can find a good review of the box itself here.

Is this a good answer for Netflix in the long run? It's really hard to tell. A couple factors are the box is less than competitors' products, but it doesn't offer the quality the others offer. There's also a lack of new films for the user, who choose new releases at about a 33 percent clip from Netflix.

Netflix has over 10,000 films available for download with the box, but most of those are older.

The price is right for the box, coming in at $99. There is also no additional charge for those paying for the $8.95 service or higher from the company. In contrast, Apple TV (Nasdaq:AAPL) charges $229 for their box, and then you must purchase your choices from the iTunes store. Again, the quality is better from Apple, but with younger viewers that's not as important as with older users of the service.

While Netflix must do this to survive, offering it for no additional cost will get users to try the new product and service, but it's questionable whether it can continue to offer it for free over a long period of time.

The added costs of streaming, which will cut into their profits will be something they won't be able to do without changing the free model. Eventually they'll have to charge something for the added cost of the service. I don't think that'll happen for some time though.

For now they have to convince their existing customers to start using the free service in order to get them reliant upon instant gratification.

The battle to bring Internet streaming to the TV is a great benefit for consumers, but for a business model, I don't see their being any overall value. Every bit of this is really easy to copy by competitors, and there's really no way to differentiate.

At this time there is a small window for Netflix in the pricing range they're choosing, but that isn't going to last long, and Apple and Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI)already have similar services rolled out, with others sure to follow from other competitors.

There is a huge demand for services like this, but it looks like it's being born as a commodity from the start. What difference does it make which box you use or which service? Most people won't care as options are offered to them.

The market will be huge of course, but the business model isn't a good one. I can't see any benefit as a business as far as those offering the products go. The benefit will continue to be for the content providers, or possibly if there can be exclusive content deals offered by companies.

But because most consumers prefer to watch content where and when they want, exclusive deals will do more to frustrate consumers and limit viewing, rather than make a profit for those providing the content.

Those offering video streaming content will have to figure out other ways to make money than through the streaming and boxes themselves. Pricing pressures and the plethora of free content will make it hard to build a business model around it. Other branded products or services will have to be developed to keep these companies profitable in these sectors.

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